Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-24
MEMORIAL WINDOWS.
THE CROKER AND RAYMOND WIN.
DOWS IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH..
Painting-Exquisite Beau
tiful Works.

There have been placed in st. Paul.
Church in this city within a few days tw,
memorial windows of stained glass, tn,
product OF the work of John Mallon, o
the Pacific Art Glass Works, San Fran
cisco, that are remarkably fine specimens
of the art, which in the nineteenth century
has had revival, and has given us work
equal to, and in many respects superior It
the famous works of the sixteenth century
when the art was supposed to have reached
its zenith. What gives additional interes
to the two windows in question-and {
brief account of which was given in thu
RECORD UNION some days ago-is the fac
that they are the first fine church windows
put up in this city, and that both were
made in California and by California artists
and prove conclusively the ability of oul
home stained-glass manufacturers and
glass-painters to produce works of a very
high order.
Before attempting to describe These
lovely works of ecclesiastical and decorative
art in the church named, it will interest
those who have not studied the process
difficulties involved in it, The most emf.
nent painters have practiced the art Of
glass painting for decoration, and the AR
has therefore the stamp of both great age
and OF the devotion that great genius
affixes. In our own century all the arr
processes which were employed by the
early painters on glass have been rediscov-
ere d after more than two centuries during
which the art declined, and its detailed
methods were either lost or obscured The
researches of modern times in chemical
science have enabled us to produce fine re.
suits in coloring and the fiux essentials al
a greatly less cost and with far less of ex-
penditure of time; so that the present day
brings enjoyment of the art within the
range of those who, if they had lived when
the art was at its best in former centuries,
could not have INDUCED in it. and it ena-
bles US also to introduce the art into archi-
tectural decoration where a few years ago
II would have been deemed impossible.
Through the researches of Winston of Eng
land and his pupils. we have been able 10
reproduce the very best effects attained by
the early masters of the art, and to improve
upon them.
Glass painting or staining differs from all
other styles of pictorial art except porce-
lain painting, which it resembles. The
colors are different, being wholly mineral
so as to be fusible. Instead of being laid
on the outside merely they are fused into
the glass and the chemical changes they
undergo in theprocess result in a brilliancy
and translucency OF color that is not known
to any other art. Those who take occasion
to delight their sense of sight by examin-
ing the windows under notice will per-
ceive the truth Of this statement to be only
exactly stated. The colors are mixed with
tiux easier of fusion than the glass, and
are laid on as in ordinary painting; the
glass is then exposed to heat, and the fux
melts and sinks into the body. But none
of the clear, bright colors, we are told by
the books. can be fully perceived by the
artist until the work is complete, and he
thus labors under the most trying circum-
stances and at the greatest disadvantage in
applying them. Hence he has to be
guided by lines upon the back, or by car
toon on paper placed on the back-side
The earliest system of the art was, up to
the sixteenth century, to color the glass as
it was made. Blocks of the colored glass
were then brought together to produce the
design desired, and the lines of junction
were treated separately, while the outlines
and the shading were accomplished bv use
of an enamel color This was known as
the Mosaic system. 1t was then discoy.
cred that most of the colors could be i'm
parted to the glass by the enamel process
~ pc exceptions were yellow, brown and
\ht-red.
Nhe system ordinarily followed in Eng
land. where the art is so much indebted to
Mr.. Winston, is to use for even colored parts
of the design, pieces of glass differently
colored III the manufacture. and to use
only brown enamel color for tracing the
nr1tfinac opd oh L.
yellows are produced, however. by stain
that under heat penetrates the glass This
is known as the third or mosaic enamel
process, and is that mostly followed at this
day. 1t will be observed that in the two
windows about to be described, the latter
system indicated is not altogt Their followed
but that the colors have been laid in ac-
cording 10 the formulaes of the very --latest
discoveries in the art, and that the delicate
shadiDgs and tints that give vitality to the
work are the result of the skill of the
painter almost wholly, and least of the
mechanic.
When design has been fixed upon, the
cartoon from which the artist is to work is
prepared full size. Then a cutting.
drawing" is made, showing where the
strips of lead are to appear. According to
this design the various colored glasses to be
used are cut outvery skillfully, and arranged
on the cartoon, and the outlines are traced
which being placid under red-hea vitrify.
The work is then returned to the painter
who places the parts on sheet of color
less glass and secures them in their proper
places by wax or other devices. Thus
fastened, the work is placed upon an
easel and opposed to exterior light, and the
painting of The shadings begins-the most
delicate OF all the work. The pieces are
then detached rom the glass and again
subjected to heat. Ii is often necessary tc
repeat this process six or seven times
The workman skilled 10 that part of the
art then fits the parts together in grooyed
strips of lead around the edges OF each
When the window is mounted, il is taken
in larger parts and loaded together as il is
put up. Across the most direct lead lines
sufficient OF small iron rods are thrown
called saddle bars, and fasten into the
framework. and 10 these the lead lines are
secured by wire, or other means, to give
the necessary support to the whole. That
work is deemed the best that admits of the
lead lines being thrown along the outlines
of figures by which they are made less con.
spicuous. Without these lead lines the
window is impossible, ssys Mr.. Winston
in his work upon the subject 1T is a con.
dition that cannot be esaded by any in.
genuity"
This bare outline of the process of glass
painting of course but family indicates the
methods employed. but if it stimulates any
person to read and inform himself or her.
self on the subject, he or she will have en-.
joyed a delightful self.impose6 task. and
will rise from the study prepared to more
truly appreciate the labors of the artist and
the mechanic, that are mutual in this ex-
quisite work where science, mechanics and
art of necessity mite for the attainment OF
the desired end. The student will discover
that this beautiful art sprang like sculpture,
as Radcliffe so well puts it, from the archi.
tectural requirements of the Gothic style
and that the finest specimens are to be seen
in those cathedrals where fresco painting
was not needed.
The larger of the two memorial windows
in ST. Paurs Church is contributed by Mrs
Charles Croker in atiectionate memory OF
her late daughter-in-law, wife of Colonel
Charles f. Croker, and bears the inscrip-
ton Jennie III. Croker, died February
%, 1887" II occupies place in the north
wall of the chancel, Immediately above the
altar. 1t is about eighteen feet in hight,
and almost the width of the chancel which
il so richly adorns. II is high pointed
Gothic window. in harmony with the arch
itecture of the building. II is divided into
three plain Gothic panels, the spring OF
the arches continuing to the outer lines OF
the window. cutting the upper third into
diamond-shaped panels, producing the
graceful effect known as " flowing tracery.'
The central panel, in its center, bears the