Samuel Colt's porcelain transparencies

Magazine Antiques, April, 2006 by Herbert G. Houze

The creation of realistic pictures by means of light passing through translucent panes of porcelain must have appealed to Samuel Colt, who purchased large quantities of what are called lithophanes. They depict fables, pastoral scenes, vedute (landscape or town views), and other subjects. He also commissioned a portrait to be made in the same material (Fig. 1).

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The process invented and patented by Baron Paul Charles de Bourgoing (1791-1864) in 1827 to produce lithophanes was deceptively simple. (1) A modeler duplicated the image to be copied on a flat wax plate using both relief and intaglio cuts. After holding the wax plate to the light to verify that a satisfactory image had been created, a gypsum cast was made of the wax. This in turn was coated with shellac and used as a die to impress soft bisque paste contained in a form. After the forms had dried sufficiently, they were marked and fired at 900[degrees]C. They were then removed from the kiln and allowed to cool. After being given a slip glaze the forms were refired at 1200[degrees]C, completing their transformation into porcelain. (2) The quality of the finished lithophane's image depended on the skill of the wax modeler, the fineness of the bisque paste, and the expertise of the kiln master.

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Although first developed in France, the process was perfected in Prussia less than a year later. Georg Friedrich Christoph Frick (1781-1848) of the Koenigliche Porzellan-Manufaktur (Royal Porcelain Manufactory; KPM) in Berlin began manufacturing lithophanes superior in quality to those made by Bourgoing. (3) Frick's success was due in large part to the high quality of his bisque paste and the experience of his kiln masters. He also employed modelers of consummate skill who were able to translate any image into wax (see, for example, the shafts of light in Fig. 3).

In contrast to engravings and daguerreotypes, lithophanes are not two-dimensional images. Though the flat reverse side is featureless, when light passes through it the die-impressed side reveals a three-dimensional image of a realism not to be found elsewhere. This is particularly true of the lithophanes produced by the KPM because of the level of detail achieved by the firm's modelers. It should be noted that lithophane images change with the amount of light passing through them. Consequently the scenes illuminated by daylight vary throughout the day, while those mounted in pedestal frames present different aspects depending upon the light source that illuminates them. In both cases it is the ever-shifting appearance of the picture that entrances viewers.

The most remarkable aspect of KPM lithophanes was their diverse subject matter. A price list issued either in 1857 or 1858 (4) makes it clear that, while some of their lithophanes were inspired by existing works of art, the majority were based on drawings and paintings created for the purpose by the company's artists. (5)

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While Colt probably first saw KPM lithophanes in the firm's displays at the 1851 Great (Crystal Palace) Exhibition in London and the New York Great Exhibition of 1853, (6) he apparently did not purchase any until he visited Berlin in 1855, when he acquired at least one hundred examples. The subject matter of these lithophanes varied considerably. Some depicted scenes from bible stories and Aesop's fables, while others reproduced well-known works of art, pastoral scenes, vedute, and portraits. Eclectic though it might seem, Colt's selection was well thought out, since the majority of the lithophanes were to be mounted in the windows of Armsmear, the house he was then building in Hartford (Fig. 10). Those illustrating biblical themes and fables were to be used in the windows of the children's nursery. The scenic views and portraits were destined for the public rooms and the private rooms of his wife, Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt (1826-1905). The inspirational panes, such as the one illustrating the Battle of Trafalgar, were to be mounted in the windows of Colt's upstairs bedroom. Another group of lithophanes of a decidedly humorous nature were chosen for the windows of the billiard room.

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Colt's plans were not immediately realized. In a letter to his representative in Berlin, C. F. Wappenhans, on December 4, 1856, Colt wrote that "Most of these [lithophanes] were broken in transportation with the large lot I ordered when in Berlin last year." (7) He enclosed "a list of the Porcelain transparencies" he wished Wappenhans to purchase as replacements and a request that "if there are any new pieces got out within the last year that I have not had you can add them to the lot now ordered." (8)

Two surviving lithophanes have mold numbers consistent with a late 1855 or 1856 date of manufacture, so they are assumed to be among the "new pieces" Wappenhans was instructed to purchase: Number 463 shows Stolzenfels on the Rhine River, and Number 472 ia a view of Coblentz (Fig. 8).