Condition: Very good — frame slightly wobbly with wear; cardboard staining; art and glass excellent. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.
The Butterfly Wing Effect, here in the form of a star-filled night sky rather than the more common floral or scenic background. The subject is a couple in a horse-drawn buggy, the silhouette dark against the glittering foil sky. A mark is present on the back but too faint to read with certainty; technique and period are consistent with Reliance production. One available.
On a gallery wall alongside other silhouettes, on a bedside shelf, or anywhere a small romantic object earns a place — for a collector of American decorative silhouette art or a lover of Victorian equestrian scenes.
The Butterfly Wing Effect was developed by Reliance Picture Frame Company of Manhattan in the 1920s and 1930s, and the company is believed to be the only American manufacturer to have produced this specific technique — layering pearlescent foil behind reverse-painted glass to create a shimmering, color-shifting background unlike anything else being made at the time.
Browse our shop for more vintage silhouettes and Butterfly Wing Effect pieces to round out your collection.
