In contrast to traditional stained glass, which was coloured with metallic oxides when molten, this fragment was decorated using a new technique introduced in England in the early 14th century. This consisted of painting a compound of silver on the back of the glass. After firing in a kiln, the silver compound would turn yellow. Many panels from the 14th and 15th centuries are decorated simply in yellow (silver) stain and highlighted with a brown-black pigment.

This fragment of glass uses the new technique: clear glass was painted partly on the reverse with yellow stain and on the front with brown pigment. The thick coat of brown pigment was scratched through to reveal two yellow four-leaved flowers within an arching border. It is possible that this fragment would have formed part of a larger architectural setting surrounding the figure of a saint. It may have been part of an arch.

The religious conflicts that affected the British Isles in the 16th and 17th centuries had a devastating effect upon the decorative arts and furnishings of the Christian church. Much of the medieval stained glass in churches and cathedrals was damaged and only survives in a fragmentary state.