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Panel
Unknown - Enlarge image
Panel
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
14th century-16th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Stained glass
- Credit Line:
Bequeathed by Mr Henry Vaughan
- Museum number:
930-1900
- Gallery location:
Sacred Silver & Stained Glass, room 84, case S3
This window is known as a composite window, which means that it is not in its original form. Instead, it has been composed of various fragments of glass, the original setting of which is unknown.
In the 15th and 16th centuries it became commonplace to set panels of coloured glass against a background of plain glass quarries (often diamond-shaped panes, as used in lattice windows). Panels with armorial glass (coats of arms) were particularly popular. Such windows were found in both ecclesiastical and domestic settings.
The plain glass quarries were decorated with a wide variety of motifs painted in brown and yellow silver. Certain plants and flowers, such as hawthorn and honeysuckle, appear repeatedly. Devices, badges, emblems and mottoes specific to particular patrons were also introduced. Here we see a quarry painted with a white hart, which could be the badge of Richard II of England, who reigned from 1377 to 1399.
This panel has been made up with a mixture of quarries that clearly come from different windows. They are all contained within a border of red glass set with lion masks, which dates from the 14th century. Some of the quarries bear spirited animal portraits, such as the pair of lions near the bottom and the bird feeding its chick in the centre of the panel. We also see the ubiquitous flowers, rosettes and flowering buds.
