Panel
17th-18th century
| Artist/Maker |
Object Type
In the 100 years following the Protestant Reformation of the mid-16th century, few stained-glass windows with religious imagery were produced for English churches. The medium was used almost solely for heraldic panels. These were commissioned by wealthy individuals to decorate their residences, to declare their political allegiances and, most importantly, to celebrate their family alliances.
Materials & Making
By the end of the 16th century true stained glass played a diminishing part in the production of coats of arms. Instead, clear glass was painted with coloured glass-based pigments (enamels). This highly-skilled work fell chiefly to Dutch and German immigrant artists but there were a number of glass painting workshops in Britain which became increasingly more productive in the 17th and 18th centuries. This panel is made predominantly of clear and tinted glass which has been painted with successive layers of coloured paint. The brown enamel has been scraped away in places to create white highlights. Silver stain, which turns yellow on firing, has been extensively applied. The tones achieved - ranging from pale lemon to deep amber - vary according to the number of coats applied and the firing conditions. This layering technique brings a striking three-dimensional quality to the border ornament.
Provenance
The shield bears what is believed to be the fictitious arms of the Pigot family, quartering Castelline and Walcott. Whilst the provenance of this panel is uncertain, similar stained-glass panels exist in the mid-18th-century church of St Lawrence in Mereworth, Kent. Built in the Palladian style by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, St Lawrence was filled with old figural windows dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. The glass painter William Price the Younger was responsible for the heraldic windows of St Lawrence and it is possible that he had acquired an imported stained glass panel from the Netherlands and created the centre section from parts of an English coat of arms at the behest of a client.
In the 100 years following the Protestant Reformation of the mid-16th century, few stained-glass windows with religious imagery were produced for English churches. The medium was used almost solely for heraldic panels. These were commissioned by wealthy individuals to decorate their residences, to declare their political allegiances and, most importantly, to celebrate their family alliances.
Materials & Making
By the end of the 16th century true stained glass played a diminishing part in the production of coats of arms. Instead, clear glass was painted with coloured glass-based pigments (enamels). This highly-skilled work fell chiefly to Dutch and German immigrant artists but there were a number of glass painting workshops in Britain which became increasingly more productive in the 17th and 18th centuries. This panel is made predominantly of clear and tinted glass which has been painted with successive layers of coloured paint. The brown enamel has been scraped away in places to create white highlights. Silver stain, which turns yellow on firing, has been extensively applied. The tones achieved - ranging from pale lemon to deep amber - vary according to the number of coats applied and the firing conditions. This layering technique brings a striking three-dimensional quality to the border ornament.
Provenance
The shield bears what is believed to be the fictitious arms of the Pigot family, quartering Castelline and Walcott. Whilst the provenance of this panel is uncertain, similar stained-glass panels exist in the mid-18th-century church of St Lawrence in Mereworth, Kent. Built in the Palladian style by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, St Lawrence was filled with old figural windows dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. The glass painter William Price the Younger was responsible for the heraldic windows of St Lawrence and it is possible that he had acquired an imported stained glass panel from the Netherlands and created the centre section from parts of an English coat of arms at the behest of a client.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Stained glass |
| Brief description | Clear and tinted glass decorated in enamels and silver stain and depicting the supposed arms of Pigot quartering Castelline and Walcott. Netherlandish with English additions, 17th-18th centuries. |
| Physical description | Panel. Arms of Pigot quartering Castellini and Walcott. Probably fictitious. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed with the arms of the Pigot family, of Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
The best stained glass artists in London between 1450 and 1600 were immigrants from The Netherlands or the German states. The painter of this panel carefully layered the colours to give a three-dimensional effect to the classical ornament.(27/03/2003) |
| Credit line | Given by W. Coker Iliffe |
| Object history | From Kent? |
| Summary | Object Type In the 100 years following the Protestant Reformation of the mid-16th century, few stained-glass windows with religious imagery were produced for English churches. The medium was used almost solely for heraldic panels. These were commissioned by wealthy individuals to decorate their residences, to declare their political allegiances and, most importantly, to celebrate their family alliances. Materials & Making By the end of the 16th century true stained glass played a diminishing part in the production of coats of arms. Instead, clear glass was painted with coloured glass-based pigments (enamels). This highly-skilled work fell chiefly to Dutch and German immigrant artists but there were a number of glass painting workshops in Britain which became increasingly more productive in the 17th and 18th centuries. This panel is made predominantly of clear and tinted glass which has been painted with successive layers of coloured paint. The brown enamel has been scraped away in places to create white highlights. Silver stain, which turns yellow on firing, has been extensively applied. The tones achieved - ranging from pale lemon to deep amber - vary according to the number of coats applied and the firing conditions. This layering technique brings a striking three-dimensional quality to the border ornament. Provenance The shield bears what is believed to be the fictitious arms of the Pigot family, quartering Castelline and Walcott. Whilst the provenance of this panel is uncertain, similar stained-glass panels exist in the mid-18th-century church of St Lawrence in Mereworth, Kent. Built in the Palladian style by John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, St Lawrence was filled with old figural windows dating from the 16th to 18th centuries. The glass painter William Price the Younger was responsible for the heraldic windows of St Lawrence and it is possible that he had acquired an imported stained glass panel from the Netherlands and created the centre section from parts of an English coat of arms at the behest of a client. |
| Bibliographic reference | Glass, or Glass-making as a creative art through the ages, Leeds : Temple Newsam House, 1961
191 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.126-1929 |
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| Record created | June 9, 1998 |
| Record URL |
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