Leadlight is the term used for decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came is discussed at lead came and copper foil glasswork. The term leadlight could be used to describe all windows in which the glass is supported by lead but a distinction is usually made between stained glass windows and leadlights, the former being associated with fine architecture and the latter with vernacular commercial and domestic architecture and defined by its simplicity. A typical copper-foil Tiffany lamp, with a dragonfly design Lead-came and Copper-foil glasswork are the arts and crafts of cutting colored glass and joining the pieces into picturesque designs. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ...

Domestic interior by Jan Vermeer showing a leadlight casement window.

View of Delft, 1660-1661 Johannes Vermeer (1632 - December 15, 1675) was a Dutch painter. ...

Description

Art Nouveau glass with grisaille decoration at Limoges Railway Station, France

Leadlight windows differ from stained glass windows principally in being less complex in design, using simpler techniques and being far less expensive. While stained glass windows are found principally in churches and grandly ornate buildings, leadlight windows are extremely common and in the period from 1860 to 1930 were a regular architectural feature in many private houses and cottages, where their style is often a clue to the age of the building. Poster by Alfons Mucha Art Nouveau /art nuvo/, Anglicised /ˈɑːt nuːvəu/ (French for new art) is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Location within France Limoges (Limòtges in Occitan) is a city and commune in France, the préfecture of the Haute-Vienne département, and the administrative capital of the Limousin région. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ...

Leadlight windows employ the use of quarries, pieces of glass cut into regular geometric shapes, sometimes square, rectangular or circular but most frequently diamond (or more correctly lozenge) shaped.

Unlike stained glass windows which are traditionally pictorial or of elaborate design, leadlight windows are generally non-pictorial, containing geometric designs and formalised plant motifs.

The colours may range from delicate pastels to intense hues. The glass used may be textured or patterned or bevelled.

The quarries, particularly in 19th century windows, may be mold cast into patterns such as fleur de lys and imprinted with black and yellow stain. Fleurs-de-lys on the flag of Quebec The fleur-de-lis (also spelled fleur-de-lys; plural fleurs-de-lis or -lys) is used in heraldry, where it is particularly associated with the France monarchy (see King of France). ...

Quarries painted in grisaille were employed both in the Medieval period and the 19th century, the most famous ancient windows to have been decorated in this manner being in York Minster and having inspired many imitations painted with little birds. Grisaille (Fr. ...

History

Medieval armorial glass at Ightham Mote, England, seen from the exterior

15th-17th centuries

During this period large sheets of glass were very expensive. Domestic windows were generally small and were made of crown glass which has a characteristic rippled surface. The irregular glinting surface of diamond-pane windows is a distinctive feature of old European houses. The diamond (or more correctly, lozenge) shape of the panes gave greater stability than square-cut straight-set panes and hence are more common. In grander houses, the windows often contain small painted panes or stained glass panels containing heraldic emblems and coats of arms. Rampant redirects here. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ...

18th century

With the development of sash windows, leadlighting became much less common, giving way to larger panes of glass set into wooden frames. Doors were often surmounted by decorative fanlights in which the panes of glass might be supported by lead. However, wood was more commonly used at this period. Small ammounts of heraldic glass continued to be used.

Leadlight windows adorn the foyer of the Natural History Museum, London, photo P Friel

The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, has an ornate terracotta facade typical of high Victorian architecture. ...

19th century

By 1840 there was a growing fashion for the Medieval. The Gothic Revival brought about a new popularity for diamond-pane windows which were initially found in homes of the wealthy. Soon the fashion for leadlight windows spread, promoted by the Arts and Crafts Movement. Leadlight became a commonplace feature of houses, generally to be found in or around the front door. The style might be medievalising, formal classical motifs or Arts and Crafts which often included among the motifs lilies, tulips and sunflowers. In the late Victorian period it was common for leadlight windows in wealthier homes to contain small rondels painted in grisaille (grey) and depicting birds or fruit and flowers representing the seasons. Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster, London: Gothic details provided by A.W.N. Pugin The Gothic revival was a European architectural movement with origins in mid-18th century England. ... Artichoke wallpaper, by John Henry Dearle for William Morris & Co. ... Grisaille (Fr. ...

A design for a cafe window by Franz Wilhelm Seiwert, 1928

20th century

Prior to World War I, the front entrance remained the locality for domestic leadlighting. The Art Nouveau or Secessionist style dominated the design. Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Italy Russia United States Serbia Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Nicholas II Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Conrad von Hötzendorf İsmail Enver Ferdinand I Casualties... Poster by Alfons Mucha Art Nouveau /art nuvo/, Anglicised /ˈɑːt nuːvəu/ (French for new art) is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The secession building at Vienna, built in 1897 by Joseph Maria Olbrich for exhibitions of the secession group another view The Vienna Secession or (also known as Secessionsstil, or Sezessionsstil in Austria) was part of that highly varied movement that is now covered by the general term Art Nouveau. ...

After the war, it became common for the front windows of a house to be glazed with diamond or square-set panes with formal decorative motifs in the upper section or around the sides. This trend continued until World War II, the style evolving from Art Nouveau to Art Deco. This article is becoming very long. ... Poster by Alfons Mucha Art Nouveau /art nuvo/, Anglicised /ˈɑːt nuːvəu/ (French for new art) is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Asheville City Hall. ...

From 1940 until about 1980 domestic leadlighting was less common. With a revival of the craft, both abstract design and formalised pictorial motifs have flourished, as has the use of irregularly textured and patterned glass. Recent formalised motifs have included butterflies and yachts on the ocean.

Important artists

• William Morris
• Daniel Cottier
• Louis Comfort Tiffany
• Charles Rennie MacIntosh

William Morris, socialist and innovator in the Arts and Crafts movement William Morris, publisher Davids Charge to Solomon (1882), a stained-glass window by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in Trinity Church, Boston, Massachusetts. ... Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933) circa 1908 Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 - January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who is best known for his work in stained glass and is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau movement. ...

Gallery

A simple leadlight window of 18th century proportions from Stockholm	Heraldic leadlighting in a cloister window in Brussels, probably 18th century	Diamond pane leadlighting in Cathedral glass, Czech Republic Cathedral glass is monochromatic sheet glass, which may be textured on one side. ...	Modern leadlighting cleverly combining traditional diamond pane form with the squareness of iron framing and the arch of a church window, Karlsbad Cathedral
A late 20th century window of abstract design in a hotel in Romania

See also

• Stained glass
• Lead came and copper foil glasswork
• Architectural glass
• Arts and crafts
• Art glass
• Beveled glass
• Cathedral glass
• Drapery glass
• Favrile, Tiffany's iridescent glass
• Float glass
• Fracture glass
• Fracture-streamer glass
• Glassblowing
• Glass beadmaking
• Hot glass
• Ring mottle glass
• Rippled glass
• Streamer glass