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throwing watery patches of color

English translation: casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:throwing watery patches of color
Selected answer:casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light
Entered by: Charles Davis

17:56 Oct 29, 2018
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Sherlock Holmes
English term or phrase: throwing watery patches of color
"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?
Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 09:04
casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light
Explanation:
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
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 03:04
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +5casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light
Charles Davis


  

Answers


10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
casting / projecting pale or attenuated patches of coloured light


Explanation:
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


Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 03:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 236

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Taña Dalglish: Agree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullion. Short & sweet! IMO, in that era and particularly the mention of "high mullioned windows" it would be exceptionally rare, if ever, to have any type of window covering/drapery of any kind, etc.
12 mins
  -> Thanks, Taña :-)
agree  JohnMcDove
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, John :-)
agree  Daryo: except that: the coat of arms covered a large part of the window, the window itself being all stained glass.
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Daryo :-) Maybe, though that's not common in British stately homes. The description doesn't indicate the size of the patches. They could correspond to multiple coloured heraldic elements in a clear window, as in the example I posted.
agree  MarinaM
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Marina :-)
agree  B D Finch: It would usually be the top sections of the window that were stained glass, with the rest in clear glass. If the top panes were covered with coats of arms, then the family had a long aristocratic pedigree.
17 hrs
  -> Thanks! That coincides exactly with my own understanding.
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