As the stained cup screen in St Dympna's chapel was the principal reason for me choosing the building to do my investigative statement on. I chosen that it would only be to do my conservation report on stained glass glass windows. As the window in St Dympna's cathedral is in high grade condition, I came to the conclusion that for this report I would look at the several ways a stain wine glass windows can be ruined and the most typical restoration methods for restoring a stain a glass home window to its past glory. Firstly though I'd like to write a short note on the history of the stained a glass windowpane in St Dympna's Church Co. Carlow.
The home window was produced by August Weckbecker. Professor August Weckbecker was a famous German sculptor who in the first 1920s arranged with the then parish priest of Killeshin/Graiguecullen Fr Michael Bolger to attempt the project of developing and installing the large stained glass window on the north wall structure of St. Dympna's Chapel. The stained goblet home window is one of only three specimens that teacher Weckbecker undertook in Ireland. This truth exclusively would make the stain cup home window historically valuable.
August Weckbecker was so respectable in his field of sculpturing that he produced be employed by King Alfonso XIII (1886-1931) the Ruler of Spain, King Ludwig III (1845-1921) the King of Bavaria, Pope Benedict XV And Pope Pius XI.
The Art of making of Stain Goblet Windows
The technology for making glass dates back at least 5, 000 years, plus some form of stained a glass was used in European Religious churches by the 3rd or fourth century A. D. The art of stained glass flowered in the 12th century with the rise of the Gothic cathedral. Stained a glass has already established various degrees of popularity throughout history. The 12th and 13th generations in Europe have been chosen as the Golden Era of Stained Cup. However, through the Renaissance period, stained wine glass was substituted with painted wine glass, and by the 18th century it was almost never, if, used or made according to medieval methods. Through the second 1 / 2 of the 19th century, European designers rediscovered how to create and work glass according to middle ages guidelines, and large quantities of stained glass home windows were made.
Materials
Glass is made by fusing alongside one another some form of silica such as fine sand, an alkali such as potash or soda, and lime or lead oxide. The colour is produced by adding a metallic oxide to the raw materials.
Copper oxide, under different conditions, produces ruby, blue, or renewable colors in a glass. Cobalt is usually used to create most shades of blues. Green shades may also be extracted from the addition of chromium and iron oxide. Golden wine glass is sometimes coloured with uranium, cadmium sulfide, or titanium, and there are fine selenium yellows as well as vermilions.
The production process
Stained glass continues to be made the same manner it was back the Middle Age range and comes in various varieties. For the cup found in leaded glass house windows, a lump of the molten a glass is swept up at one end of a blow tube, blown into a cylinder, minimize, flattened and cooled.
Cathedral cup is rolled into flat sheets. This results a slightly monotonous regularity of texture and width. Other in the same way made glasses are known as marine traditional, but have a far more bubbly feel.
Processing the stained glass
Large manufacturers of stained a glass combination the batch of recycleables, including alkaline fluxes and stabilizing real estate agents, in huge mixers. The combination is then melted in a modern furnace at 2500F (1371C). Each element must be carefully assessed and weighed relating to a determined formula, to be able to produce the correct color. For cathedral goblet, the molten glass is ladled into a machine that rolls the goblet into 3. 2 mm thick sheets. The bed linens are then cooled in a special furnace named an annealing lehr. You will find a huge selection of colors, tints, and patterns available, and a number of different textures of cathedral goblet.
Creating the windows pattern
Though some of the tools to make stained a glass house windows have been improved upon, the windows are still hand crafted as these were centuries before. The first step of the procedure involves the musician creating a little range version of the ultimate design. After the design has been approved, the craftsperson will take measurements or templates of the real window openings to create a pattern. This pattern is usually drawn on cardboard and it is the real size of the places to be filled up with glass.
Next a full-sized pulling called the toon is ready in black and white. From cartoon, the cutline and pattern drawings are created. The modern cutline drawing is a careful, exact tracing of the leadlines of the cartoon on heavy paper. The leadlines are the outlines of the styles for habits to which the glass is to be cut.
It is trim along the dark or lead lines with double-bladed scissors or a blade which, as it moves through the middle of the dark-colored lines, simultaneously slices away a narrow strip of paper, thus allowing sufficient space between your segment of a glass for the main of the grooved business lead. This center is the aiding wall between your higher and lower flanges of the lead.
