A Grand Aestheticist Window on Massey (The Oriole)
This is my second window from the same house. This one is the big one. For a look at the other one, please see Massey.
Condition Report
This one has all the issues of century-old windows. The cement is gone, and the lead is stretched out. The panel is far from flat. But, breakage is quite limited. Only the central red ring is actually shattered, and will have to be replaced.
This raking view of the outside surface shows the distortion of the border. It also shows how lightly the window is edged and installed. The edge is just the thinnest fin of metal—what we call hobby came. It has no strength. And then, they tacked it in, and used no putty at all! This is unusual. As I explored it, I reallized the window was help in place by 18 tacks and three coats of paint, and nothing else.
On the upper edge, there is an actual break—the only raw break in the main fabric. This one will just get fixed with an extra piece of lead. This purple is so unusual that there is no point thinking about replacement. We will try to keep and re-use every scrap we can.
The cement is completely corroded. This is normal in windows this old. The lead is also quite corroded, especially on the inner surface. These powdery lead compounds are bad news and should always be removed. Some of the are soluble, and should not be in a domestic space. These powders are one of the reasons these things should not be left too long.
The central bird, seen here from the outside (unpainted) surface, is intact, but ripply. It never was a really good piece of glass. This was true of the other bird I cleaned at this house, the Kingfisher. At this time, in the 1880s, all the glass is coming from other cities, but there is very fine glass available. What’s with this stuff? It is a mystery, whiy these difficult paintings were executed on such bad glass.
Unlike the rest of the glass, the inner red ring is shattered. Of the four pieces, only one is intact. These are not impact fractures. This is a pressure fracture, part of the distortion sequence. It is both good news, and very bad news. It’s good news, because these border elements are supposed to absorb distortion, and this has worked. The bird has not broken. The bad news is that damage has come right next to the bird, exactly where we do not want it.
The piece has two iron tie-bars, with six wire ties. Amazingly, these had never been soldered to the window, and were useless. Only the middle one on the left was actually used. This is not the first time I have encountered this. The iron bars, built in by the carpenters, seen not to have been urgent for the glaziers, who sometimes ignored them.
Because of the bird, and the fact that damage has approached the bird, I chose to put no stress on the middle of the window as I removed it. So, I cut it out with a steel knife. This looks drastic but is actually the gentlest method.
Getting the first piece makes the whole issue much clearer. How stiff is the lead? Is the cement still a thing? What is the edge attached to? I like starting at the edge, because all these issues get clarified.
Once the first piece is out, the game becomes much easier. These century windows are already falling apart. They just need some hints on how to do it.
The point of doing things this way is that no stress at all is applied to the bird.
Once the glass is clear of the frame, it looks so diminished, but actually now the fun will begin. This is rock bottom. This object is now on the way up.
The bird comes free! This bird has better glass than its friend the Kingfisher, but also thinner, with some nasty flaws. Always, it seems, these birds are painted on bad glass. Why?
Also, the edge is really bad, chipped the whole way. It’s nothing like a normal cut. What happened here? Somebody cut this thing, which was originally… square? Somebody cut this thing after it was painted. Somebody who really sucked at this stuff cut this thing, after it was painted. It’s amazing it didn’t break, because this cut is that bad.
The cleaning process involves many steps, but it’s very satisfying. The main issues are usually the paint around the edges (which can be anything) and the lead deposits under the old metalwork (which are stubborn and also toxic).
The middle ring is shattered, but there may be enough good glass let to re-cut it a bit, and not need new glass. I’s better to glob on some metal and look a bit rough than to use a chip of new colour, which the eye will grab at like a flaw.
Putting it back together was big fun.
See more Restorations.