Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
throwing watery patches of color
English answer:
casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Oct 29, 2018 17:56
5 yrs ago
English term
throwing watery patches of color
Homework / test
English
Art/Literary
Poetry & Literature
Sherlock Holmes
"As Sir Henry and I sat at breakfast the sunlight flooded in through the high mullioned windows, throwing watery patches of colour from the coats of arms which covered them."
Just from reading this, I would understand this to be "light shining through windows with coats of arms covering them, creating colour patches inside the dining hall from the colour of the coats of arms." Is this understanding correct, and if so in what way do the coats of arms cover the windows - stained glass? Drapery?
Just from reading this, I would understand this to be "light shining through windows with coats of arms covering them, creating colour patches inside the dining hall from the colour of the coats of arms." Is this understanding correct, and if so in what way do the coats of arms cover the windows - stained glass? Drapery?
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Nov 3, 2018 06:27: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
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Charles Davis
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casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light
I've entered a paraphrase of the question term in the answer box, but in answer to your real question about where the colour comes from, it's almost certainly stained glass. "Mullioned windows" suggests an aristocratic stately home, and it was/is not uncommon for such buildings to have heraldic stained glass windows. Here's a good example, from a building called Montacute House:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stained_glass_window...
"Covered" doesn't means "placed on top of", but rather "spread all over". Maybe not all over, but it implies that a large part of the window was stained glass.
"Watery
pale or weak in colour or strength:
The sun shed its thin watery light over the sea."
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/watery
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stained_glass_window...
"Covered" doesn't means "placed on top of", but rather "spread all over". Maybe not all over, but it implies that a large part of the window was stained glass.
"Watery
pale or weak in colour or strength:
The sun shed its thin watery light over the sea."
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/watery
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
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