Lost Art of Reverse Glass by Milton & Sue Bond

The lost art of reverse glass painting is kindled by a mini exhibit of 11 works by the late renowned American artist Milton Bond, and his daughter Sue, who often worked beside him. Stratford native Milton Bond passed away recently, and was descended from Sir William Bond, who in England in the 1500’s built the largest ship of the fleet of Henry VIII. Milton grew up assisting his grandfather, Captain Ashabel Bond, who owned the Bond & Currier fleet on Long Island Sound, in the operation and sailing of four sailing and three steam vessels. Sue worked closely with her dad on reverse glass painting, and today she chiefly paints New England scenes, as well as the Paris picture seen here.

Milton Bond’s personal craft is the medium of reverse glass painting, working in a mirror world in the fine detail of acrylic, ink, and metallic foil, giving a three dimensional luminosity to the exposed glass side when exhibited. The medium was first introduced to him 32 years ago by his beloved sister Mildred, a lover of the arts. In the last 45 years, he has produced over 1,500 paintings, and been featured at the Museum of American Folk Art, NYC; the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London; the Grand Palais, Paris, France; and the John Judkyn Museum of American Art, in Bath, England; and the New York State Historical Association, in Cooperstown, NY. Reproductions of Bond’s paintings have also adorned the pages of many books of Connecticut art, and the covers of such beautiful editions as Only In Bridgeport, An Illustrated History of the Park City, and In Pursuit of Paradise: A History of the Town of Stratford, by Louis G. Knapp. The Italian Renaissance during the 14th and 15th centuries saw an evolution in reverse painting on glass. Italians adapted a way to use water-based paints to create figures and scenes on the back of glass. As the craft was practiced during this time period, it began to spread to other countries throughout Europe. Reverse painting on glass rose to popularity throughout Europe as the art of glass-making spread throughout the continent, according to the "Painting on Glass" website. Glass-making spread in the 15th through 18th centuries, as glass makers traveled to discover new supply sources. The majority of European glass paintings were made between the mid 1700s and 1900s.