‘Heraldic’ domestic pattern window, Front entrance, Longerenong homestead, Longerenong, Victoria

‘Heraldic’ domestic pattern window, Front entrance, Longerenong homestead, Longerenong, Victoria

Celtic, Ferguson & Urie, floral grid pattern, flowers, harp, heraldry, John Lyon, Longerenong homestead, medieval design, Samuel Wilson, Stained glass, Victoria, VIC, window

This ‘heraldic’ pattern transom hangs over the doorway at Longerenong homestead in Victoria. Central to the design is a golden Celtic harp on blue shield (c. 13th century) representing owner Samuel Wilson’s Irish roots. This is flanked by his initials (S W), and the year (AD 1862). A ‘diapered’ medieval floral grid pattern dominates the background, and alternate blue and white flowers attached to golden stems and leaves, occupy the red outer borders. Beverley Sherry points out that, “The nineteenth-century pioneers of Victoria’s pastoral districts had a strong sense of family pride and this was [often] expressed in stained glass” (Australia’s Historic Stained Glass, Sydney, Murray Child, 1991, p.37). The colourful ‘Longerenong’ window provides an excellent example of such expression.

Lewis, Miles (digital image)

2009 - 2011

© Miles Lewis and University of Melbourne

Hyperlink

This image and several others related to Longerenong homestead can be viewed on pages 71-76 of Miles Lewis’s 702675 Australian Building Analysis: Stained glass and specialist finishes, available as a pdf download:

Go to: http://mileslewis.net/illustrated-contents/10-australian-building.html

Select: Stained Glass (pdf.)