A fine reverse glass silhouette of H.M.S.s Marlborough, Foudroyant and Lee

This reverse glass painting shows the silhouettes of three British naval ships of the line within a ropework border, their outlines inside the glass casting shadows on the cream ground behind.  It is in the original bird’s eye maple frame.  Inscribed ‘H.M.S.s Foudroyant, Marlborough and Lee G.B.’  The reverse with a paper label from Trollope & Sons (London) Ltd., West Halkin Street, London S.W.1.  English, circa 1860.  

Height: 23in (58.5cm) Width: 32in (81cm)

Provenance: Mrs Mann, Park Lane, from Trollope and Sons.

Trollope & Sons were amongst the largest and best-known furniture makers in the reign of Queen Victoria.  The company was founded in 1778 by Joseph Trollope, a specialist hanger of exotic Chinese painted wall paper, carver and gilder who undertook commissions at Lullingstone Castle, The Vyne (Hampshire) and Burghley House.  In 1830 his sons J & G Trollope became paper hangers to King George IV.  By 1849, under the guidance of George Trollope, they were also trading as an estate agency, letting and controlling property for the Grosvenor Estates and making furniture at West Halkin Street.  1851 saw them at the Great Exhibition.  According to contemporary reports, however, it was at the 1862 Exhibition and Paris International Exhibition of 1867 that the company enjoyed its greatest acclaim.