Verre Eglomise is named after Jean-Baptist Glomy, a French 18th Century frame maker to Louis XVI, who used the technique extensively to decorate mirrors and trumeaux for Marie-Antoinette.
Although the finest work was carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries, it is much older, with early examples of Eglomise glass decorated bowls from a tomb in Italy, dating from the third century B.C.
Eglomise glass is: gold leaf; silver leaf; paint, on there own or in combination, applied to the underside of a sheet of glass.
At its simplest a single or double line of gold leaf was laid on the glass, protected by a layer of black paint this technique is still employed today for traditional prints.
At its most intricate complicated and elaborate designs can be achieved.