A pair of Dutch verre églomisé pictures circa 1790, by Jonas Zeuner (1727–1814)

one signed lower bottom left Zeuner inv.

Family of Bartina Elisabeth Breemeijer (1839-1891) in Amsterdam and presented as a gift on occasion of her marriage and thence by descent

Jonas Zeuner, born in 1727 in Kassel, Germany, did not follow his father's footsteps or his father before him. Instead of becoming a weaver he joined the army and was registered as canonnier after his marriage in July 1750. Later in the same year, due to relatively prosperous living standards in the United Provinces, the young Jonas moved to Amsterdam where he lived until his death in 1814. Somewhere between 1750 and 1770 Zeuner must have switched professions: from a soldier to a talented artist in verre églomisé. Studies of his works and the techniques he used, show he must have obtained a range of skills by his apprenticeships in various kinds of workshops. He tended to use oil paint for the sky and silver and gold leaf for the buildings and figures upon which he engraved a design. He often copied his paintings from etchings and engravings of other artists.