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bjbj The two oval plaques in this showcase show the same portrait of King Louis XIV of
France. The plaques have been cast of glass and the mold for both plaques was entirely
identical. However, as you can see the appearance of the two plaques is entirely different.
The plaque that is hanging on the hook is probably in the more original state. We believe
that it was initially covered with gold and the background was covered with silver foil.
The plaque that is standing in the wooden frame is entirely different. It has been cold
painted, probably by an Asian artist who apparently misunderstood some of the features of the
plaque. Thus the coat of the King, his armor, and the emblem of the sun on his chest are
all combined into one ornament. The plaques were made by Bernard Perrot in France, who
actually invented this process of casting glass into figural medallions. Right at the
time when Bernard Perrot invented this process an embassy from Siam arrived in France and
the ambassadors got as a gift some glass from the King and also from Bernard Perrot himself.
It is intriguing to think that this plaque might actually have been among the gifts for
the ambassadors, had been shipped to Siam, possibly in a frame like the one we see right
now, and when the gilding and the silver wore off due to the climatic situation in Asia,
an Asian artist replaced the frame and the decoration of the plaque with new paint and
a new wooden frame. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags place urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
XIV of France WrightDC Normal.dot WrightDC Microsoft Word 10.0 The Corning Museum of
France Title Microsoft Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8