Overview

Medieval stained glass windows are relatively untapped sources of information about medieval technology and production because their architectural context usually prohibits sampling for chemical analysis. This volume presents a comprehensive study of York Minster's Great East Window (1405-1408), investigating glass-making technology and provenance, and glass-painting craft organisation. Chemical analysis relies upon established methods of elemental and isotope-ratio analysis and development of an in-situ technique, handheld/portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF). The book also brings together historical documentation, art historical information, and meta-analysis of legacy data. Concepts borrowed from archaeological and pedagogical studies, including chaîne opèratoire, technological choice, apprenticeship and batch theory, and production models from the automobile industry, provide a new lens through which to interpret the data. Findings regard long-term relationships between York Minster and glass suppliers, the level of sophistication exhibited by medieval glassmakers, and detailed insights into the window workshop, including identification of work by different craftsmen.

Full Product Details

Author:   Laura W Adlington
Publisher:   BAR Publishing
Imprint:   BAR Publishing
Weight:   1.591kg
ISBN:  

9781407358505

ISBN 10:   1407358502
Pages:   399
Publication Date:   31 May 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1.1 The Great East Window of York Minster 1.1.1 Glass-making technology and acquisition 1.1.2 The organisation of stained glass window production 1.2 Challenges in the study of medieval stained glass by materials science methods 1.2.1 Trace element methodology 1.2.2 Interference of lead cames 1.3 Overview 2 The Great East Window of York Minster 2.1 York in 1400 2.2 Construction of the window 2.3 York Minster Revealed 2.3.1 Composition, Corrosion and Origins of Medieval Window Glass: The Cardiff-York project 2.3.1.1 Samples from the project 2.4 Summary: A window of opportunity 3 Glass-making in the medieval period 3.1 Medieval treatises on glass-making 3.2 The chemical composition of medieval forest glass 3.2.1 Factors affecting the chemical composition of medieval glass 3.2.2 Transition to high lime, low alkali (HLLA) glass 3.3 Colour technology 3.3.1 Control over the furnace and redox conditions 3.3.2 Addition of colourants to the melt 3.3.3 Flashed glass and other composite glasses 3.4 Possible sources for the GEW glass 3.5 Regional trends in glass composition: Synthesis of previous analytical work on medieval European glass 3.6 The GEW and glass-making technology 4 Medieval glass-painting 4.1 Medieval treatises on glass-painting 4.2 Cartoons and glazing tables 4.3 Medieval craft guilds and glass-painting 4.4 Workshop practice 4.5 A multidisciplinary approach 5 Problems and possibilities: Using handheld pXRF to study medieval stained glass windows 5.1 An introduction to handheld pXRF 5.1.1 The basic principles behind XRF analysis 5.1.2 Handheld (portable) XRF: Practical considerations 5.1.2.1 The sample material 5.1.2.2 Instrumental settings 5.1.2.3 Quantification 5.1.2.4 Performance, problems and potential 5.2 Handheld pXRF in archaeology and cultural heritage 5.2.1 The English Heritage Historic Window Glass project 5.3 Surface conditions of medieval stained glass 5.3.1 Composition and corrosion of medieval stained glass 5.3.2 Decorative details: grisaille and silver stain 5.3.2.1 Grisaille 5.3.2.2 Silver stain 5.4 The interference of lead cames 5.5 Developing a methodology for the study of medieval stained glass windows by handheld pXRF 6 Methods 6.1 Materials and sampling 6.1.1 Great East Window, York Minster 6.1.2 The Cardiff-York project: Data and samples 6.1.2.1 Little Birches Wolseley, Staffordshire 6.1.2.2 St William Window, York Minster 6.2 Analytical methods 6.2.1 Handheld pXRF analyses 6.2.2 Electron microprobe analyses 6.2.3 OM and SEM imaging 6.2.4 Laser ablation ICP-MS analyses 6.2.5 Isotope ratio analyses 6.2.6 Development of glass calibration standards 6.3 Tests for methodological development 6.3.1 Elements affected by surface conditions 6.3.2 The interference of lead cames on in situ analysis 6.4 Identification of glass batches 6.5 Summary of the research methods 7 Performance of handheld pXRF in the analysis of medieval stained glass 7.1 Trace element methodology 7.1.1 pXRF performance on standards and medieval glass 7.1.2 Deterioration and the depth of analysis 7.1.3 Trace elements in medieval forest glass 7.2 Bypassing the interference of lead cames 7.2.1 Comparison of in situ and test stand analyses by pXRF 7.2.2 Analysis of glass at increasing distances 7.2.3 Comparison of empirical calibrations 7.2.4 Factors affecting the measured intensity with increased working distance 7.2.5 Development of an attachment for in situ window analysis, the WindoLyzer 5 7.2.6 Health & Safety 7.3 Summary 8 Chemical characterisation of the Great East Window glass 8.1 Characterising major glass types 8.1.1 Identification of original and non-original glass 8.2 Glass original to the window 8.2.1 The original white glass 8.2.1.1 Comparison with Staffordshire glass 8.2.2 The original blue and red glass 8.2.2.1 Blue colour: Comparison with Gratuze cobalt ores 8.2.2.2 Red glass: Comparison with Kunicki-Goldfinger et al. (2014) 8.2.3 The original green and yellow glass 8.2.4 The original manganese-coloured glass 8.2.5 Original HLLA glass? 8.3 Non-original medieval forest glass 8.3.1 Non-original white forest glass (potash-lime) 8.3.2 Non-original coloured forest glass (potash-lime) 8.3.3 Non-original HLLA glass 8.4 Summary of the compositional results 9 Original white glass batches and their distribution in the window 9.1 Identification of batches using compositional data 9.1.1 Panel-by-panel identification 9.1.2 The cross-window approach 9.1.3 Significance of clusters 9.2 Distribution of batches across the panels 9.2.1 Row 1 panels (1e, 1h, 1j) 9.2.2 Panel 3b 9.2.3 Panel 10c 9.2.4 Panel 10e 9.2.5 Panel 10h 9.2.6 Panel 15a 9.2.7 Panel 15b 9.2.8 Panel 15f 9.2.9 Panel 15g 9.2.10 Panel 15h 9.3 Summary 10 Recipes and procurement of the GEW glass 10.1 White glass 10.1.1 Provenance 10.1.1.1 Consignments of white glass 10.1.2 Customer-supplier relationship 10.2 Coloured glass 10.2.1 R

Reviews

The book makes important contributions both to the methodology of glass analysis and to the understanding of the production of medieval stained glass in Britain. This study represents the first application of the batch concept to medieval stained glass and so is particularly original.' Professor Ruth Whitehouse, University College London 'This is an exemplary case study in how to address big questions about social organisation through highly focussed interdisciplinary research. It represents a model of how to blend hard science with social science.' Professor Andrew Reynolds, UCL Institute of Archaeology

Author Information

After earning her UCL-funded PhD in archaeological materials science (2019), Laura Adlington joined the ERC-funded project, GlassRoutes, as a postdoctoral researcher at IRAMAT-CEB, CNRS (Orléans). She is currently based outside Philadelphia working at Strainoptics in the non-destructive measurement of stress in glass and plastics, and she continues research on heritage materials.

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