CHURCH WINDOWS USER MANUAL WINDOWS
While stained glass windows can last for centuries, as the great cathedrals of Europe attest, they can be instantly destroyed by vandals or by careless workmen. Glass is one of the most durable, yet fragile building materials. It does not offer detailed advice on specific work treatments. It addresses common causes of deterioration and presents repair, restoration, and protection options. It also surveys basic preservation and documentation issues facing owners of buildings with leaded glass. This Brief gives a short history of stained and leaded glass in America. A number of notable churches, large mansions, civic buildings, and other prominent buildings boast windows or ceilings by LaFarge, Tiffany, Connick, or one of many other, lesser-known, American masters, but stained or leaded glass also appears as a prominent feature in great numbers of houses built between the Civil War and the Great Depression. It appears in all building types and architectural styles-embellishing the light in a great cathedral, or adding a touch of decoration to the smallest row house or bungalow. It appears in windows, doors, ceilings, fanlights, sidelights, light fixtures, and other glazed features found in historic buildings.
Because the construction, protection, and repair techniques of leaded glass units are similar, whether the glass itself is colored or clear, “stained glass” and “leaded glass” are used interchangeably throughout the text. “Leaded glass” refers generically to all glass assemblies held in place by lead, copper, or zinc cames. “Stained glass” can mean colored, painted or enameled glass, or glass tinted with true glass “stains.” In this Brief the term refers to both colored and painted glass. The stained glass diamond design at the top of this triangular window in the Green cottage is repeated in the outside shingle pattern. Technical Preservation Services (TPS), Heritage Preservation Services Division, National Park Service prepares standards, guidelines, and other educational materials on responsible historic preservation treatments to a broad public. This publication has been prepared pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and make available information concerning historic properties.
A custom-made stained glass window in a Chicago townhouse bathroom maintains privacy and light while adding color.