The name our hearts ever held for you, Sir Signy Heri. Ollam Lanea (the author for this scroll) has a way with words.
If I wasn't friends with then-Queen Jane, I wouldn't have entertained the idea of another glass scroll for 2022. But it was JANE asking. "We're thinking of knighting Signy Heri just before we step down, and we want you to make stained glass for her." Um... YES. She's been Sir Signy Heri in my heart since I met her. The air of competence and confidence, without arrogance. Yes, please (we'll ignore my subsequent freak-outs about why someone more important/skillful didn't get the assignment, I was just thrilled that she was being knighted.)
First thing: find out who Signy Heri is, so I can make her award feel like HERS. Well, I can't go talking to Signy Heri. I have all the guile of a golden retriever, and I've never spoken to her before. But my friend Maestra Ellisif is friendly enough to ask what her persona is - a half Viking Dubliner born circa 970 AD. Since the assignment was stained glass, that was a very narrow window to research.
The Glendalough Cathedral, roughly 45 miles from Dublin, is contemporary to Signy, but nothing about the Glendalough Cathedral indicates that these early portions housed stained glass.
Christ Church Cathedral of Dublin dates back to 1028, and was founded by Viking King Sitric Silkenbeard. Little to nothing of that wooden building still stands, as it was rebuilt in stone in 1172 following the Norman-Anglo conquest of Ireland. Portions of the 1172 church still stand - with windows of the same size and shape of the earliest known stained glass in situ.
The oldest stained glass windows in situ are at the Augsburg Cathedral in Germany. These windows date to the late 11th-early 12th century (1065 is debated as their consecration date). The backdrops in the windows were semi-transparent, brown and tan variegated glass, with colorful figures holding banners. (In addition to her service as Atlantia's Queen and prowess on the fighting field, Signy is ALSO known as a fine maker of banners.)
At this point, I had an idea of what I wanted to make, but I needed a little reassurance that blue glass was also used in variegated patterns - Signy didn't seem like a muddy brown type. Multiple finds from the 9th century include marbled window glass, with blue marbled glass found at Molise, Italy. I also found examples of cobalt blue, white, grass green, yellow, and red glass.
The overall layout is based on the Augsburg windows, but I had to alter it somewhat. Atlantia's first knighted rose called for something I couldn't pass up - a rose within the knight's white belt. Neither are heraldic elements one regularly uses, and they are particularly eye-catching together. When it came to the figure, I just couldn't be sure whether it should be Duchess Signy (a lady in a gown), Sir Signy (in armor), or Signy's signature hare... So I asked the recipient. Signy chose the bunny.
A few choices were decided by aesthetics alone. The most obvious is the cobalt blue background for the bunny. The blue and white glass doesn't produce the colorful light effects associated with stained glass in current times. By using a translucent cobalt glass around the primary design elements, the window fulfilled the modern aesthetic goals. Also, Signy's banner needed to be white without blending in to the bunny. I chose a clear and white streaky glass. I did not look for a source for this choice, but it is aesthetically consistent.
Stained glass windows in period are surrounded with heavy metal frames and supports, set in stone traceries. I cannot recreate these in my workshop (and I don't have the physical ability even if the shop allowed), so each piece is finished with lead edging and set in a wooden frame for easy, non-poisonous handling. My first glass panel was framed by a professional, and I found that being even 1/32nd of an inch off square would throw off a standard frame, and I have yet to find a measuring tape that is precise enough (the ends of the tape shift). My personal measurements are more accurate by feel and sight, so the pieces are only cut after the panel is completed and cleaned. Signy's panel was seemingly blessed by being the first panel where I was able to cut every frame piece at 45 degree angles. I cut a roughly half inch groove down each inner side, with additional space for solder at corner joints (with practice, I might get perfectly smooth corners, but I'm not there yet). With each frame piece cut, I moved on to painting.
I tried to achieve a stone look for the frame. My first attempt was spray painting carved molding with stone-look spray paint. The particulate was too large, and the molding itself was far too bulky. My second attempt was with the final textured paint - but the original red oak frame material did NOT take the paint, with bubbles forming during the drying, and the paint sloughing off with minor handling (and major handling is necessary during framing). The third attempt, on pine, took, but with the final side of the piece, the paint would not lay down evenly on the first attempt, and a second coat did not entirely conceal the uneven coverage. Additionally, the back of the frame was messy with paint - attempts to sand and carve the paint off without damaging the face failed. I will not be attempting a stone look by means of paint again. Gesso has potential, though.
I used framing hardware on the back, but as I drove in some of the screws, the wood started to creak, threatening to break both wood and glass alike. After getting each screw in as deep as I dared, I attempted wood glue to help keep things together. But it wasn't to be. The pieces stayed wobbly. As a last resort, I used epoxy glue on both wood and hardware, and finally, the pieces stopped shifting.
Countess Jane told me to sign for her and Sir Eckehard, something I was leaving for last. As I added their signatures, I was discomfited by the amount of blank space between the text and main image. I added gold decorations the night before I delivered it. I had been hesitating a VERY long time before adding them, as they are NOT a period element - but painting more than a phrase-worth of text is ALSO not period. Aesthetics and a desire for more personalization won out.
Supplies: Glass, lead came, black patina, enamel paint, liquid leaf, pine.
(One of many sources on Augsburg, but the layout here is excellent.)
WINDOW GLASS FROM THE MONASTIC SITE OF JARROW: Problems of Interpretation
Rosemary Cramp
Journal of Glass Studies
Vol. 17 (1975), pp. 88-96 (9 pages)
NINTH-CENTURY WINDOW GLASS FROM THE MONASTERY OF SAN VINCENZO AL VOLTURNO (MOLISE, ITALY)
Francesca Dell'Acqua Journal of Glass Studies
Vol. 39 (1997), pp. 33-41 (9 pages)
https://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/stained/12c/1/00g_1100.html