Border panel thumbnail 1
Border panel thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 8, The William and Eileen Ruddock Gallery

Border panel

Panel
ca. 1180-1200 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This panel came originally from a window at Canterbury Cathedral. It was on the north side of the Trinity Chapel ambulatory. The window was dedicated to scenes from the Life of St Thomas Becket. Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in the cathedral in 1170.

The decoration on this panel is similar to that in a medallion window now located in St Martin's Chapel in the Cathedral.

Some of the surviving medieval glass was removed from the cathedral in the mid-1800s and replaced with copies. Some of the original glass was moved to different locations within the cathedral and some panels were stored in various glaziers’ workshops, and eventually sold off to private collectors.

Over time, some of these panels from the cathedral have come into museum collections in Britain and in the United States.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleBorder panel (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Clear, coloured and flashed glass with painted details
Brief description
Border panel with rinceaux design. Originally from Canterbury Cathedral. Made in England, about 1180 to 1205.
Physical description
An irregular shaped, five-sided panel, part of the background of a medallion window. Along the curved side is a border composed of small acanthus leaves in white and outside them foliated sprays in pink and yellow, with details painted in black, set on a blue ground. The border has an inner band of green and an outer band of white. The rest of the panel is filled with sprays and tufts of foliage in blue, green, yellow and white, springing from coiled interlacing stems in white, the details painted in black, set on a red ground.
Dimensions
  • Framed height: 82.0cm
  • Framed width: 45.4cm
  • Sight height: 61.3cm
  • Sight width: 44.2cm
  • Framed depth: 3.2cm
In a standard display frame. Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Credit line
Given by Mr John Hunt
Object history
From a window on the north side of the Trinity Chapel ambulatory of Canterbury Cathedral.

All three panels (C.2-1958, C.7 & 8-1959) had been purchased from Canterbury by Philip Nelson. John Hunt purchased them from Nelson's estate and later gave them to the museum.

Bernard Rackham postulated that this glass may have been part of the medallion window in St Martin's Chapel in the cathedral, part of which is modern.
Historical context
The rinceaux panels were located in the interstices of the two medallions of the Trinity chapel ambulatory window. Rectangular border panels formed the top and bottom of each window.

The decoration of this panel is similar to the background of a medallion window now in St Martin's Chapel in the cathedral. This led Bernard Rackham to believe the panel originated in this chapel.
Production
Originally from Canterbury Cathedral.
Subject depicted
Summary
This panel came originally from a window at Canterbury Cathedral. It was on the north side of the Trinity Chapel ambulatory. The window was dedicated to scenes from the Life of St Thomas Becket. Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in the cathedral in 1170.

The decoration on this panel is similar to that in a medallion window now located in St Martin's Chapel in the Cathedral.

Some of the surviving medieval glass was removed from the cathedral in the mid-1800s and replaced with copies. Some of the original glass was moved to different locations within the cathedral and some panels were stored in various glaziers’ workshops, and eventually sold off to private collectors.

Over time, some of these panels from the cathedral have come into museum collections in Britain and in the United States.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Williamson, Paul. Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003. ISBN 1851774041
  • Madeline H. Caviness, "Canterbury Stained Glass," Arts in Virginia, vol.13, no.2 (1973), pp.1-15
  • The Year 1200: A Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan I. Catalogue, Konrad Hoffmann, New York, 1970, no.228, pp.225-5
  • Madeline H. Caviness, The Stained Glass of the Trinity Chapel Ambulatory of Canterbury Cathedral, unpublished PhD dissertation, Harvard, 1970
  • M.H. Caviness, The Windows of Christ Church Canterbury Cathedral (Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Great Britain, 2, London, 1981)
  • Schubert, Alexander, Richard Löwenherz König - Ritter - Gefangener. Regensburg, 2017 p.86
Collection
Accession number
C.2-1958

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Record createdNovember 12, 2003
Record URL
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