Object Type
From about 1400 it had been common to fill the background of large stained-glass schemes with small, individually decorated, diamond-shaped panes known as 'quarries'. The word probably comes from the Latin quadrellum, meaning 'little square'. These quarries, whether used in ecclesiastical or domestic settings, were mainly heraldic in character and generally of a higher standard than the figural designs of the period.

Place
These examples probably originate from the window of the eastern apse of Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey. The chapel was built after the King's death in 1509, according to provisions laid down in his will. Its glazing programme comprised a series of royal badges and shields of arms set against a background of quarries. These bore further royal devices, among which are those preserved here: the crowned portcullis, 'H' and 'R' crowned (Henricus Rex), and the initials 'H' and 'E' ( for Henry and his wife, Elizabeth of York) flanking a crown in a hawthorn bush. This last device is a reference to Henry's triumph over Richard III.

Time
The 'Great Window' was an architectural feature that Henry VII (reigned 1457-1509) employed ostentatiously in his churches and residences alike. It demonstrated his patronage - particularly of those fashionable artists he had lured over from the Continent - and thereby his wealth and power. The size, magnificence and design skill of such huge areas of glass would have greatly impressed viewers.

The King employed leading Dutch and German stained glass artists to work on these windows. Their new, early Renaissance style flourished here, but only briefly as the Reformation of the mid 1530s curtailed such work. One of the artists, the King's glazier Barnard Flower, was probably working on the Westminster Abbey chapel window in the years immediately following the King's death.