TRANSPARENT PAINTING
Transparent painting found its greatest popularity when applied to window shades. The scenes were painted on one side and, by daylight, were visible only from the interior. At night, however, they were visible from the street-- particularly if a l
ighted candle was placed in front of them indoors.

The earliest shades were generally made to order by ornamental painters. By the 1840s factories produced fixed patterns by the hundreds and had representatives who travelled thousands of miles to market their wares. Inexpensive varieties could be purchased for as little as 35 cents apiece.
Although the term "transparent" was applied to these shades in the nineteenth century, they are more properly referred to as "translucent".