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Wardian Case
Recent private commissions
1) A Pteridolgist
My customer is a
Pteridolgist (specialist
fern collector to you and me) and
had spent a lot of time on the internet trying to find
someone who made Wardian Cases. My
specialty is making cases in a Victorian style
using coloured glass from old leaded light windows.
He asked for the Wardian Case that
you see bottom right of the front screen
Showcase.
Photos below: Left
I developed the facade a bit
with a fanlight. Cutting the arch for the fanlight can be a
bit tricky. All the books you see on glass cutting
say that when scoring; "begin an one side
of the glass, end at the other. Do not stop, pause or
otherwise interrupt the score". In this case I score a
semicircle and stop! I then pick up the score on
the tangential to the horizontal diameter and
extend the score to produce what will become the two
verticals.
The coloured glass for the
eaves has gone on. Small pieces
placed in a
simple pattern. . No doors
as yet.
Right.
Now with doors
the right hand door is fixed, the left hand door swings
open.
Photos left and right
below:The side and back panels with the curved tops make for
strong visual interest. Because the central panel is
wider than the two adjacent panels,
an arc of greater
radius is required if the semicircles are to
meet at the panel seams. Consequently, the effect of
the centre panel having an arc of greater radius is that is
"higher" than the adjacent panels so providing
additional visual interest.
Photos Below; Right. The structure is 600mm tall (2') and has a
base 300mm (1') square. Almost a square meter of glass was
used, with 3 kilos of solder and 91 discrete
pieces of glass. It took 3 x 8 ish
x hour days to make. Left. View of the roof.
Photos Below
Two photographs one
with the door open, one with the door closed. The door hinges open with a slight
tug. When closed the case is almost (but not quite) sealed.
The door can be lifted off its hinges if required.
2) Lou's Wardian Case
Quite large this one, I got a bit carried away in the
making process... The construction begins with the base and
as I had failed to take any measurements from previous
versions I was obliged to guess the size.
The finial was turned up especially because snow and
a postal strike meant that I was unable to order any. The
bright and shiny patina was achieved using a strong
solution of copper sulphate in very hot water... It will all
dull down in time of course.
Nowadays the case sits at the end of a
landing in a lovely deep and quite narrow west
facing window bay .
See also :
Wardian cases how they are made
,
Public
commissions
Wardian cases
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