shorelines ◦ interiors by gregory ◦
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"Stained Glass"
Have you ever wandered into an antiques store and found a marvelous piece of stained glass? One of the great pleasures of renovating my 19th century home was the incorporation of antique stained glass. It took a bit of planning, but I must say, the results transformed an ordinary room into an extraordinary showcase.
Before moving here in 1993, my wife and I traveled to France for a two-week holiday to survey the homes and castles of the Loire Valley. On our way, we stopped at Chartres to see the Cathedral. Within my guidebook was the small mention of an antique stained glass shop at the foot of the Cathedral, the Galerie du Vitrail. Serendipitous, it was! Micheline Loire, the proprietor, showed us around a collection dating from the late 19th century to the 1930’s. These glass windows had been salvaged from homes and churches in Belgium and France scheduled to be demolished. The pricing was amazingly affordable compared to the cost of modern stained glass available in Nova Scotia, so we chose five windows from the late 19th century that combined stained glass with painted glass. We thought these windows would provide some history and art to upscale our large but featureless seaside home. We were right, but it wasn’t easy.
Our initial setback was the cost of shipping—more than the cost of the glass! Our second setback was when one of the windows fell and the painted glass section splintered. But serendipity struck again. It just so happened that a very fine stained glass artist from Germany was setting up shop on the LaHave River—the Sattler Glass Studio. I called the Sattlers and arranged to have my stained glass repaired.
Now, this is the beginning of a lesson in using antique stained glass within your home. If the leading between the glass panes is old (meaning weak), then before installation, the entire window should be re-leaded. In addition, depending on the size of the piece, extra reinforcement bars should be added to take some of the stress off of the glass lead. My window was 6 feet tall and both re-leading and reinforcing were required. Next was the installation process. I chose to use treat my windows as art pieces so they are installed on interior walls as side panels to doorways leading from the house to a glassed porch, insulated for year-round use. In this location the windows were protected but they are visible during the day without any extra illumination. At night, they are illuminated from either side by the room lighting.
When it came time for the installation, there were two concerns: humidity and protection from accidents (i.e. children). Both problems were solved by a “triple” installation. The stained glass had its own wooden frame to keep it sturdy. Once set in place, laminated glass was installed on either side for protection. The key to humidity was to prevent a buildup of moisture within this set-up, so vents were included to prevent condensation. Moisture is disastrous for the leading and the glass.
Many years later, we are still thrilled with the glow of these antique windows. Visitors are always surprised to see beautiful windows seamlessly incorporated into our home. Visit the Sattler Studio in West LaHave, www.sattlerglas.com. And don’t just pass by the antique glass, when it could be glowing in your own home.