Glass, paint, gilding, paper, pastel wood, metal; painted, gilded, assembled. Gilded painting showing a three story gated brick building with seven figures on sidewalk and street. Painting backed by a drawing representing the sky in pastel on paper. Painting housed in original wood frame with gilded inner edge. Metal mounts on reverse of frame.

This painting on glass is a view of the Brant Mansion, located at 806 Chouteau Street in St. Louis. The house, which occupied an entire block, was one of the city’s largest and most elaborate homes in the 19th century. It was built in the late 1840s by Col. Joshua Brant (1790–1852), a veteran of the War of 1812. In 1861, the house was rented by Gen. John Charles Fremont, who was in charge of the Union Army’s Western Department. Fremont continued to occupy the residence during the early years of the Civil War. Because he had a large staff and is thought to have changed the house somewhat, the painting probably dates from before 1860. The house and its details are painted on the back of the glass. The sky, however, is not painted on the glass; instead, it is a pastel on paper. Nothing is known about the artists who signed this work. They were probably European artists who came to the United States not long before the painting was executed. Reverse paintings created by American artists are usually much simpler than this one.