Muntin

Illustrated Architecture Dictionary ...........................Illustrated FURNITURE Glossary

Muntin

Stone mullions separating windows; lead muntins separating panes of glass

Architecture

The narrow wood bars that hold and separate panes of glass in a window sash.

Not to be on fused with mullion, which is a larger dividing member between multiple windows.

Spiderweb muntins

Found in all western styles of architecture

Mullions and Muntins

When a very large glazed [glass] area was desired before the middle of the nineteenth century, such as in the large windows seen in Gothic churches or Elizabethan palaces, the openings necessarily required division into a framework of mullions and transoms, often of stone.

It was further necessary for each glazed panel, sash or casement to be further subdivided by muntins or lead cames because large panes of glass were reserved primarily for use as mirrors, being far too costly to use for glazing windows or doors.

...[mullion] is also confused with the "muntin" (or "glazing bar" in the UK) which is the precise word for the very small strips of wood or metal that divide a sash into smaller glass "panes" or "lights".

- Wikipedia: Mullion (Online Dec. 2012)

Furniture

Wood strips that hold the panes of glass in a glazed door

Examples from Buffalo:

120 North Pearl Street

Furniture: Cabinet door - Edward Harvey House. 91 Jewett Parkway

Furniture: George III Secretary - Dana Tillou Fine Arts

Furniture: Carved muntin, Transitional Early Victorian enclosed-front bookcase - Old Editions Book Shop and Café

Furniture: Federal corner cupboard - Private collection, Buffalo, NY

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