WINDOWS IN TIME: CONSERVING THE STAINED GLASS COLLECTION AT COE HALL A Brief History of Stained Glass Artistry How Is It Made? A Stained Glass Glossary The Coe family assembled a remarkable collection of European stained glass in the early 1920’s while decorating their new home at Planting Fields. The collection consists of 48 panels made between the 13th and the 19th centuries with subjects both religious and secular. The brilliantly colored glass brought the old world to the North Shore of Long Island and with it, a rich history of the art as it evolved from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance and later. Much of the collection is listed on the Corpus Vitrearum Checklist, a critical survey of European stained glass in this country conducted by the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Today, many of these ancient treasures are in need of immediate intervention to halt deterioration. Conservation began in 2004 with funding from the Florence Gould Foundation, the World Monuments Fund, the Brooklyn Stained Glass Studio and Planting Fields Foundation. Fundraising continues in order to meet the expected $250,000 cost of preserving and protecting this extraordinary collection for the future. A new exhibit at Coe Hall celebrates the stained glass collection, the art’s history and the work of conservation professionals. You can read more about these subjects on this website: Link One Link One Saint Nicholas / Investiture of a Bishop Saint 16th century, French This panel is identified as the Investiture of the Bishop Saint in the Corpus Vitrearum Checklist. Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra lived in the 4th century and became the patron saint of children, travelers and seamen. This panel has been called “the largest, most intact and best preserved glass of its kind in this country” by Conservator David Fraser of the Brooklyn Stained Glass Studio. The panel was the first to receive conservation treatment and was reinstalled in June 2004. One of the exhibit highlights shows step-by-step how stained glass is made and restored using a badly damaged 17th century English armorial panel from Coe Hall. Professionals at the Brooklyn Stained Glass Conservation Studio repaired the glass and made replacement pieces to restore its original appearance. This involved researching the coat of arms and examining similar English heraldry from the same era. A chemist attempted to replicate the 17th century recipe for sanguine (the orange color) used in the panel. Each replacement piece was signed and dated as a record of the restoration. At right is the panel before restoration. Above is the panel after restoration in a light table surrounded by pieces of glass used to test the enamel colors and stopgaps that had been used in the past to fill in missing pieces. Mary Magdalene 14th century Swiss or German 25 1/4” x 11 7/8” The beginnings of stained glass are rooted deep in human history. Ancient Egyptians made colored glass beads and the Romans made glass windows as early as the 1st century A.D. Techniques used to make jewelry, cloisonné and mosaics were used in creating early stained glass. Though we don’t know who made the first stained glass window, remains of one of the oldest windows with multiple pieces of colored glass were found at the 7th century St. Paul’s Monastery in Jarrow, England. The building of great European cathedrals over the next eight hundred years fueled a golden era in stained glass artistry. Some of the oldest intact stained glass windows are from the 11th and 12th centuries at Augsburg Cathedral in Germany and at Chartres Cathedral in France. The Protestant Reformation of the early 16th century brought this golden era to a close but the attraction of stained glass remained and the art form . Saint John 14th century Swiss or German 25 1/4” x 11 3/4” A Brief History of Stained Glass Artistry The Gothic age of the 12th - 15th centuries produced the great European cathedrals and a pinnacle in stained glass artistry. During this time, improvements in building methods made churches taller with thinner walls and bigger windows that could fit larger glass panels. In the 14th century, silver stain was discovered and a wonderful range of yellows and ambers were introduced into glass painting. Flashed glass was also invented in this period. This technique fuses a thin layer of color onto a piece of glass. The color can then be scraped or etched away to reveal the color below. Red on clear glass and blue on yellow glass created new opportunities for stained glass designs. Innovations of silver stain and Bust of an Heiress 15th—16th century Flemish 21 1/2” x 27 3/8” This panel is identified in the Corpus Vitrearum as being linked with the city of Brussels. The inscription is in ancient Flemish. Note the use of silver stain and enamel paints to create detail and shading. enamel paints in the 15th century changed the way glass artists worked. They relied less on mosaic techniques to assemble colored glass pieces into images and did more painting on clear glass. The result was more detailed images with fewer and thinner lead lines. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the armorial panel became very popular as coats of arms were made in stained glass and installed in homes to display family history and pride. Town halls and other community buildings were often fitted with smaller panels of patron saints and armorial panels of donors or prominent local families as well as political narratives. The 19th and early 20th century revival of Gothic and Renaissance styles renewed interest in stained glass and produced the next great innovations in the art. Centuries-old glass techniques were rediscovered. In the United States, artists John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany began using opalescent glass, often in multiple layers, to create subtle colors and three-dimensional texture in mosaic images. This produced a style of stained glass uniquely American. How Is It Made? A Stained Glass Glossary  Came Lead strips grooved on both sides that hold pieces of stained glass in place. Cartoon A full-size color design for a stained glass window. Enamel / Glass Paint Metallic oxide pigments combined with flux or molten glass that are applied in solution and fired onto glass. Enamels were used extensively in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Etching Decorative process of engraving the top (colored) layer of a piece of flashed glass with a rotating tool in order to let the clear layer appear. Firing Process of heating painted glass so that the paint and glass fuse together. Flashed glass A white or clear glass to which a thin layer of colored glass is added on top Grisaille A brownish paint made with iron oxide that is fused on to the surface of glass to define details in painted glass windows. Grozing Trimming glass into a shape with a grozing iron, which is a hooked tool that leaves a characteristic ‘nibbled’ edge. Leading / Glazing Assembling pieces of glass for window panels with lead strip. Matting Even application of grisaille paint over a surface. It can then be highlighted by effects of stippling, sharp point highlights or brushed away. Replacement A piece of glass cut and sometimes painted to match a piece missing in a stained glass panel. Sanguine Type of brownish-orange glass paint used to color flesh, wood, hair and fur since the 16th century. Sanguine is also called Jean-Cousin. Silver Stain A silver compound, usually silver nitrate, which produces a yellow- amber color when fired onto glass. Discovered in the 14th century. Stippling Method of painting that creates tiny points of light all over the glass. Stopgap A fragment of ‘left over’ glass from other stained glass panels used as a replacement for a missing piece. A stopgap may or may not match. Trace Contour lines painted with grisaille paint and a pointy brush. Wash A thin coat of grisaille applied with a brush to create shadows and reinforce trace lines. This 15th century English knight at Coe Hall wears a tabard with scallop shells on the red portion. They were created by etching red flashed glass with special tool. Looking at this detail, you can see the marks left by this tool. This 17th century English armorial panel at Coe Hall was created using silver stain and a variety of enamel glass paints, including sanguine, or Jean-Cousin and grisaille.