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A summary of how dalle-de-verre is made can be found in this video, where Fr Dom Charles Norris (who created the glass at Our Lady's) refined his dalle technique. The medium of dalle-de-verre means “flagstones of glass”. It was a new glass technique invented by the French in the 1930s. This method of working was not used for long as interest in the new technique died out, until its revival in the 1960s. This time, the glass used was thicker and ranged from half, to a full inch in thickness. These pieces of slab glass were cut to shape, faceted, arranged in a mould in a designed pattern, and then set in concrete.
Fr Charles first found out about dalle-de-verre through Gerald Goalen who had travelled through Europe on an organised tour of modern churches. Goalen lent Fr Charles his slides of European churches and he learned how to produce the dalle windows by studying a recent book by Edward Armitage, a colleague of Pierre Fourmaintraux, both from Powells & Sons (latterly known as Whitfriars Studios). Fr Charles visited the glass studios to see their techniques and some of their work. Fr Charles became one of the most prolific British proponents in dalle-de-verre. The technique was widespread across France, Germany, America and in Great Britain. In Europe reinforced concrete was used whereas in America an epoxy resin mix was used. Most European dalle was manufactured and imported from Saint-Just-sur-Loire. After that for Our Lady's, the dalle was then chipped and assembled into panels at Prinknash Abbey.
Dalle-de-verre is made by producing slabs of various colours by pouring molten glass into open moulds. Different colours are created by adding mineral oxides to the molten glass whilst still in the crucibles. The moulds are then left to chill, and once cool the glass is ready to be cut to shape. Most dalle has textures on two sides – one side where it has been in the mould, it is slightly rough and on the other side, where the glass has cooled towards the air it is smoother. The rough, textured side faces the inside of the building, and the smooth surface usually faces outwards. Glass is arranged on a cartoon of cardboard or firm paper and scribed around with a cutter. The dalle is then turned over and is broken by tapping with a dalle-de-verre hammer over a solid steel anvil. When all the surplus glass has been removed, a small light glass hammer is used to chip away at the edge of the glass whilst holding it steady with the other on the anvil.
Fr Dom Charles Norris and Fr Paulinus Angold in Stained Glass Workshop, 1990. Image courtesy of Buckfast Abbey Archives.
The glass edges are then bevelled to create a jewel-like effect, to direct and angle the light in the Church, as is clear in Our Lady’s. The glass surface is full of tiny undulations that are a natural product of the medium’s viscosity. Entrapped bubbles, as well as small craterlike extrusions on the surface, add to the interesting texture of slab glass panels. Surface imperfections are picked out by the light and are reflected back to the viewer. It is the natural light that the stained glass relies upon for its forms, as the light illuminates the Church interior with pools of coloured light, partially achieved by controlled chiselling and angling of the glass.
Fr Charles and Fr Paulinus in Stained Glass Workshop, 1990.
After the edges of the glass are chipped it is referred to as ‘faceted’, and subsequently the glass is washed, rinsed and left to dry. When dry, the pieces of glass are placed in position on a mould base, and concrete is poured in. Traditionally in stained glass work lead cames were used, but they are not strong enough to hold the thick pieces of dalle glass together, so concrete was used instead. The concrete would have been poured into the middle of the pane and worked out to the edges to achieve the maximum possible thickness. As concrete is cast, the frame is vibrated a little to release trapped air bubbles. The surface is then smoothed out by an available instrument to help direct and even out the flow. To settle the concrete a hammer is used to gently tap around the frame to ensure that the concrete has reached every nook and cranny. It is then left to settle and dry. The advantage of using concrete is that it has the functional character of being a weight-bearing material. It also enables religious architecture to be in harmony with contemporary tendencies in modern architecture and allows for the integration of architecture and decoration, beautifully exemplified in the glass at Our Lady’s. It really is a magnificently modern Church in design and sparkling stained glass.
Scholarship on Dalle-de-verre
Current scholarship on the subject of dalle-de-verre mostly concentrates on the conservation and restoration of the glass. Since dalle is a relatively recent technique its use is experimental, and critics are giving it the test of time before making aesthetic observations. Time has shown that there are vulnerabilities in the materials used which can contribute to/exacerbate structural problems. When discussing dalle-de-verre, scholars focus upon the making of the medium, aesthetics, new and related techniques and unique expressiveness. Scholars await the longevity of dalle-de-verre for critical considerations of the medium.
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