Leadlight

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Leadlight is the term used for decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came is discussed at lead came and copper foil glasswork. The term leadlight could be used to describe all windows in which the glass is supported by lead but a distinction is usually made between stained glass windows and leadlights, the former being associated with fine architecture and the latter with vernacular commercial and domestic architecture and defined by its simplicity.

Domestic interior by Jan Vermeer showing a leadlight casement window.

1 Description
2 History
3 Important artists
4 Gallery
5 See also

[edit] Description

Art Nouveau glass with grisaille decoration at Limoges Railway Station, France

Leadlight windows differ from stained glass windows principally in being less complex in design, using simpler techniques and being far less expensive. While stained glass windows are found principally in churches and grandly ornate buildings, leadlight windows are extremely common and in the period from 1860 to 1930 were a regular architectural feature in many private houses and cottages, where their style is often a clue to the age of the building.

Leadlight windows employ the use of quarries, pieces of glass cut into regular geometric shapes, sometimes square, rectangular or circular but most frequently diamond (or more correctly lozenge) shaped.

Unlike stained glass windows which are traditionally pictorial or of elaborate design, leadlight windows are generally non-pictorial, containing geometric designs and formalised plant motifs.

The colours may range from delicate pastels to intense hues. The glass used may be textured or patterned or bevelled.

The quarries, particularly in 19th century windows, may be mold cast into patterns such as fleur de lys and imprinted with black and yellow stain.

Quarries painted in grisaille were employed both in the Medieval period and the 19th century, the most famous ancient windows to have been decorated in this manner being in York Minster and having inspired many imitations painted with little birds.

[edit] History

Medieval armorial glass at Ightham Mote, England, seen from the exterior

[edit] 15th-17th centuries

During this period large sheets of glass were very expensive. Domestic windows were generally small and were made of crown glass which has a characteristic rippled surface. The irregular glinting surface of diamond-pane windows is a distinctive feature of old European houses. The diamond (or more correctly, lozenge) shape of the panes gave greater stability than square-cut straight-set panes and hence are more common. In grander houses, the windows often contain small painted panes or stained glass panels containing heraldic emblems and coats of arms.

[edit] 18th century

With the development of sash windows, leadlighting became much less common, giving way to larger panes of glass set into wooden frames. Doors were often surmounted by decorative fanlights in which the panes of glass might be supported by lead. However, wood was more commonly used at this period. Small amounts of heraldic glass continued to be used.

Leadlight windows adorn the foyer of the Natural History Museum, London, photo P Friel

[edit] 19th century

By 1840 there was a growing fashion for the Medieval. The Gothic Revival brought about a new popularity for diamond-pane windows which were initially found in homes of the wealthy. Soon the fashion for leadlight windows spread, promoted by the Arts and Crafts Movement. Leadlight became a commonplace feature of houses, generally to be found in or around the front door. The style might be medievalising, formal classical motifs or Arts and Crafts which often included among the motifs lilies, tulips and sunflowers. In the late Victorian period it was common for leadlight windows in wealthier homes to contain small rondels painted in grisaille (grey) and depicting birds or fruit and flowers representing the seasons.

A design for a cafe window by Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, 1928

[edit] 20th century

Prior to World War I, the front entrance remained the locality for domestic leadlighting. The Art Nouveau or Secessionist style dominated the design.

After the war, it became common for the front windows of a house to be glazed with diamond or square-set panes with formal decorative motifs in the upper section or around the sides. This trend continued until World War II, the style evolving from Art Nouveau to Art Deco.

From 1940 until about 1980 domestic leadlighting was less common. With a revival of the craft, both abstract design and formalised pictorial motifs have flourished, as has the use of irregularly textured and patterned glass. Recent formalised motifs have included butterflies and yachts on the ocean.

[edit] Important artists

[edit] Gallery

A simple leadlight window of 18th century proportions from Stockholm	Heraldic leadlighting in a cloister window in Brussels, probably 18th century	A 19th century window of heavily-patterned impressed and silver-stained quarries.	Diamond pane leadlighting in Cathedral glass, Czech Republic
Leadlight from Sydney Central Station, a masterpiece of formal Art Nouveau design combining Favrile and Cathedral glass.	A late 20th century window of abstract design in a hotel in Romania	Post Modern leadlighting cleverly combining traditional diamond pane form with the squareness of iron framing and the arch of a church window, Karlsbad Cathedral