Stained And Painted Glass...
The Times, 1824-07-26T00:00:00

Mfr. Collins, of the Strand, (to wrhose bantifful sanufetac?ur2 in glas2 and metal we Fomne timne ago cnaled the attention of thepublic, in a cbhrt notice of thte ,pletsdid interior and f4irritare of Northumber- land house), iS now-exhibiting at bis warehouse, a gallery of staiined and painted glass. The princinal' attractionq of this gaslerv sre a Salvator Mand., after Carlo Dolu and sbur fall-length historic portraits (Richard Duke of YOrk Joan de Beaufbil. and 'two others of the reigns of dward II. and Richard i.) These are all executed on ?lass; thte .Sad-elor being intended for t'he Church of'St. Peter, Walwortb. and the others for the Ba. ronial Halls of ?fancepeth Castle. Durham. the teat of W. Russell, Esq., aI. P. It has long been matter of regret among the admnirers of art, that we have in a measureoStthesecret of ir. parting to glass, prepared for the purpiose of decorating windows, that depth and brilliancy of colouir which are so renaskable in most of the a22cient specimeni still subsisting in many of the ecclesiastical eclifices of Europe. No artificial proesss, it has been contended, of modern eate, can produce any tints equal to this old celouring, ex. cepting, perhaps, the precarious efforts of China enamel painting ; eLnd the still more elaborate and expensive manufacture of artificial gerns v whose beauty, by the by depends on a thousaud capridoanc accidenrs, besides the fineness o? the ealces of rmetals and the just intensity of heat in thc crmcible. Among those who have most loudly deplored the dlecline of this interesting art, -Horace Walpole hat perhaps the truest relish of its excellencies, but we do not re- muember that either he, or any other of aU the "serovumpecua" who bave dabbled in these subiects, has had the candotr to do justice to one superiority which the modern glassstainersandDainter- mayjutstly !aimn; and that is. the superiority oftbeir outlinesi, wbicb are correct and continuous. The oldest specii iens of coloared vindows, as eur readers may perhaps ) e aware. consist of s-mel/fragments orparrticles Etted in, after the manner of mosaic work, to the frame of the de. Signl, allt te particles having previouslv received their colours; so that, however stunerbly tinged, tltek leave ;dways an up. pleasant patchy CeieCt 1as to the whole. BY a whiisical- revolution of art, it is oteO not unfrequently necess=ry for our painters o2 elass to use such large squatres of plate, that they are conmpelled to subdivide them, apparently. by drawinj lines through them, perpendicular and horizontal-eisher to gratfy the prejudices ofcus-om,or to preserve the uniformity of desin bett-een the casement in which they are operating, and others of the same building. We remeutber; that in the muagnificent window exhibited by ilfr Backler last year (wrhich was a copy from West's C'h7irf in the Windsor picture of tne Last S'tpper, and which wais intendetefor Hereford cathedral),tbepanes of glass were squaresofnearly2 feet eaLch. Th en as to depth, and transoarency of colour,tbe parple robe in Mr. Collims's copy, from Carlo olce, may stand acoDmparison, moat u doubtedly, with arv thing of the sonr which the civil warrs have left untouched in this coUTtry. It is, indeed, iane pressibly beautiful a having all that sapphirelike efru1lgence, whial is so ghorioes ir as- old cathedral window, througb whichi the beams, even of the noe4r. daiy sun, come mellowed and subdued. Bat therm is one of the bis- tofc portraits, painted in a mantle of green veloars embossed with fl wefs of a hrighte- green; atnd this, as it ix rather the niore rare, will !perhanDs '.r the rnore admired colour. These 6lours, bowever are h, n* -'w.Ins the only thinas which will challenge the admiration of thas who visit Mi. Collins's gallery-. The draperies of the por. traits are admirably designed; and the sort of arabesque pattern which surrounds the representation of the Saviour is execut. ed in the higrhcst itncteo particularly tlhe Passion fdower that occurs in it; whicb, being engraved upon the glass, has a re- lief, the effect of which is exceedingly natural, and ahn to the real aspect of that beautiful and emblematic flower. There are also to be seen soue very charming landscapes and figure executed upon glass by Muss-an artist w ho has untbrtunately juat fallen a victim to a line-rring disease. Several copies on the Samt materi:d from Msartin, Wirilson, Poussin, &c. and'gsonOf flowers, worthy the pencil of l'an Huysuru hitmm-t; addte te value and the merits of this charming collection. We must not omit to noLice the classical forms which are to be found here in vases after the an. tiqulc, executed in British or-moulu; and Iria lamps, which are very aptly namned, as the base ot the lamp consists ot glass gems prisma. tically cat, and connected berween wreaths of Drecian muetal, as it is called. It nmay easily be imagined that this lamp, when its burners are lit, emits all the colours ot the rairbow. The admission to Mlr. Collins's pallery is gratuitots; but we beleve few tickets have been hitherto issued. SIAINRD AID PAVTRED GLAS&.