Photo: Anne Sowden, glass conservator uses a graffiti remover to strip the paint. Photo: Richard Moss. © 24 Hour Museum.
With a little bit of graffiti remover and a lot of time and care two ornate ten foot (three metres) long windows, hidden since Victorian times, are slowly being returned to their former glory.
The windows are part of John Nash’s 1815 additions to Brighton’s Royal Pavilion and are situated in the upper gallery, one at the north end and one at the south end. They are the only internal windows of their type in the building.
Made of ground glass, chosen so that the oil paint would adhere to it, the windows are, like so much of the Pavilion, painted with designs inspired by Chinese and Indian decorative arts.
Wood panelling that completely obscured the windows was removed 15 years ago but it is only now that vital restoration work to strip the green over-painting has begun.
Photo: one of the roof lights in the upper gallery brilliantly shows off Nash’s innovative use of natural light. Photo: Richard Moss. © 24 Hour Museum.
Nash’s innovative use of light is one of the most striking features about the Pavilion; the glazed and colourfully painted roof lights of the upper gallery bring in light from above.
Once the over-painting has been removed the two vast feature windows will filter extra light as the architect intended.
Pavilion conservators believe the glass was painted when Queen Victoria took over the building some 150 years ago.
"They made a lot of alterations, especially upstairs," said Janet Brough, paintings conservator. "These rooms here became Albert’s suite of rooms. They built a special corridor and painted the windows so that he could get to his room without being seen by everybody."
Restoration only began four days ago and the scaffolding has been hired until February so it won’t be a quick process. The semi-opaque glass is much finer than modern glass and, unlike modern techniques, which involve enamelling and firing, the designs on Nash’s windows are simply painted in oils.
Photo: removing the 150-year-old paint from the original windows is a painstaking job that could take months. Photo: Richard Moss. © 24 Hour Museum.
This means that the windows and designs are very sensitive and that the conservators have to be very careful.
Jon Latham, one of the conservators working on the windows, explained: "What we are going to have to do is leave a halo of the green paint to protect the edges of the designs, so that is what is taking the time really."
Protecting the designs and the window is not the conservators’ only worry. The Pavilion is still open to the public whilst the restoration work goes on and dealing with lead paint and solvents has health and safety implications.
So Anne Sowden, glass conservator at the Pavilion, and Jon Latham have been using a solvent normally used for removing graffiti that is non-toxic and non-drip.
Photo: a chandelier made from decorated glass that hangs from the ceiling between the two windows. Photo: Richard Moss. © 24 Hour Museum.
Even with the green backing paint the intricate designs and red stained glass look impressive. But the small areas that have had the three layers of paint removed show how splendid the windows will look once the work is complete.
The restoration coincides with the launch of a new book, which tells you more about what the Pavilion would have looked like when it was first built and how its eminent residents adapted it for their needs.
A Prince’s Passion: The Life of the Royal Pavilion is written by Jessica Rutherford, the Director of the Royal Pavilion.
Rutherford is Head of Libraries and Museums for the city of Brighton and Hove and has written widely on late 19th and 20th century design and decorative arts as well as researching and writing about the Royal Pavilion.
