Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 120, The Wolfson Galleries

Panel

1811-1831 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
In the first half of the 19th century there was a move away from the pictorial glass-painting which predominated in Britain during the18th. Medieval principles of window-making were revived, joining pieces of coloured glass with leads in mosaic form. This taste for old stained glass became increasingly fashionable, and vast quantities were imported from the Continent. This panel is one of several made in the Gothic style to supplement a series of over 120 panels of 16th-century German glass, installed by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgwater (1756-1829), in his chapel at Ashridge Park, Hertfordshire, between 1811 and 31.

People
Ashridge was designed and built in the period 1808-1814 by James Wyatt (1746-1813), an architect famous for his neo-Gothic country houses. It has been suggested that this panel was made by Joseph Hale Miller (1777-1842), one of four artists pioneering medieval stained glass making in England at this time. Miller was responsible for restoring the historic glass in Ashridge chapel, and though his own work resorts largely to 18th-century techniques, it does emulate the Gothic style.

Materials & Making
Despite the maker's attempt to produce windows that are medieval in appearance, this panel is typical of the early 19th century. A large proportion of the panel is clear glass, over-painted in brown and coloured enamels. But some of the coloured areas, such as the prophet's green robe, are made from true stained glass (or 'pot-metal'), and the blue and red sections are 'flashed' (clear glass which has been coated with a different-coloured layer). The shape of the panel indicates that it was made to fill the tracery in the uppermost section of a window.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Clear, flashed and coloured glass, painted with brown enamel
Brief description
Stained glass panel or tracery light, depicting a figure of the prophet Isaiah, possibly by Joseph Hale Miller, London, England, 1811-31
Physical description
Panel: tracery light. Half figure of the Prophet Isaiah holding a scroll inscribed: "Isaiah". A niche of Gothic pinnacles. At each side a kneeling angel holding a scroll inscribed respectively !) LAUDATE DOMINUM and 2) GLORIA IN EXCELSIO DEO.
Dimensions
  • Height: 53.34cm
  • Width: 70.48cm
  • Depth: 3.2cm
Gallery label
British Galleries: These panels come from the chapel of Ashridge Park, Hertfordshire, a huge Gothic Revival house begun in 1808. The windows were almost entirely made up of German 16th-century glass. These two new panels, showing the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, were painted in the Medieval style.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by E.E. Cook Esquire.
Object history
Made in London, possibly by Joseph Hale Miller
Summary
Object Type
In the first half of the 19th century there was a move away from the pictorial glass-painting which predominated in Britain during the18th. Medieval principles of window-making were revived, joining pieces of coloured glass with leads in mosaic form. This taste for old stained glass became increasingly fashionable, and vast quantities were imported from the Continent. This panel is one of several made in the Gothic style to supplement a series of over 120 panels of 16th-century German glass, installed by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgwater (1756-1829), in his chapel at Ashridge Park, Hertfordshire, between 1811 and 31.

People
Ashridge was designed and built in the period 1808-1814 by James Wyatt (1746-1813), an architect famous for his neo-Gothic country houses. It has been suggested that this panel was made by Joseph Hale Miller (1777-1842), one of four artists pioneering medieval stained glass making in England at this time. Miller was responsible for restoring the historic glass in Ashridge chapel, and though his own work resorts largely to 18th-century techniques, it does emulate the Gothic style.

Materials & Making
Despite the maker's attempt to produce windows that are medieval in appearance, this panel is typical of the early 19th century. A large proportion of the panel is clear glass, over-painted in brown and coloured enamels. But some of the coloured areas, such as the prophet's green robe, are made from true stained glass (or 'pot-metal'), and the blue and red sections are 'flashed' (clear glass which has been coated with a different-coloured layer). The shape of the panel indicates that it was made to fill the tracery in the uppermost section of a window.
Collection
Accession number
C.284-1928

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Record createdJuly 20, 1998
Record URL
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