 | In the 1600’s the painter’s palette with a thumbhole replaced the older rectangular kind with a handle. Artists held the new style palette with a thumb inserted into the hole, leaving the fingers free to grasp brushes and the mahlstick used to steady the painter’s hand.
Palettes were made of wood because it was lightweight, rigid, and could be readily shaped. Another advantage of wood was its brown tone. Many early painters worked on canvas primed to a brownish tone similar to the color of a wood palette. Thus paint mixed on a wood palette did not change in appearance when applied to the canvas.
This is a pair of silver and enamel dangle earrings. Master artisans paint each article by hand using solutions containing colored granules of glass. Next, they fire the pieces in a kiln to produce an alluring richness of color. They measure 16mm by 25mm.
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