Restoration
Project spotlight - Arthur Dix windows
A set of four stained-glass windows by artist Arthur Dix, were purchased by a Melbourne based collector in very poor condition. Many areas were missing and broken with virtually no lead salvageable.
St Andrew's Numerkah
The window pictured above was almost totally destroyed from fire in St Andrew's Church Numurkah. Fortunately, photographs had been taken of the windows prior to the event, allowing for a reference to recreate the artwork. Fragments were gathered from site, cleaned and studied for art work, glass colour and painting technique. Five other stained-glass windows were also near to destroyed, requiring the same attention to detail in order for the windows again to communicate as they did prior to the catastrophe.
Mandeville Hall
Mandeville Hall, now Loreto School, has a collection of some of the most significant heritage secular stained glass in the country. Amongst other projects at the school, our works included the removal and conservation with epoxy of the piece pictured above, the cleaning of the lower sections of the stairwell window beneath this lunette, and the restoration of the front door panels.
Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station has many areas of valuable and original heritage glass. Almond Glassworks has worked on the building's glass for over twenty years; works that range from the clock tower to the hand painted and stained-glass panels pictured above. The replacement of the missing artwork in a pane such as the one above, requires artwork development as well as the special production of the matching green glass, a factor that is paramount in the successful recreation of the missing segment.
1860's heritage glass
The central pane of the installation above was broken beyond repair and was an important component of an internal door surround of a substantial rural house. In order to remake the missing segment, the artwork had to be studied to develop a silk screen. The density of the vitreous enamel was also tested until a suitable match was created. The silver stained fleur de lyse required further testing and a further firing. The new version is indistinguishable from the surrounding originals.
Bundoora Park Mansion
The above image was taken prior to the restoration of a six by four metre elliptical skylight above the stairs of what was once the Smith Family home. Over its one-hundred-year life, the installation has suffered from the effects of poor restoration, the dropping of a hammer through a section, as well as providing a warm and convenient home for rodents and birds. The upper surface was littered in debris when the window was first surveyed. Our works saw the recreation of the centre missing segment and the restoration of a foliage component that had been previously poorly reconstructed.
The final result is a significant secular glass installation, which communicates well in what is now a public art gallery.
Furguson and Urie
The early Melbourne made window above is a unique example of exceptional joinery mixed with feature gothic revival stained glass. The east orientation saw the timber dry out, rather than rot from driving rain, the glass being basically intact, with the exception of what appeared to be damage caused from projectiles. We removed this window in its entirety and remade the missing stained-glass sections. The timber joinery that was not stable enough to retain the glazing in the refurbished building was restored to original condition. Over one hundred years of grime was carefully removed from both surfaces revealing a wonderful authentic window.