Ontwerp voor een glas in loodraam after 1907

This design for a stained glass window was rendered anonymously in ink and graphite. The medium itself is relatively simple, yet the final result would have been a complex assembly of cut glass, lead cames, and perhaps painted details, all requiring a high degree of skill. The design suggests a window intended for an upper-class home or civic building. Stained glass windows have a long history, often found in churches and cathedrals, where they served a didactic purpose. By the time this drawing was made, the techniques were being applied in a secular context. The design here would have been translated from the drawing into a ‘cartoon’ on which the glass would be cut and assembled. The artist’s labour is only the starting point; it would be the glass workers who ultimately realized the design in material form, their hand skills essential to the success of the endeavor. Considering both the initial artistry and the subsequent labour reveals that an object like this has a rich social history embedded within it, and is far more than just a design on paper.