Swiss stained glass at Temple Ewell

ittejrtfljjta dfanfira* SWISS STAINED GLASS AT TEMPLE EWELL. BY N. E. TOKE. IN volume XLIV of Archosologia Cantiana I described and illustrated four beautiful little panels of seventeenth century Swiss domestic stained glass which formed part of a gift made by Mr Robert Haiford in 1852 to the Church of Temple Ewel], and which were inserted in the south window of the chancel. Owing probably to lack of funds, the rest of the glass was not utilized but seems to have been kept in the vicarage. When the benefices of Ewell and River were amalgamated, some fifteen years ago, the glass was found in the vicarage cellar, and the churchwardens handed it over to the present vicar, the Rev. W. E. Watkins, on his induction to the living. Having received an anonymous gift from a parishioner as a thank-offering, Mr. Watkins conceived the happy idea of using the money to form a new window in the Church with the remainder of Mr. Halford's gift. This consisted of some fragments of thirteenth century glass, and of four richly coloured panels of Swiss glass of the same kind and period as those which had been placed in the chancel. The panels were very ably framed by Mr. Caldwell of Canterbury in a setting of white glass, and inserted in the westernmost of the windows in the north aisle, while a quatrefoil in the tracery at the top of the window was filled with the thirteenth century fragments. The result has been a beautiful and interesting window which commemorates both Mr. Haiford and the anonymous donor of the money. The Swiss panels show to great advantage in their setting of clear glass, and, since the window faces north, their delicate colouring is not killed by over strong 2 SWISS STAINED GLASS AT TEMPLE EWELL. light as is the case with the four panels in the chancel whose beauty is apparent only when the sun does not shine upon them. In my former description of the Swiss glass in this church, and of that of Patrixbourne, I received the greatest assistance from Professor Dr. H. Lehmann of the National Swiss Museum at Zurich. He is probably the greatest living authority on the stained glass of Switzerland, and he gave me information which I could not have obtained from any other source. Remembering this, I ventured to send him photographs of the new window at Temple Ewell, and to ask him if he could tell me something about the panels. He replied in the same generous manner as before, and the following description of the glass is due mainly to the information furnished by the learned Professor, to whom I am profoundly indebted for his courtesy and kindness. Fig. 1 represents the lower panel on the left-hand side of the window. It measures 14f in. by 9-f in. The five roundels which it contains are of distinct kinds and have no connection with one another. The bird and the two stags at the top belong to a species of small glass paintings which made their appearance in the first half of the sixteenth century and became popular in the seventeenth, particularly in monasteries, as modest coloured ornaments. The central portion is 6 | in. in diameter, and is composed of an outer circle of yellow glass with an inner circle of white glass ornamented with four fleurs-de-lis. It contains the thirteen ancient shields of the Swiss Confederation as it existed from 1351-1798. It is probably unique as Professor Lehmann knows of no other example. In the middle of the arms of the cities and cantons are the arms of Austria. Viz. : or, a double-headed eagle, displayed, sable, beneath a cap of state, or, with bands gules. These arms were borne by the confederate states over their own until in 1648, the Peace of Westphalia, concluded by the German Emperor, France, and Sweden, put an end to the Thirty Years' War. It marked the absolute check T\ ^ j a P,.A V K'3 ^B H gJTwy • Fio. 1. ARMS OF THE SWISS COXFEDERATIOX. - * K t. I M»d« FIG. 2. THE MADOXXA OF LORETTO. SWISS STAINED GLASS AT TEMPLE EWELL. 