This unique horse figure, which is also sometimes known as "the Grey Mare, symbolizes the winter spirit in Welsh folklore. This Welsh wassailing custom involves a man carrying aloft the skull of a horse bedecked with ribbons and bells. He and the group go from door to door requesting entry to the household through song. The householder and Mari then has a song 'battle'. This would go back and forth until the Mari Lwyd would enter the house.
Welsh poet Vernon Watkins paid tribute to his nations custom in his 1941 'The Ballard of the Mari Lwyd'. It begins;
Mari Lwyd, Horse of Frost, star-horse, and White Horse of the Sea, is carried to us. The Dead return. Those Exiles carry her, they who seem holy and have put on corruption, they who seem corrupt and have put on holiness. They strain against the door. They strain towards the fire which fosters and warms the living.
Limited variable design edition no. 2/5
Each panel is made using mouth-blown glass and traditional stained glass techniques which have changed very little since early Medieval times
I design each piece and produce a working drawing which is called a cartoon. From this a cutline is made which is a guide for cutting each individual piece of glass.
The glass I have used is mouth-blown glass- a craft in its own right, as this glass has a vibrancy and interest to it due to the occasional air bubbles and striations in the glass which create a liveliness as light hits it.
The glass is brought in sheets of varying colours and is cut down to size using the cut line as a pattern marker. Any detailed work is now hand painted onto the glass and fired in my kiln to fuse the paint to the glass for permanence. There can be multiply firings to build up the textures that I want to portray.
The glass pieces are then fitted together using lengths of lead came and all the joints are soldered together. Leaded light cement is then brushed into the gaps between the glass and lead came and finally, when dry, is cut back and the finished panel cleaned and polished.
The photos show the panel photographed in daylight and against a lightbox. I try to show the colours as accurately as possible but please be aware that photographing glass is very hard.
This listing is for hanging glass panel only.
Dimensions: Glass panel H 24.3cm o/a x W 19.9 cm o/a approx
Please be aware that due to the lead, children should not handle the panel and hands should be washed after handling.
International orders may be subject to tax and import duty and this is the customers responsibility to pay these fees.