Stained Glass in Cloth... new

Dalle de Verre – Faceted Glass

People are most familiar with stain glass that is thin pieces of flat glass wrapped in lead and soldered in place. The glass panes are then commonly painted with religious images. They are designed as windows and set into window frames.

There is another type of stained glass called Dalle de Verre, or faceted glass. It was developed in the early to mid-20th century.  It uses one inch thick bits of glass that are typically set in an epoxy-sand-resin mixture. The glass is not painted relying on the various colors and placement to depict shapes.

Faceted glass presents a different feel than ordinary leaded stained glass windows. It is a mosaic-like, fluid look of pure color. The edges of each piece of glass are typically chipped. These facets refract the light.  The extra thickness, uneven front and back surfaces and chipped edges give the glass a shimmering, rich appearance. The matrix the glass is set in is often black. It frames each piece of glass and is visually much wider than the lead edging used in ordinary stained glass windows. This enriches the facet glass pieces by creating a strong contrast accenting the brilliance of the glass. Carveth’s banners are done as faceted glass.

Faceted glass can be structural and is often set into a wall versus a window casing. They are strong and block out the elements. Some are very large and are not in the wall but are the wall.

Medieval Byzantine craftsman used glass fragments in a similar way. They would cut holes in a wall and imbed glass into the wall to add color and light inside the building. There are buildings in Spain too that show the same use of glass. Presumably the idea was brought there by the Moslems. Persians and Saracens, of the East Mediterranean embedded glass into wood, stucco and stone frames.  Gothic tribes made similar use of glass in France during the fifth and sixth centuries. Similar uses are found in Egypt. So the idea has been around for a long time.

An interesting side note. Islamic law prohibits the use of human likeness for godly images. The Christians are quite the opposite and encouraged likeness of Christ, apostles, angles, etc. That may have lead to the shift to a thinner glass wrapped in lead and inserted as windows. It would be easier to then paint images. The Middle Eastern use of the pieces of unpainted glass within walls seemed too vanished for several hundreds of years. In the late 1920's, French glass artists, experimenting with new architectural designs, revitalized this use of glass and Dalle de Verre was officially born. Maybe it should be better said that it was reborn in a new context and given a new name. French pioneers in Dalle de Verre were Auguste Lavouret and Pierre Chaudiere.

Iceland Church Window -- In Close are actual parts of windows in a church in Iceland. It is on the site of the oldest church in Iceland. All the windows in the church as faceted glass. They are massive and wondrous. Carveth takes a small section in a window and blows the pieces up to the size of a banner.

Iceland Church Window -- In Close.
4.5' x 16' $750	3' x 16' $375	2' x 16' $275	2' x 16' $275
Iceland 01	Iceland 02	Iceland 03	Iceland 04

You can own a piece of a stained glass window. Carveth has made a match set of banners. Lay them side by side and they match, yet each one is different. Note how some colors, like the gold, flows across each banner. Other colors, like purple flow in, up, around and off the banner set. New colors appear. Some black matrix lines flow across the entire set. Other lines flow across several banners and stop to be replaced by a different pattern. You can own the entire set or you can choose the section you like the best. Which one(s) do you like the best?

Stained Glass Window Set

Banner 5.05, 5.04, 5.03, 5.02, 5.01

2' x 16' $275

A Bend in the River are a series of banners of Carveth's design. It is amazing how different they look in different colors.  "It makes me think I'm in  airplane looking down on a river, right where it bends. I like to play with the colors. What would it look like in the spring? How about in the cold of the winter." Carveth.

A Tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright. These are banners reflecting his ideas for windows. "Wright had a fresh way of viewing things. His windows displayed a simple elegance, which is one of the key concepts I like to follow." Carveth