Details

Object type

stained glass heraldic panel

Title

Arms and Crest of the Order of St John and Oswald Elsener

Place Associated

Switzerland (place of manufacture)

Date

16th century

Materials

coloured glass, lead

Dimensions

overall: 350 mm x 255 mm x 10 mm

Description

Stained glass heraldic panel (wappenscheibe), showing the Madonna and Child with the arms and crest of the Order of St John on left and armorial shield on right, presumably that of Oswald Elsener (d.1565) (argent three mountain peaks azure). In the upper section of the panel, is a cartouche reading 1550, between depictions of the Baptism of Christ by St John and the figure of St John the Evangelist. At the bottom of the panel an inscription reads ‘Frater Oswald Elsener Ordinis Sancti Iohannus Baptisiti’ (Brother Oswald Elsener of the Order of Saint John the Baptist).

From around 1475 and into the 17th century it was customary in southern Germany and Switzerland for civic groups, fraternities, religious houses, cities, and civilians to gift each other with stained glass windows. Often small in scale and bearing heraldic arms associated with the donor, these windows served as a marker of their generosity, wealth and prestige.

The donation of stained-glass panels was often initiated on the request of the intended recipient. In a time of great rebuilding in Switzerland, the donation of expensive stained glass by friends and associates would have eased the financial burden on the owner or owners of the premises. Both public buildings, such as town halls, churches, and guilds, and private dwellings, were supported in this manner with heraldic and decorative glass set amongst windows of plain (often bullseye) glass.

Provenance: Gifted to the City of Glasgow in 1944 by Sir William Burrell.

In 1941 Burrell took the opportunity to revise his acquisitions and asked for advice from his long-term stained glass dealer and advisor, Wilfred Drake, in refining his collection. Writing to Drake in July 1941, Burrell listed a series of 33 panels that he regarded as ‘very unimportant and bought about fifty years ago’. On his examination of this series of Dutch, Swiss, German and English glass, Drake advised that this panel be retained for his collection, alongside 45.529, 45.557, 45.530. Another nine examples were also retained, mounted together as 45.532.

Published: William Wells, Stained and Painted Heraldic Glass, Burrell Collection, 1962, no. 270.

Credit Line/Donor

Gifted by Sir William and Lady Burrell to the City of Glasgow, 1944

Collection

Burrell Collection: Stained Glass

ID Number

45.506

Location

In storage