Shane Confectionery, here in Philadelphia, is the oldest Candy Store in America. One of the owners, Ryan Berley, lives in my little town of Lansdowne just west of the city limits. I've know Ryan as a man of impeccable taste and boundless energy, so I was delighted when he asked me to do a special stained glass job for him for Shane's.
Ryan brought me an old sign he had acquired that was made of white opalescent glass with two lines of textured red lettering: CHOCOLATES above and CARAMELS below.
Ryan brought me an old sign he had acquired that was made of white opalescent glass with two lines of textured red lettering: CHOCOLATES above and CARAMELS below.
Ryan's idea was to create another sign advertising a wonderful old Victorian confectionery favorite that Shane Confectionery has brought back to life - CLEAR TOY CANDIES. The signs were to be set side by side in a beautiful oak frame and made to look as though they had always been a pair.
I met with Ryan's cabinetmaker, Chris, and we talked over the best approach for making the final project look as if it had always existed. The project required a balance between the span of space we had to fill and the existing size of the existing window panel. It was decided that while the height of the sign would remain as it was, I would have to add glass to the width of the existing panel.
I had to search now for the best possible glass matches so the new sign looked original. I sent pictures and descriptions to my glass importer, Bendheim, and then moved on to the design phase.
Old signs were crafted by hand and eye and when I began carefully analyzing the lettering I found that many letters were a little higher or a little lower than others. Not only that, but the distance between letters was somewhat idiosyncratic! This meant I would have to recreate those discrepancies in the new window. No computer lettering allowed!
I met with Ryan's cabinetmaker, Chris, and we talked over the best approach for making the final project look as if it had always existed. The project required a balance between the span of space we had to fill and the existing size of the existing window panel. It was decided that while the height of the sign would remain as it was, I would have to add glass to the width of the existing panel.
I had to search now for the best possible glass matches so the new sign looked original. I sent pictures and descriptions to my glass importer, Bendheim, and then moved on to the design phase.
Old signs were crafted by hand and eye and when I began carefully analyzing the lettering I found that many letters were a little higher or a little lower than others. Not only that, but the distance between letters was somewhat idiosyncratic! This meant I would have to recreate those discrepancies in the new window. No computer lettering allowed!
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I carefully laid out the lettering and lead line to replicate all the characteristics of the original sign until I was satisfied I had captured the approach of the original craftsmen. Now it was time to select and cut glass. While the white glass was fairly easy to find, the red lettering has a texture and variation that I could not match exactly. But I was able to find a textured red with enough variation to match the major characteristics of the lettering. I had to buy four full sheets of glass to get the range of darks and light! Now I was ready to roll. Cut glass, assemble windows, and cement and bar them. I added a stained glass column to each end of the windows and replaced the original sign's border, partly due to damage but also to further the feeling that they had alway existed together.
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