In November of 2003 we removed 2 windows from the 1st Methodist Church of Chatham MA on Cape Cod
One was of Mary,the mother of Jesus, (next page) and one of Joseph of Egypt. They showed individuality of design and signifigant skill in glass painting portraiture. The story of Isaac's son, Joseph, gave the designer an opportunity to incorporate Egyptian patterns and images.The windows had small inscription plates indicating they were made by the Redding Baird studio of Boston Ma in the late 1800s. I have since found some other examples of work by this studio which showed similar qualities.The figures show tremendous sensitivity to glass selection and the use of beautiful,thick drapery glass.
The original craftsmanship of the fabrication was excellent.The figural area of the windows has 2 to 3 layers of glass, some of which is painted and acid-etched. There appeared to have been some shortcuts taken in the original installation, perhaps a size adjustment that went badly. There were in both windows a 3/4 inch gap between adjacent panels which had beeen filled with putty.The lead was deteriorating badly; there was bowing and a good deal of broken glass. About 2/3rds of the reinforcing bars had been installed on the outside and this resulted in areas where the panels had broken their tie wires. Some of the perimeter fillet glass was missing and had to be replaced. The protective lexan was badly yellowed and unvented.
In short the restoration of these windows was to prove an exciting challenge to our skill and a delightful visual reward for our efforts.The project was covered with remarkable thoroughness by 2 local Cape Cod papers.