Old French
Stained Glass Design
ca. 1870 (made)
ca. 1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here is Old French, represented by Palissy. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Old French |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink with watercolour on paper |
| Brief description | Design for Victoria and Albert Museum by William Bell Scott, Ceramic Gallery, stained glass window (Old French), about 1870 |
| Physical description | Small-scale pen and ink drawing with yellow watercolour on paper. Divided into four yellow-bordered rectangular lights, this design for a stained-glass window in the Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) is labelled ‘Old French (Palissy)’. The upper left light is decorated with an image of Palissy flanked by two figures. The upper right light shows the creation of Palissy’s grotto for Catherine de Medici, with a scaffolding tower placed before the niche- and bust-decorated curved interior wall. In the lower pair of lights, scenes represent the four elements: the scenes are enclosed in cartouches, separated vertically by term-like figures and (in the left light) arabesque ornament. Drawn to a larger scale, to the side is a detail of the pattern to be used as a border. Annotations include 'appd design ... 2/6/70', albeit with an objection to an element of the design. |
| Dimensions |
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| Place depicted | |
| Summary | As carried out during the late 1860s and 1870s, the interior of the Lecture Theatre block of the Victoria and Albert Museum - containing the Lecture Theatre, Ceramic Gallery (now the Silver Gallery, Rooms 65-69) and refreshment rooms - was elaborately decorated. This pen and ink drawing comprises one of William Bell Scott’s designs for the fourteen stained-glass windows in the Ceramic Gallery. Henry Cole, the first director of the Museum, was responsible for the theme. Mirroring the arrangement of ceramic items within the gallery, the stained-glass windows depicted historical periods of ceramic manufacture: seen here is Old French, represented by Palissy. Scott executed the designs by painting onto glass panes with a brush, keeping the windows virtually free of colour (yellow being the only stain used) so as not to darken the gallery. Scott also designed two stained-glass windows for the landings of the two staircases leading up from the Ceramic Gallery to the Lecture Theatre. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Physick, John. The Victoria and Albert Museum: The History of Its Building. London: The Victoria & Albert Museum, 1982.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 8099:5 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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