Stained Glass Work: A text-book for students and workers in glass

This is one reason, too, for the omission of all attempt to reproduce ancient glass. It was felt that it should not be subjected to the indignity of such very imperfect representation, and especially as so many much larger books on the subject exist, where at least the scale is not so ill-treated.

But, besides, if one once began illustrating old glass, one would immediately seem to be setting standards for present-day guidance, and this could only be done (if done) with many annotations and exceptions and with a much larger range of examples than is possible here.

The following illustrations, therefore, show the attempts of a group of workers who have endeavoured to carry into practice the principles set forth in this book. It has not been found possible in all cases to get photographs from the actual glass—always a very difficult thing to do. The illustrations can be seen much better by the aid of a moderately strong reading-lens.

PLATE I.—Part of East Window, St. Anselm's, Woodridings, Pinner, by Louis Davis. The design, cartoons, and cut-line made, all the glass chosen and painted, and the leading superintended by the artist.

I.—Part of Window. St. Anselm's, Woodridings, Pinner.

PLATE II.—Another portion of the same window, by the same. Scenes from the Life of St. Anselm. Executed under the same conditions as the above. The freehand drawing and the varying thickness of the leads in the quarry work should be noted.

II.—Part of Window. St. Anselm's, Woodridings, Pinner.

PLATE III.—Window in St. Peter's Church, Clapham Road—"Blessed are they that Mourn," by Reginald Hallward. The whole of the work in this instance, including cutting, leading, &c., is done by the artist himself. As an instance of how little photography can do, it is worth while to describe such a small item as the scroll above the figure. This is of glass most carefully selected (or most skilfully treated with acid), so that the ground work varies from silvery-white to almost a pansy-purple, and on this the verse is illuminated in tones varying from pale primrose to the ruddiest gold—the whole forming a passage of lovely colour impossible to achieve by any system of "copying." It is work like this and the preceding that is referred to on p. 266.

III.—Window. St. Peter's Church, Clapham.

PLATE IV.—Central part of Window in Cobham Church, Kent, by Reginald Hallward. Executed under the same conditions as the preceding.

IV.—Part of Window. Cobham Church, Kent.

PLATE V.—Part of Window in Ardrahan Church, Galway—"St. Robert" by Selwyn Image. From the cartoon. See p. 83.

V.—Part of Window. Ardrahan, Galway.

PLATE VI.—Two Designs for Domestic Glass, by Miss M. J. Newill. From the cartoons.

VI.—From Cartoons for Domestic Glass.

PLATE VII.—"The Dream of St. Kenelm," by H. A. Payne. The author had the pleasure of watching this work daily while in progress. It was done entirely by the artist's own hand, by way of a specimen "masterpiece" of craftsmanship, and the aim was to use to the full extent every resource of the material.

VII.—Window. "The Dream of St. Kenelm.

PLATE VIII.—Six "Quarries"—"Day and Night," "The Spirit on the Face of the Waters," "Creation of Birds and Fishes," "Eden," and "The Parable of the Good Seed," by Pupils of H. A. Payne, Birmingham School of Art. These lose very much by reduction, and should be seen with a lens magnifying 2-1/2 diameters. They are the designs of the pupils themselves (boys in their teens), and are examples of bold outline untouched after tracing. They are more elaborate than would be desirable for ordinary quarry glazing; being intended for interior work on a screen, to be seen close at hand with borrowed light.

VIII.—Quarries. (Size of originals, 4-1/2 by 4 ins.)

PLATE IX.—Micro-photographs. 1. A piece of outline that has "fried" in the kiln. Magnified 20 diameters. See p. 104.

2. A small Diamond seen from above. Magnified 10-1/2 diameters. The white horizontal line is the cutting edge.

3. A larger Diamond that has been "reset." That is to say, re-ground: the diagonal marks like a St. Andrew's Cross show the grinding down of the old facets by which the new cutting edge has been produced. Magnified 10-1/2 diameters.

4. No. 2 seen from the side. Magnified 10-1/2 diameters; the cutting edge faces towards the left.

IX.—Micro-photographs from details connected with Glass Work.

PLATE X.—Micro-photographs of Glass-cutting Very difficult to explain. "A" is a sheet of glass seen in section multiplied 15-1/2 diameters. The black marks along the top edge are diamond-cuts, good and bad, coming straight towards the spectator. The two outside ones are very bad cuts, far too violent, and have split off the surface of the glass. Of the two inner ones the left-hand one is an ideally good cut, no disturbance of the surface having occurred; the right-hand a fairly good one, but a little unnecessarily hard. Passing over B for the present—C is a similar piece of glass also magnified 15-1/2 diameters, with wheel-cuts seen endwise (coming towards the spectator). The one on the left is a very bad cut, the surface of the glass having actually split off in flakes, the next to it is a perfect cut where the surface is intact, and note that though not a quarter so much pressure has been employed, the split downward into the glass is deeper and sharper than in the violent cut to the left, as is also the case with the two other moderately good cuts to the right.

