| More than 300 hours of work went into this
partial restoration. Since the lead was in good shape it
and had such a great historical significance it was determined
to use the existing lead. A liquid glue with an accelerator
was used to fill all breaks and fractures. The only glass
that needed to be replaced, were two pieces that were already
missing. Some cementing was required in particular with
the two new pieces. Other than that all materials in the
window are the original. When the window was complete the
window was sandwiched between two ¼” inch thick pieces
of pexiglass with a thin wood border surrounding the window.
This was done to further stabilize the window and to protect
it.
The most fascinating aspect of this project was imagining
how the artists of 400 years ago were able to create such
beauty and workmanship without the modern tools and methods
that are available to us today. Most of the glass was
painted on both sides and had to be oven fired. Being
no electricity or porcelain kilns they probably used wood
fires inside of some type of oven or kiln. And how did
they gauge the temperature for the firing? All hand work,
hand shaped glass and hand molded lead. It’s amazing!
You can only imagine how long it took to complete a project
of this magnitude. Remember this was only one window out
of 20 or so windows.
We are grateful for the assistance provided to us by
Hank & Mary Jo Day and Beth Rulli. We also thank Michelle
Jackson for her patience throughout this project.
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