Beautiful original door set

It's always a pleasure to work on a virtually intact original Victorian door set. This set of panels was very dirty and mainly needed minor repairs, recementing and a very good clean up! The front of the panels has a decorative effect applied to the surface of the lead called 'silverfinger'. This gets a little tired looking after a while and needs renewing. Gold was another popular Victorian colour again applied to the surface of the lead.

All above photos courtesy of Felicity Robinson.

Old Glass Blogpost - featuring Chance Brothers Pattern D!

This popular Victorian glass was manufactured by Chance Brothers in clear and tinted versions. One of a range of figured rolled glasses; smooth on one side and patterned or 'figured' on the other.

Pattern D - blue.

Pattern D - yellow.

Pattern D - green

Pattern D - yes you guessed it pink!

Because, like Muranese and Kaleidoscope, it has a light catching, sparkly nature it was often used for borders and to give texture to panels...

Below it makes an interesting backdrop to a painted piece;

Unlike Muranese, Pattern D is hard to find for matching purposes, the closest match being Muranese.

For more info on old glass please visit the old glass directory on my website.

Old Glass Blogpost - featuring Pilkingtons Kaleidoscope!

Chance Brothers Kaleidoscope

I love this Victorian glass first manufactured by Chance Brothers but sadly withdrawn by Pilkingtons 1957 - 1961. I've recently completed a couple of restorations using this beautiful glass which comes in 13 different tints;

Blue Kaleidoscope.

Pink Kaleidoscope.

Apricot Kaleidoscope.

The closest match for restoration purposes is currently Muranese. For more examples / information on old glass please visit the Old Glass Directory on my website.

Breakspears Road London Open House 2016

Just brilliant to visit this inspiring house open for London Open House today. A beautiful light and airy home, mixing the best of traditional and modern, with warm personal touches. A big thank you to the owners and all involved for working so hard to get everything ready and for letting us look around...

First arrivals...

It was lovely to see the panels in their sealed units finally installed and the glasses in the wake of the lifeboat light up along with the 'sand' in the barge. The customers told me that the coloured light from the panels spreads across the hall. See blogpost dated 6th September for more pics...

Reunited!

It's always a pleasure to fill missing gaps in front door panels, especially when it's one of my favourite streets in Lewisham. The door set below was missing the central panel and though there are no original fanlights this shape left in the street it's likely that the arched fan would have been leaded too. Here we took the door panel 'boxed quarry' pattern rotated it and copied to the fanlight above. The glasses in the central door panel and fanlight are a mix of modern 'Muranese', old Muranese and some unusual textured glasses. The customers came to the studio to choose glasses with a colour scheme in mind that they particularly liked and I think you'll agree they chose really well.

Before....

I love it!

  

Wellingborough Workhouse

Wellingborough workhouse was built in 1836-7. The building, designed by James Clephan, has Italianate features with round headed windows. Life in the workhouse was hard as this quote from Charlie Chaplin who was in and out of Lambeth Workhouse shows;

"During my incarceration Mother visited me. She had in some way managed to leave the workhouse and was making an effort to establish a home for us. Her presence was like a bouquet of flowers; she looked so fresh and lovely that I felt ashamed of my unkempt appearance and my shaved iodined head.‘You must excuse his dirty face,' said the nurse.Mother laughed, and how well I remember her endearing words as she hugged and kissed me: ‘With all thy dirt I love thee still." Charles Chaplin.

Today Wellingborough Workhouse has a happier existence being converted to flats and housing set away from the road in their own grounds. This is the first flat to have stained glass in a typical Victorian style...

Before stained glass.

Internal daytime view with brilliant cut corners.

Nighttime view - photo courtesy of Alison Horne.

Nighttime view - photo courtesy of Alison Horne.

For more information on Wellingborough Workhouse click here; http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Wellingborough/

Simple Elegance

This classic arrangement of double border with internal grid is the start for most Victorian geometric work. It has remained popular throughout the years with an amazing variety of embellishments. Here it has the addition of Rennie Mackintosh style squares in the inner borders while keeping the simple elegance of the Victorian arrangement.

Before...

After...

Changing World...

Back in 2001 I took some photos in Greenwich Park from the General Wolfe statue and One Tree Hill;

 The photos which included Canary Wharf, the Greenwich Power Station, the playground in the park and a stylized Dome morphed into this panel;

Returning to this spot recently it was amazing to see the change...

And even more amazing to see the leap from 1971...

Photo courtesy of Diana Rimel.

Today this panel lives down on the coast in Kent, a happy reminder of London life.

Featuring in London Open House...

I recently completed a lovely commission for a house in Brockley. The 2 stained glass door panels are split into 6 scenes and divided diagonally. The panels take inspiration from the locality; the diagonals reflecting the hilly nature of Brockley, the London skyline at the tops are views you might see from various Brockley parks, the Crystal Palace with Sphinx is set in parkland and below this a barge brings sand for cement reflecting both a love of the river and the fact that the customers have built their house in it's entirety. On the other panel is St Peters Church in Brockley and below this a lifeboat speeds across the Thames.This stunning house with it's mix of modern and traditional build is open as part of the London Open House 2016 and also features on the website of the architects Gruff Limited.

Photo courtesy of Richard Elliot

Studio photo detail; London skyline - panel 1. 

Studio photo detail; Crystal Palace - panel 1.

Studio photo detail; Thames barge and tug - panel 1.

Studio photo detail; Sun and airplane - panel 2.

Studio photo detail; London skyline - panel 2.

Studio photo detail; St Peters Church Brockley - panel 2.

Studio photo detail; Lifeboat on the Thames - panel 2.

Here are some making shots... 

Lifeboat with cement still on the other side.

The handmade streaky glass in St Peters Church windows originally came from a pharmacy sign - see  example below. The 'true pink' streaky colour is one of the most expensive to produce, containing gold.

Leading up St Peters Church Brockley.