We recently completed a window based on John Singer Sargent’s 1885-86 painting titled Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. The painting, now in the Tate Gallery, depicts a pair girls lighting lanterns at twilight. The painting took Sargent such a long time to complete because he only worked on it out of doors at twilight. This meant that Sargent would set up the scene every day (in good weather) and then could only paint for a few minutes each day when the light was exactly right.
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose has always been a favorite painting of Bill’s, and he made the cartoon for this window almost 15 years ago in anticipation of creating the window. Using glass that we had in our hold bins over the years, the window is now complete and will be going into the home of a local client.
This complex window uses drapery glass and plated layers for color in the dress the central girl. The drapery section of the window is plated with a second layer which gives the dress its distinctive coloration.
The floral areas are comprised of many small, intricately fit pieces of glass. Highly textured glasses were used for the blooming lilies and lanterns. The lanterns were plated using multiple layers of rippled glass to give the effect of the folded paper of the Chinese lanterns.
Facial features and hands were hand painted and kiln fired by Bill. Several firings were needed to layer the glass paints to achieve the right look for the hair and skin tones. A second layer of glass was put behind the girl’s heads to achieve the glow from the lanterns.
Carnation, Lily, Liy, Rose will be on display in our showroom for a time before moving to its new home.
