As part of my 2017 trip to the US, I went to visit the Brooklyn Museum. Among other art pieces, the museum features a handful of stained glass panels and some Tiffany lamps (stored in the Visible Archives of the museum).
Thanks to the generous support from the Storylines Art Bursary by Mark Furner MP for Ferny Grove and the James Whitney Workshop/Seminar Scholarship by the Stained Glass School/Stained Glass Association of America, I recently had the opportunity to spend few weeks in the US to further my expertise in glass conservation, in particular for heritage stained glass.
During this trip I spent some time at the Corning Museum of Glass (NY), visiting and working with Stephen Koob, Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation and the American Institute for Conservation, who is responsible for the care and preservation of all of the Museum’s collections.
Under Stephen’ mentorship, I have practiced conserving some damaged glass objects, including a vessel created by Frederick Carder in his carrear at Corning. I also had a chance to visit the museum and assist to the end of residency demonstration by visiting artist Dane Jack (blown glass).
After my time in Corning, I travelled for few days to Boston, MA, visiting some churches with heritage stained glass on the way. In Boston, I had the privilege to see a number of stained glass panels by Tiffany and La Farge, among others, including some installed in Harvard University’s Memorial Hall, generally not open to the public.
Once left Boston, I travelled to New York where I visited the Bullseye Glass Resource Center New York, the Queens and Brooklyn Museums, and the Claire Oliver Gallery (a commercial gallery that is the sole representative of Judith Schaechter’s stained glass work).
After New York, I travelled to Bryn Athyn, PA; not before having stopped in Princeton, NJ to admire some great stained glass from Tiffany Studios, depecting St George, and in Millville, visiting WheatonArts – the Museum of American Glass.
Once in Bryn Athyn, I had the opportunity to participate in a heritage stained glass conservation workshop, lead by Steve Hartley, with the help of Kenneth Leap. In the workshop, we had the opportunity to work on and examine a number of medieval and heritage stained glass panels. I also had the chance to return to Philadelphia to admire Tiffany’s Dream Garden mosaic and some stained glass in a church and in the local museum.
Next, I continued my trip and I drove to Washington, where I returned to visit the Washington National Cathedral, including the Stained Glass Association of America’s annual exhibition. Details of glass panel by Kathy Barnard below.
Finally, I concluded my journey in Los Angeles. There I visited the St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, which has several Harry Clark’s windows, and the Forest Lawn – Glendale – Great Mausoleum. There, I had the chance to see ‘The last supper’, the famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci, but in the form of a stained glass window. The museum also had on exposition a few wonderful panels by Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich — but the greatest collection of Mayer’s windows in Los Angeles was in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. A true art supper for the stained glass lovers.
I will post on this blog some stories and images from my trip, including images of Tiffany’s stained glass and lamps, La Farge stained glass masterpieces, fantastic glass artworks from the Corning Museum of Glass, and much more. So, keep looking!
We have now finished the restoration of the leadlight windows at Our Lady of Victories in Bowen Hills, Queensland. The heritage-listed church was hit by the violent thunderstorm that devastated many Brisbane suburbs in November 2014. The image below show some of the damages done to the church’s window as we photographed in our original survey.
The restoration involved repairing more than 80 windows. Of these, most were removed from their original timber casements for reconstruction, while attempting to salvage as much original glass as possible, and match the new glass with the original one. Those with minor damage and no structural concern to the lead were repaired on-site.
The matching was not easy: the windows were originally crafted by the RS Exton Studios, a painters and decorators trade who used to have their warehouse in Brisbane CBD and closed their stained glass business in 1958. The windows of the church date back probably to 1924. The original glass is not produced anymore, and the production processes and colours have since then changed. We managed to recoup some old glass through some stock we had acquired from older stained glass businesses and some demolition yards. However, for a large quantity of glass, we had to commission a custom manufacturing to some glass companies in the US to be able to match the original glass as close as possible. David from Hartley and Williams was of great help in coordinating the sourcing of this glass.
The main damages were concentrated on the south side of the church; however a number of windows throughout the floors of the church’s tower were also damaged; their restoration involved the use of a crane to remove the windows, replace them with temporary perspex (transparent acrylic sheets), and after few weeks replace the restored windows in place.
Through the restoration process it became evident that the windows had undergone several reparations in the past, not all carried up to the highest standard. Some glass was replaced with glass that was of completely different tonalities when compared with the original glass, compromising the original history of the windows. Other glass was installed using glues or silicones: this practice is not just an eyesore, but it also puts under serious risks the integrity of the lead that gives the structure to the windows.
The damaged windows are now all restored to their original appearance. The larger windows are composed from two strips of four top-hinged hoppers, mostly filled with green diamond mullioned glass. The green colour of the windows is to commemorate the armed forces of World War I. Above these panels is placed a semi circular window glazed with a leadlight panel depicting a rising sun, which, continuing with the commemoration of the WWI armed forces, recalls the symbol of the First Australian Imperial Force AIF.