3 of Austria in its attempts to unify Germany. Prance gained by it Alsace, and the Netherlands and Switzerland were recognized as independent of the German Empire. The inscription round the Austrian arms reads :— ^tanhaijt «itni toj) ift wnfsu- gattb hat mit -cthaltct mier stcbl wnb tetb. i.e. "Valour and Pidehty are our bond by which we hold cities and land." Then come the arms of the thirteen Cities and Lands in the following order from left to right:— Per bend, argent and azure. [1351.] Gules, on a bend sinister, or, a bear passant, sable. [1353.] The bend sinister seems to be due to a mistake on the part of the artist. Per pale, argent and azure. [1352.] Or, a bull's head, cabossed, sable, armed argent : in his nose a ring gules. [1315.] Gules, in the dexter chief point a cross couped argent. [1316.] Per fesse, gules and argent. [1315.] The shield of Unterwalden should be charged with " a double-warded key, in pale, counterchanged, the wards in chief ", but this is not visible in the painting. Argent, a fesse azure. [1352.] Gules, a pilgrim proper, habited argent, corded or. [1352.] Argent, a crozier case, sable. [1501.] Per fesse, sable and argent. [1481.] i.e. Soleure (Solothurn). Per fesse, argent and gules. [1481.] Or, a ram salient sable, homed of the field. [1501.] Argent, a bear rampant sable, armed gules. [1513.] The figures in brackets indicate the dates when each state joined the Confederation. The inscription beneath reads :— gJmn txexsccktn ®xht Jseltilbi in bar lotltehen (giMQnofefchitft <§ott bvdizkz itntc fcjjb, torijfshaxb nnh glraft. 1636. i.e. " The shield of the thirteen states of the honourable Confederation, to whom may God grant inwardly Peace, Wisdom and Power." 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Biirclt. gcrw. JCtttarit. SSrij. (Sdtiucijtz. i&nbwtoalbcrc. Zug. :<«. «M FIG. 3. THE COROXATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY. k * A Fio. 4. THE FLIGHT IXTO EGYPT. SWISS STAINED GLASS AT TEMPLE EWELL. 7 The inscription at the foot reads :— JtUldur jBamuttkr ta Ztit WLzibd guo SHolffmsr-httfjin wnb Jfr. Jtrata Jftamaria glassim sin CShxgtnwhcl. §Umo. 1664. i.e. "Melchior Barmettler in his time 'Weibel' at Wolfenschiessen and Frau Anna Mamaria Lussyn his spouse." The " Weibel" was an official of a town, or village, whose duties were both spiritual and temporal, and of very varied lands. The shield on the left has the arms of Barmettler, that on the right those of Lussy. viz. Azure, a Paschal Lamb, argent, bearing a banner or, on which is a cross of the second. One of the four panels in the chancel was the gift of another member of the Barmettler family (vide Arch. Cant., XLIV, p. 250), and the arms of Lussy occur at Patrixbourne in the stained glass medallion commemorating Peter Gisler (Arch. Cant., XLIV, p. 234). The two "putti" in the margins of the panel have been taken from a much older glass painting. Cf. Pig. 4. The panel measures 13 J in. by 11 in. Fig. 4 represents the lowest panel on the right of the window. It is the largest of the four, measuring 16|- in. by 11 in., and in design and execution is the finest, though it is not the most interesting historically. Professor Lehmann thinks it is of German manufacture. The gryphons holding shields at the top, the central oval, and the cherubs blowing trumpets at the bottom evidently belong to one another, but the rest of the panel is patchwork made of older fragments of glass. Cf. Fig. 3. The oval represents the Flight of the Holy Family into PgyP*- Mary wears a blue mantle, and Joseph, in a reddish mantle, carries what seems to be a large saw and a basket of carpenter's tools. The arms on the shield held by the gryphon on the left are : Or, a demi-Uon rampant sable; those on the right: Or, a pile and cross intertwined, sable. They have not been identified. 8 SWISS STAINED GLASS AT TEMPLE EWELL. The deep red, blue, yellow, and green colours of the thirteenth century fragments in the quatrefoil in the tracery are an additional embellishment to this handsome window by which the church has been enriched. My thanks are due not only to Dr. Lehmann, but also to M. Pierre Turpin, of Lille, to whom I am indebted for the legend of St. Theodule and the golden bell.