Description: Hand cut stained glass, properly leaded and put into a newer oak frame. Flowers are the subject matter


History: Many histories of stained glass begin with Pliny’s tale of the accidental discovery of glass by Phoenician sailors. The legend recounts shipwrecked sailors who set their cooking pots on blocks of natron (soda) from their cargo then built a fire under it on the beach. In the morning, the fire’s heat had melted the sand and soda mixture. The resultant mass had cooled and hardened into glass. Today, though, it is thought that Pliny — though energetic in collecting material — was not very scientifically reliable. It is more likely that Egyptian or Mesopotamian potters accidentally discovered glass when firing their vessels. The earliest known manmade glass is in the form of Egyptian beads from between 2750 and 2625 BC. Artisans made these beads by winding a thin string of molten glass around a removable clay core. This glass is opaque and very precious. Jean Lafond’s gripping story tells how, in the desert west of Palmyra in 1937, David Schlumberger, director of excavations, showed Lafond a cache of 115 colored glass fragments that Lafond described as “Greenish white, bluish white, moss green, two tobacco yellows (one more gold than the other), burnt sienna, smokey, three purples (one near wine, one more brown), a garnet of great beauty and two violet purples. A varied thickness adds to their nuances.†The greens had been blown in a roundel which he could surmise because of the presence of part of the outer rim. Several pieces showed a right angle and traces of a grozer on the edge. Schlumberger explained that these glasses had decorated claires-voies (literally “clear waysâ€) of stucco designed in elegant interlaced arabesques.

Provenance: N/A


Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 42 | Height(in) = 55 | Width(in) = 22 | Depth(in) = 1.5

Size of Artwork(in): 55 x 22 x 1.5"


Artist Name: Unknown


Medium: Glass / Wood


Circa: 20th Century

Section of glass has been broken. Further inspection does not show any damage to the glass. One panel, the 22" size is not attached and needs to be glued on.