There is such an ethereal quality in stained glass windows; no wonder there are so many of them in our places of worship. When the sun light reflects on a stained glass window, we can see such celestial beauty. There are so many stained glass windows at the Ballantine House, which is a part of the Newark Museum. Most churches in Newark also contain stained glass windows.
Louis Comfort Tiffany, who was the son of Tiffany & Co. founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, was an artist who created beautiful stained glass windows. He was also a painter, designer and famed glass maker. In order to create his unique designs, he studied the art of other cultures. In the 1890’s, LCT created Favrile glass, a glass known for its rainbow-like colors.
Throughout his 57 year career, LCT worked with many interesting people and on many important projects. LCT was commissioned to partially redecorate the East Room, Red Room, Blue Room and State dining room of the White House for thirty thousand dollars. LCT was contracted to decorate the Lyceum Theater for fifty thousand dollars. On this project, LCT worked with Thomas Edison; the Lyceum was the first theater that was lit by electricity.
At Laurelton Hall, LCT and his family lived in a luxurious palace that contained his works of art. The estate had 80 rooms and most of the rooms had stained glass windows. Guests were inspired by the beauty of his home. There were glass walls in the estate and decorations from the east. LCT had many friends and had parties at his home. For one of his gatherings, he sent out invitations written in hieroglyphics. He asked all his guests to come dressed either as Egyptians, Nomad Tribes, Greeks, Persians, Ethiopians, Romans, Syrians, East Indians or Arabs.
One of LCT most famous designs was the Wisteria stained glass lamp. LCT is immortalized through his art work, for his stained glass lamps are still very popular today.
Work Cited:
Purtell, Joseph. The Tiffany Touch. New York: Pocket Books, 1973.
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