Tinsel paintings are reverse paintings on glass, with foil applied behind unpainted areas to provide shimmering highlights when caught in the reflection of candle- or gaslight. American Victorian tinsel paintings flourished between the mid-1830s through around 1890, and the most common pictures were vases of flowers, in the tradition of theorem paintings. The heyday of tinsel painting occurred during the 1860s, spurred by the publication of Art Recreations by “Mme. L.B. Urbino, Professor Henry Day, and others,” which gave instructions for thirty decorative techniques, including monochromatic drawings and theorem painting. J.E. Tilton & Co., Boston publisher, also offered supplies and kits for ornamental work, including stencil designs appropriate for Oriental painting, as tinsel painting was also known.

Art Recreations thoroughly described each step in the process of tinsel painting. The design was traced onto prepared glass, and then lampblack was applied as an opaque filler outside the tracing. Details, such as veins on leaves and flowers, were inked in first. Then transparent oil paints were used for colored portions. Foil—usually copper-colored remnants of tea or cigar packages—was added last, behind the unpainted areas, and was attached with putty or more lampblack. This large-format tinsel painting depicts a tar engaged in stunt riding on a running horse. Although the maritime costume might date as early as the 1830s, the tinsel painting was probably done later, as this type of stunt riding imagery began to flourish in midcentury, inspired by traveling equestrian shows.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Tinsel Painting: Horseback Rider," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 351.