I have recently completed the restoration of 6 leadlight panels from a heritage Queenslander home in Yeronga, Brisbane, built in 1924. The panels have a lovely floral motif and intense purple and aquamarine colours. While the panels were not damaged in the 2014 Brisbane hailstorm that heavily damaged a lot of heritage stained glass windows in the area, they did suffer the harsh Queensland sun and the lead was crumbling down.
Interestingly, the same motif was present in other leadlight windows around the house’s veranda: these windows were in immaculate conditions because soon after building, the veranda was enclosed to add more indoor space to the house.
The restoration of these windows was carried out in 6 weeks and all the panels were rebuilt from scratch maintaining the same width and type of lead cames. Few glass pieces were broken but fortunately we were able to match the original glass with some heritage glass we had in stock in Glass Artistry’s studio, thus maintaining the original design: at Glass Artistry, we always strive to matching the glass that needs replacement as close as possible.
Along with the restored panels, we provided to the owners a full report detailing the status of the windows. We also organised for the restoration of the original timber frames of the leadlight windows. Once we removed the leadlight, my collaborator John Britnell from JayBee Woodworks took all silky oak frames apart, brought them back to bare timber, reconstructed the damaged portion by inserting matching silky oak. John then stained the internal part of frames by carefully recreating the original stained and also recoated the external part of the frames.
The owners of the restored leadlight panels sent me a very kind email of appreciation of the restoration works:
Hi Magda,As you know, both Shirley and I are extremely happy with the service you have provided in the restoration of our windows. You showed the utmost care, from understanding our needs at the beginning of the project, through to the planning and execution of the work.
Your skill and artistry has added a great deal of heritage value to our home, and we would not hesitate to recommend your services.
So, thank you again for your professionalism and for the obvious passion you have for your craft, you really looked after us.
All the best for the future, and our sincerest gratitude for all your efforts.
Warm regards,
Luke Harrison
In my recent trip to Europe, I visited Glasgow, Scotland. I used to live and work in Glasgow few years ago, and it was there that I specialised in art glass design and worked in great glass projects for the Verrier Glass Studio, including the creation of leadlight windows and the restoration of heritage stained glass in Glasgow.
It was to my great joy that a beautiful stained glass window by Irish artist Harry Clarke was on display at the Kelvingrove museum. Harry Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was a proficient stained glass artist and he created more than 130 windows which are characterised by rich colours (especially deep blues), fine drawings and the integration of the lead cames themselves into the design of the stained glass window (which remind the heavy lines in his black&white book illustrations). An example of Clarke’s stained glass windows is also in the St Stephen’s Catholic Cathedral in Brisbane (known as the “Ascension” or “Mayne” window, because in memory of Isaac and William Mayne). This window was commissioned to Clarke and imported from Ireland in the early part of the twentieth century (about 1923).
The window in Glasgow is titled “The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin” and, as the Brisbane’w window, it also was realised in 1923, as recorded along with Clarke’s signature in the bottom right corner of the rightmost panel (see image). The window is made up of 20 panels and was originally installed in the Convent Chapel in the Teacher Training College in Dowanhill Glasgow, Scotland, but has now been removed and is assembled into an exhibition frame in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum. The window was commissioned by Sister Mary of St Wilfrid of The Sisters of Notre Dame and Principal of the Teacher Training College.
The window contains all the motifs that make Clarke’s work famous around the word: the deep blue colours of the Virgin’s dress, the delicate drawings of the faces of the people pictured in the window (see the details in the images above), and the inclusion of the lead as integral part of the design, for example dictating the flow of the Virgin’s dress and the drip of water in the central panel.
Recently I have restored some stained glass panels for another Brisbane’s leadlight studio, following a previous reparation I did for them for a panel in the church of Auchenflower-Milton. I was asked to recreate the paintings for two small panels from the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Woollongabba, while they would have taken care of the re-leading of the panels and the installation in the church. The stained glass windows were damaged during the wild hailstorm that hit Brisbane in November 2014.
The two panels picture two kneeling angels holding a papyrus paper with a writing to commemorate the memory of Wellington and Amily Wilham, parents of the original window’s commissioners. The elaborated wings of the angels are turquoise, their dress is acid green and the faces are delicately painted.
The small panels were brought into Glass Artistry’s studio with damages to the face of the left angel and the wing of the right angel. Also the glass containing the dedication message was scattered into a number of small pieces, and other smaller border pieces with decorative leaves were also irreparably broken or missing. In total, there were about 30 glass pieces broken that required to be recreated.
Recently I have restored some stained glass panels for another Brisbane’s leadlight studio. I was asked to recreate the paintings for a large stained glass window from the Anglican Parish of Auchenflower-Milton, while they would have taken care of the re-leading of the window and its installation in the church. The stained glass window was damaged during the wild hailstorm that hit Brisbane in November 2014.
The window depicted the baptism of Christ. Many of the glass pieces were missing or were completely broken, and an accurate photographic documentation of the original window did not exist, making the restoration complex. Indeed, only a low resolution picture, taken at an angle, was available (see below).