Paper lanterns, watercolors of the four seasons and antique-style urns

Painted silhouette lanterns. Anonymous, early 20th century. Black watercolors on tracing paper. Dimensions: 31.5 x 26.5 cm. Set of 8 black watercolors on tracing paper, in a folk art style. Work likely Alsatian, or otherwise Germanic. One of the tracing papers has a tear in the left margin, but it does not affect the motif. Good general condition. The shape of the tracing papers is not rectangular but trapezoidal. The margins are pricked with old stitching and some remnants of thread testify to their attachment to a frame support. These illustrations likely served as decorations for lanterns or votive candle holders, where the lighting would highlight the motifs through the translucent paper. Two distinct sets of 4 watercolors each. The first set depicts garlands of foliage surrounding antique-style funerary urns. The second set presents childlike figures in the form of angels during the four seasons of the year. In spring, the child-angel approaches a bird with a flower, under a leafy tree. In summer, under the same leafy tree, he caresses a stag in a flowered clearing. In autumn, under the tree losing its leaves, and in vegetation devoid of flowers, he follows the stag and his doe. In winter, under the bare tree, near a holly bush, he rides a horse while holding a festive (marital or celebratory) wreath at the end of a pole.