England, c.1550–1600
Brown enamel and silver stain on clear glass with red and green border quarries
St Mary’s Church, Fawsley, Northamptonshire (possibly from Sulgrave Manor)

Overview

This rare and coherent group of eight small stained-glass panels represents a significant survival of Tudor-period devotional glazing. Executed in brown enamel and silver stain on clear glass, each figure is bordered with alternating red and green quarries. The sequence depicts apostles, prophets, and allegorical figures, reflecting a mixed moral and devotional scheme rather than a strictly apostolic series.

The panels share a restrained linear style, limited palette, and modest scale, suggesting manufacture for a private chapel or manorial setting, possibly Sulgrave Manor, ancestral home of the Washington family. Their later transfer to St Mary’s Church, Fawsley, during nineteenth-century restoration preserved them as one of the few intact examples of mid-sixteenth-century English domestic glass.

Panel Descriptions

Male Bearer of the Veronica (The Vera Icon)

A bearded man stands frontally, holding a folded white cloth across his body. The figure likely represents the male personification of the Veronica, or Vera Icon—the “true image” of Christ’s face miraculously imprinted on a veil. From the later Middle Ages onward, some artists replaced the female Saint Veronica with a male bearer to avoid conflating the relic with a saintly woman and to emphasise the veil itself as a direct manifestation of Christ’s divinity. The Fawsley figure’s quiet dignity and frontal pose express this theological reinterpretation, transforming the relic into a Christological symbol rather than a narrative scene.

St Peter

The inscription “S Peter” appears below the figure. Bearded and robed in ochre and red, he holds the two keys of Heaven. The firm linear drawing and intact paintwork make this the best-preserved of the set.

St Simon the Zealot

Depicted with a long saw in his right hand, the saint is identified as St Simon the Zealot, martyred by that instrument. The simple stance and thinly applied enamel embody the modest, didactic style of Tudor domestic glass.

St Andrew

St Andrew holds the diagonal cross of his crucifixion. The inscription “S Andreas” is faintly visible below. His ochre robe and calm bearing convey humility and steadfast faith, consistent with his traditional iconography.

Female Personification

Within a lozenge-shaped frame stands a female figure in a fashionable gown with a feathered headdress, holding a long yellow scarf trailing behind her. Her secular dress and lack of halo indicate an allegorical or decorative figure, possibly a personification of a Virtue or a moral quality.

Moses

The bearded figure raises his right hand and holds a tablet or book in the left. The inscription “Moses” identifies him as the lawgiver. His inclusion among New Testament saints suggests a programme uniting Law and Gospel for moral instruction.

Male Figure Reading an Open Book

A male stands reading from an open book, representing study and revelation. The absence of clear attributes leaves his identity uncertain, though the contemplative pose may indicate St John the Evangelist or another teaching figure.

St Bartholomew

A bearded saint holds a knife upright in his right hand and gestures downward with his left. The knife identifies him as St Bartholomew, martyred by flaying. The strong vertical composition and spare detail typify the ensemble’s sober expressiveness.

Technical Note

All eight panels are painted in brown vitreous enamel and yellow silver stain on hand-blown clear glass, assembled with lead cames and surrounded by alternating red and green border quarries. The glass shows characteristic Tudor crown-glass irregularities with small air bubbles and rippling. Painting is linear, relying on fine brushwork and translucent washes rather than heavy modelling. Inscriptions are executed in Gothic blackletter, uniform across the group.

The panels show moderate surface wear, flaking, and evidence of several re-leadings. Their present configuration at Fawsley likely dates from nineteenth-century antiquarian restoration, when displaced historic glass from local estates, including Sulgrave Manor, was preserved in parish settings. Despite weathering, the group retains exceptional stylistic unity and represents a rare survival of English post-Reformation domestic devotional glass.