Cutting and painting
After the glass has been trim, the primary outlines of the cartoon are decorated on each little bit of goblet with special color, called "vitrifiable" color. This becomes glassy when heated. The painted portions are fired in the kiln at least once to fuse the car paint and cup.
Glazing and leading
The next thing is glazing. The cutline pulling is spread out on a table and narrow strips of wood called laths are nailed down along two sides of the pulling to form a right angle. Long pieces of grooved lead are put along the within of the laths. The little bit of glass owed in the perspective is fitted into the grooves. A strip of narrow business lead is fitted around the exposed border or edges and another required section slipped in to the groove on the other side of the narrow lead. This is continuing until each piece has been put in to the leads in its proper place based on the outline pulling beneath.
Finishing
The many joint parts formed by the key are then soldered on both attributes and the complete windows is waterproofed. Following the completed window has been extensively inspected in the light, they may be anchored with reinforcing bars
The process for making a whole stained glass home window can take from seven to ten weeks, since everything must be done yourself.
Factors Resulting in Deterioration
The primary factors for the deterioration of stain wine glass windows can be placed into the pursuing categories glass, Business lead, Paint, cement and putty windowpane composition and over exposure
Glass
Each sheet of man-made traditional cup or cathedral wine glass is special, and may contain little bubble, skeletal criss-cross lines, and a variety of textures. These shouldn't be mistaken as mistakes, as they have been chosen for their result by the creator. The following are clear indicators of deterioration cracking in the a glass this may suggest 1 of 2 things either the either the screen is being troubled by internal stress and exterior stress.
Internal tensions are induced when the support of the windowpane framework is not satisfactory and it puts added strain on the glass, it can also be from impact be that either accidental or vandalism. External stress is generally associated with weather conditions i. e. over contact with sunshine, rainwater or wind.
Lead
Lead is by nature yielding, adaptable and easily soldered. Which means that additionally, it may slump easily and lose its structural role. External signs of failing to look out for are: bulging or bowing of the window, cracking along the facial skin of the lead and a white, chalky specking on the surface.
Paint
The original furnace firing of the dye is not necessarily successful, and inadequately-fired color can be very susceptible and fragile, looking light and skinny as the surface is gently cleaned away over time. Excessive-fired paint looks hard and splintered on the facade, allures moisture, and finally blisters and peels off.
Putty and cement
Overtime, the waterproofing materials used to seal a structure go solid, split, and fall out, leaving the business lead and goblet helpless against water damage, if it's external. At this point the windowpane may be observed to be leaking - making in water between the lead and the wine glass.
Window structure
If the screen or panel is slumping and bulging, it might be anticipated to poor set up methods which have left it lacking satisfactory support from the framework or the ties.
Over exposure
If the windows is subjected to a large amount of sunshine rain or blowing wind it can have an adverse final result on the cup thus impacting on the looks of the windowpane, by staining or leaking etc.
Restoration and Maintenance
Bracing - All large leaded stained wine glass windows require material reinforcement bracing to aid the weight of the window and to help keep it upright and rigid. Older stained glass windows frequently require repair to their original bracing or further supportive bracing.
Bulge Straightening - The twisting and bulging of an stained glass home window is the loss of perpendicular alignment of the glass panel when weight plenty of the window transfer. Kept unattended the bulges will most likely worsen, causing the cracking or shattering of wine glass and pressuring the business lead joints to stretch out and break. Appropriateng the home window bulges can be carried out by warming the business lead with a welding torch till it is red-hot, the neighbouring locations are cooled by bits of damp towel that are constantly stored wet, so that the warmth is not abstracted. The heated up materials is compacted, so that it will not expand to the sides. When cooling down, it shrinks in the compressed area - the bening disappears.
Glass Replacement unit - when it's essential to replace a glass in a stain wine glass screen it is very important that the closest possible match is found to the original glass, so the looks of the windowpane will remain intact as much as possible.
