Antique 19th c. Painting on Artist's Palette from Brussels, Belgium

Antique Belgian Artist's Palette

• antique circa 1890
• found in Paris, France
• originally from Brussels, Belgium
• Approximately: 9.25" high x 7.25" wide

A charming late 19th-century Belgian artist’s palette hand-painted with a rural genre scene and signed “Rebos” in the lower right corner. The reverse retains its original retailer’s label from Maison A. Jonas–Bernard, later Edmond Sober, an optical and photographic supplier located in the prestigious Galerie de la Reine in Brussels. This surviving label provides a strong geographic connection to Belgium and helps place the piece within the Belle Époque period, circa 1885–1910. 

The composition — depicting village women beside a small dog-drawn cart — is characteristic of the sentimental peasant-life imagery favored throughout France and Belgium in the late 1800s. Its warm earth-toned palette, loose painterly brushwork, softly diffused landscape background, and nostalgic subject matter all align with the influence of French Realist and Barbizon-style genre painting popular during this era. The dark varnished wood, naturally worn surface, and aged patina further support a circa 1885–1910 dating.

The curved wooden form and traditional thumb-hole opening identify it as an authentic painter’s palette originally intended for studio use, while the richly atmospheric painted decoration reflects the growing popularity of decorative artist palettes during the Belle Époque period. It later served as a decorative studio object, combining artistic craftsmanship, historical character, and a tangible connection to Brussels’ flourishing artistic and commercial culture at the turn of the twentieth century. Pieces like this occupied a beautiful space between functional studio object and decorative art, often displayed in salons, libraries, and artist studios for their old-world charm and artistic character. A wonderfully layered piece for collected European interiors.