TABLE OF CONTENTS.
| BOOK I. | ||
| THE COURSE OF CRAFTSMANSHIP. | ||
| Chap. | Page | |
| I. | The Beginnings of Glass | [1] |
| II. | The Making of a Window | [5] |
| III. | Glazing | [15] |
| IV. | Early Mosaic Windows | [32] |
| V. | Painted Mosaic | [43] |
| VI. | Glass Painting (Mediæval) | [59] |
| VII. | Glass Painting (Renaissance) | [67] |
| VIII. | Enamel Painting | [77] |
| IX. | The Needle-point in Glass Painting | [87] |
| X. | The Resources of the Glass Worker (A RECAPITULATION) | [95] |
| BOOK II. | ||
| THE COURSE OF DESIGN. | ||
| XI. | The Design of Early Glass | [111] |
| XII. | Medallion Windows | [123] |
| XIII. | Early Grisaille | [137] |
| XIV. | Windows of many Lights | [151] |
| XV. | Middle Gothic Detail | [162] |
| XVI. | Late Gothic Windows | [178] |
| XVII. | Sixteenth Century Windows | [201] |
| XVIII. | Later Renaissance Windows | [220] |
| XIX. | Picture Windows | [236] |
| XX. | Landscape in Glass | [251] |
| XXI. | Italian Glass | [260] |
| XXII. | Tracery Lights and Rose Windows | [272] |
| XXIII. | Quarry Windows | [283] |
| XXIV. | Domestic Glass | [296] |
| XXV. | The Use of the Canopy | [311] |
| XXVI. | A Plea for Ornament | [317] |
| BOOK III. | ||
| BY THE WAY. | ||
| XXVII. | The Characteristics of Style | [322] |
| XXVIII. | Style in Modern Glass (a Postscript) | [354] |
| XXIX. | Jesse Windows, and other Exceptions in Design | [360] |
| XXX. | Story Windows | [371] |
| XXXI. | How to see Windows | [380] |
| XXXII. | Windows worth Seeing | [385] |
| XXXIII. | A Word on Restoration | [404] |
WINDOWS, A BOOK ABOUT STAINED GLASS
BOOK I.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNINGS OF GLASS.
The point of view from which the subject of stained glass is approached in these chapters relieves me, happily, from the very difficult task of determining the date or the whereabouts of the remote origin of coloured windows, and the still remoter beginnings of glass itself. The briefest summary of scarcely disputable facts bearing upon the evolution of the art of window making, is here enough. We need not vex our minds with speculation.
White glass (and that of extreme purity) would seem to have been known to the Chinese as long ago as 2300 B.C., for they were then already using astronomical instruments, of which the lenses were presumably of glass. Of coloured glass there is yet earlier record. Egyptologists tell us that at least five if not six thousand years ago the Egyptians made jewels of glass. Indeed, it is more than probable that this was the earliest use to which stained glass was put, and that the very raison d’être of glass making was a species of forgery. In some of the most ancient tombs have been found scarabs of glass in deliberate imitation of rubies and emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. The glass beads found broadcast in three quarters of the globe were quite possibly passed off by Phœnician traders upon the confiding barbarian as jewels of great price. At all events, glass beads, according to Sir John Lubbock, were in use in the bronze age; and, if we may trust the evidence of etymology, “bedes” are perhaps as ancient as praying.