Re-Cementing - Stained goblet windows derive a lot of their power from the cement grout which fills in the business lead tracks across the glass edges. Driving rains, time, and the extremes of temps cause a lack of the waterproofing concrete - especially on the exterior side. The process of re-cementing replaces missing home window grout, refurbishes the lead, and restores the stand out to the home window.
Re-leading - In this technique the stained goblet window is totally dismantled. The damaged and mismatched glass is replaced. The window is totally rebuilt with new business lead.
Isothermal Glazing
While window guards provide cover from mechanical damage, protecting glazing can shield a screen from wind and weather. Isothermal glazing, is today's technique of protecting glazing, relieves the traditional glass from its work as a weathershield by placing a ventilated protecting glazing system. The initial glass is secured by a window of clear a glass and sufficient spaces are left in the bottom and top to permit for a chimney effect causing the room between the two to be ventilated. This technique regulates the temperatures on both attributes of the ancient glass sections and the incident of condensation.
Maintenance
Cleaning
Stain glass glass windows should not be wet-cleaned on the interior surface as normal water can do extreme injury to the wine glass, the business lead, the putty, the color, and the steel components. Despite having an interior panel, dusting with a very soft bristle brush is better than utilizing a liquid method. Often a single crack in just a glass -panel may be a tell-tale signal of other interior stresses, which may be scheduled to lead exhaustion or inadequate support.
Protection
Another part of the maintenance of historic and stained glass windows is assessing the danger to them. If there are cases of vandalism or break-ins in the neighbourhood the home windows might need external protection, but the type of protection needs careful consideration too. It might also be very useful to prepare an action plan for unforeseen emergencies, such as fires, or storms.
Case study
Canterbury Cathedral
An immense wealth of stained a glass can be seen throughout Canterbury Cathedral. Many of its jewel-like medallion house windows survive from the later 12th and early 13th hundreds of years. The Miracle Windows depict testimonies often involving ordinary local people, whose names are still known today.
Canterbury Cathedral also has several important Victorian glass windows, as well as 20th century works including the vivid stained cup crafted by Erwin Bossanyi in 1957.
The oldest window
The oldest windows at Canterbury shows Adam delving. It schedules to about 1176 Advertisement and is the first in some ancestors of Christ which used to fill up the clerestory of the quire. In the 18th hundred years these early home windows were migrated to the West Window and also to the South-West Windows. Adam delving now lives in the centre of the bottom tier of the West Window. The panels that can be seen in the quire clerestory today are 19th century copies of the originals.
Restoration and Conservation
Like most other historic glazing in the country, the famous past due 12th and 13th - century windows suffered considerably through iconoclasm, vandalism, neglect and environmental impact.
After a long period of drop, the first stained a glass restoration studio room of its kind was proven in Canterbury cathedral in the early 19th hundred years. The damaged windows were repaired, missing elements reconstructed, and new glass windows were manufactured in the mosaic style of the later 12th and early 13th generations.
Today, the cathedral has its own stained a glass conservation studio. Founded in 1973, it has a team of seven highly trained conservators. The emphasis now is on the consolidation of the delicate glass and its painted decor, and on preventive conservation by putting in defensive glazing.
The studio has become a centre of excellence in stained wine glass conservation and restoration, and also works on the glass windows of other churches and cathedrals around the united states. The team considers ecclesiastical and private commissions and can advise and help in all matters regarding the creation of new and the repair/conservation of historic stained cup and lead light glazing.
The conservation process
Stained Wine glass Conservation today practices ethical rules that are completely different, sometimes immediately contradictory to those of the past. Priority is now given to the historical material - glass, business lead and ironwork, all of which are respected just as area of the object and placed so long as possible.
All work must be reversible and everything interventions and materials are documented for future generations.
1. The a glass is carefully cleaned
2. Then glass, color pigments and leadwork are consolidated and stabilized
3. All work is recorded
4. Protective glazing was created and made for the historical window
Conclusion
Whilst executing this project it became very visible to me that the art work of restoring a stain glass windowpane is a extremely gifted one which needs a whole variety of skills, it also became clear to me the most trouble-free way to restore your window is actually to keep it well retained, if you have your windows regularly inspected and monitored and take note of problems such as breaking, bowing, car paint deterioration or extreme condensation and leakages and dwelling address these problems with time then your stain glass home window could last centurys
