Craft
Restoration of antique stained glass
Antique stained glass is repaired, not replaced. Bowing panels, tired lead, broken glass or faded painting: every intervention starts from a condition report and aims to keep as much original material as possible.
When a panel needs restoring
A panel that bows, a visible belly when seen edge-on, blackened and brittle lead, lost cement, cracked glass or pieces held together with tape — all point to re-leading becoming necessary.
Lead came has a limited life. After roughly a century it loses its flexibility, the panel no longer holds its plane and the glass works until it cracks. Acting in time avoids replacing glass that is still sound.
How the work is carried out
Everything begins with a documented condition report: photographic survey, rubbing of the lead network, inventory of broken or missing glass, identification of earlier repairs. This file fixes the exact scope before anything is dismantled.
Once removed, the panel is taken apart piece by piece, the glass cleaned without abrasives, breaks bonded or filled, and the whole rebuilt on new lead, soldered and cemented. Original glass is kept wherever its condition allows.
Missing glass and faded painting
When a piece is lost, I source glass matched for colour, texture and thickness — old mouth-blown glass cannot be matched exactly, but it can be approached closely. New pieces remain identifiable to a trained eye, as restoration ethics require.
Grisaille decoration worn away by time or by harsh cleaning can be reworked and refired, guided by the areas still legible and by photographic records.
Churches, heritage buildings and homes
I work on church and chapel windows, on the glazing of town houses and Haussmann-era buildings, and on the Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass of private homes — stairwells, transoms, landing doors and canopies.
On listed buildings the work is carried out in liaison with the client and the architect overseeing the project.
Requesting a condition report
The simplest first step is to send overall and close-up photographs together with approximate panel dimensions. In most cases that is enough to tell a localised repair from a full re-leading.
A site visit then allows the condition report and the quotation to be drawn up.
Discuss your project
Describe your space, its constraints and what you have in mind — photographs and approximate dimensions are enough for a first reply. Workshop based in Paris, projects throughout France and abroad.