D, E—Wheel-cuts. In these we are looking down upon the surface of the glass. They are bad cuts, multiplied 20 diameters; the direction of the cut is from left to right. In the upper figure the flake of glass is split completely off but is still lying in its place. In the lower one the left-hand half is split, and the right-hand only partially so, remaining so closely attached to the body of the glass as to show (and in an especially beautiful and perfect manner) the rainbow-tinted "Newton's rings" which accompany the phenomenon of "Interference," for an explanation of which I must refer the reader to an encyclopædia or some work on optics. Good cuts seen from above are simply lines like a hair upon the glass, but the diamond-cut is a coarser hair than the wheel-cut.

If you now hold the illustration upside down, what then becomes the top edge of section C shows a wheel-cut seen sideways along the section of the glass which it has divided, the direction of this cut being from left to right.

In the same way section "A" seen upside down gives the appearance of a diamond-cut, also from left to right, and multiplied 15-1/2 diameters, while "B" held in the same position gives the same cut multiplied 78 diameters. The nature of these things is discussed at p. 48.

In their natural colour, and under strong light, they are very beautiful objects under the microscope. Even a 10-diameter "Steinheil lens," or still better its English equivalent, a Nelson lens, will show them fairly, and some such instrument, opening out a new world of beauty beyond the power of ordinary vision, ought, one would think, to be one of the possessions of every artist and lover of Nature.

The illustrations that follow are from the work of the author and his pupils conjointly. Those in which no design has been added are for clearness' sake described as "by the author"; but it is to be understood that in all instances the transcribing of the work in the glass has been the work of pupils under his supervision. All design of diaper, canopy, lettering, and quarries is so, in all the examples selected.

X.—Micro-photographs. Diamond and Wheel Cuts seen in Section and Plan.

PLATE XI.—From Gloucester Cathedral—"St. Boniface" by the author and his pupils.

XI.—Part of Window. Gloucester Cathedral.

PLATE XII.—From the same—"The Stork of Iona" and "The Infant Church," by the same. Canopies from Oak and Ivy.

XII.—Part of Window. Gloucester Cathedral.

PLATE XIII.—Portion of a Window in progress (destined for Ashbourne Church), by the author. This has been specially photographed on the easel, to show how near, by the use of false lead lines, &c., the work can be got, during its progress, to approach to its actual conditions when finished.

XIII.—Portion of Unfinished Window, photographed from Work on the Easel.

PLATE XIV.—Drawings from Nature, by the author's pupils. Pieced together from various drawings by three different hands; made in preparation for design of Oak "canopy." See p. 324 and Plate XI. (#x8_x_8_i59)

XIV.—Drawings from Nature, in Preparation for Design.

PLATE XV.—Part of East Window of School Chapel, Tonbridge, by the author. From the cartoon: the figure playing the dulcimer is underneath the manger, above which is seated the Virgin and Child.

XV.—Part of Window. Tonbridge School Chapel, photographed from the Cartoon.

PLATE XVI.—Figure of one of the Choir of "Dominations." From Gloucester, by the author and his pupils.

XVI.—Part of Window. Gloucester Cathedral.

The names of the pupils whose work appears in Plate VIII. (#x8_x_8_i42) are J. H. Saunders and R. J. Stubington. In Plate XIV. (#x8_x_8_i68) A. E. Child, K. Parsons, and J. H. Stanley; and in the Plates XI. (#x8_x_8_i59) to XVI. (#x8_x_8_i74) J. Brett, L. Brett, A. E. Child, P. R. Edwards, M. Hutchinson, K. Parsons, J. H. Stanley, J. E. Tarbox, and E. A. Woore. The cuts in the text are by K. Parsons and E. A. Woore.

GLOSSARY

Antiques, coloured glasses made in imitation of the qualities of ancient glass.

Banding, putting on the copper "ties" by which the glazed light is attached to the supporting bars.

Base, (1) the light-tinted glass, white, greenish or yellow, on which the thin film of ruby or blue is imposed in "flashed" glasses; (2) the support of the niche on which the figure stands in "canopy work."

Borrowed light, a light not coming direct from daylight, but from the interior light of a building as in the case of a screen of glass. (The result is similar when a window is seen against near background of trees or buildings.)

Calm (of lead), the strip of lead, 3 to 4 feet long, as used for leading up the glass.