Window in a Listed Building,10 - Start of the Leading

While the painting of the pieces is progressing, glass has been selected for the perimeter and cut. This allows the beginning of the leading to be set out in preparation for the pieces as they become available. The image below shows the beginning of the leading for the central panel.

The bottom panel has fewer pieces to be prepared and so the leading can proceed a little further than the others.

Previous posts are:
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Window in a Listed Building,9 - Central Panel

This shows the central panel with glass cut and ready for painting. The glass was selected on a light box and also presented to the sky for comparison. I chose a good match in full light, but when cut and placed on white background the glass appeared too "blue".



So I selected a slightly paler glass with less blue in it and cut the new pieces for painting. Another lesson - look at the glass on white paper as well as in the daylight. While viewing over white paper does not give the true colour and tint as viewed in natural light, it does show subtle variations.

The glass that is to be painted, although appearing to pale at the moment, will be altered by the addition of paint to blend with the other glass. The original glass, as you can see, has a range of variation too.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building4-round-head.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building5-first-panel.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building6-bottom-panel.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building7-central.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building8-central.html

Window in a Listed Building,8 - Central Panel

This is the central figure glued together and resting on the rubbing of the original panel.



It has been difficult to remove the stains from the overlaying leads. I have decided to stop at this stage to avoid removing any paint. The mark does not show when held up to the light, but is clearly visible on the rubbing.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building4-round-head.html http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building5-first-panel.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building6-bottom-panel.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building7-central.html

Window in a Listed Building,7 - Central Panel

I began the dis-assembly of the middle panel last week. This photo shows the early stages.



The outer borders on the left have been taken away and prepared for cleaning. This panel was in the best state of the four in terms of amount of obvious breakages. However as dis=-assembly progressed, more broken pieces were revealed. The clear replacements added in the past are very obvious now that the panel is on the bench.



This photo shows the pieces on the left after cleaning with some of the gaps marked and the areas of clear replacements.




This photo shows the panel completely taken apart and cleaned.

This shows the variations in colour on borders, which ranges from deep flashed red to a brownish purple. Many of these narrow pieces are broken and will need to be replaced.

This also shows some of the mild variation in colour of the grisaille that forms the main areas of the whole window.

Comparison of the painted head in its cleaned state with the leaded panel shows a major variation. In the original state it appears that the head is in two pieces - the line running across the neck of the figure. When taken apart, this is shown to be a line overlayed across a break. Also in the grissaile surrounding the head there are lines of overlayed lead. The purpose of these is not apparent to me, as the glass was sound underneath. Although one piece has a couple of breaks near the cloak.

These pieces will be glued with Araldite 20/20. This is a clear resin that does not discolour in sunlight and is impervious to moisture.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building4-round-head.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building5-first-panel.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building6-bottom-panel.html

Boats

Among the other things I have been doing is developing an idea I had last spring. As you can see my ideas have a long gestation period! The idea was to develop something a little different for seaside places. Many galleries and gift shops have two dimensional boats for sale.

I thought I could do something different by adding a shape to the pieces providing a sense of movement. This has gone through several refinements and many mould variations until I came up with these.

This picture represents the first of the "just beyond prototype" pieces. I am about to to round galleries to find out if my enthusiasm is met with theirs.

The two sails on this version - there will be others if these are of interest - are shaped, while the hull and mast remain a single plane. As one sailing acquaintance said to me, they are sailing pretty near the wind and should be leaning toward the viewer. I think it is better to have them vertical until the public tells me differently.

Window in a Listed Building,6 - Bottom Panel

This is an image of the bottom panel taken apart and cleaned. The panel as it came from the window can be seen in a previous post. This shows how extensive the damage to this bottom panel has been. The female figure has been lost, probably to theft, as only a little of the glass around it has been broken. It does show the amount of painting and replacement that is required.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.htmlhttp://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building4-round-head.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building5-first-panel.html

Window in a Listed Building,5 - First panel down

I know it is independence day in the USofA, but the rest of us work on. It doesn't seem such a big deal out side the borders of the USofA.


This shows the first panel down from the top of the listed window with the leads removed. It has been cleaned and the badly broken panes removed from the stock of glass to be re-leaded.





This image shows the pieces from the panel that are being prepared for gluing. I use Araldite 20/20 as it is a strong two part resin that does not yellow and is impervious to moisture. The cracks do show as a fine line, but the glue will not deteriorate in the light and moisture.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building4-round-head.html

Window in a Listed Building,4 - Round Head

Now is the time to start working on the panels. I have started with the round head of the window that has been covered with two sheets of fibreglass - one inside and one outside. There has been a replacement with clear textured glass on the right and there is extensive breakage on the left. The central portion is in tact.




This image shows the glass dismantled and some of it has been taken to be put into the water for soaking. All the glass except the red flashed is relatively thick. But the red flashed glass is very thin - less than 2mm sometimes, but still intense in colour.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/07/window-in-listed-building3-glass.html

Window in a Listed Building,3 - Glass Cleaning Tests

It is clear that the glass needs to be cleaned, but the concern always is about the stability of the paint, especially as here where the paint has already corroded. I took fragments of glass that will have to be replaced to do the tests upon. Then image below shows -from the left

- a piece of glass taken from the panel with no other work done upon it

- in the middle, a piece of glass soaked in plain water overnight and scrubbed

- and on the right, a piece of glass further scrubbed with soap.


These show no visible paint loss. So the decision is to soak the glass overnight in plain water and scrub with a nylon brush, using soap if needed.

The previous entries in this series can be found at:
http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-1.html

http://verrier-glass.blogspot.com/2009/06/window-in-listed-building-2.html

Novar Drive, Hyndland

A client had me put reproduction windows into the internal fanlights of his house. He was so pleased that he decided to have a similar thing done in a flat that he will be renting out. In this case I took the pattern in the bathroom window and adapted it slightly. My interpretation of the small mound at the bottom of that window is reflected in the door opening below the fanlight.




This window was installed by the joiners working on the flat. After inspection, I needed to add putty, as the panels had been installed dry, and so rattled each time a door was closed. Another lesson on the need for experienced people to do even simple jobs.