March, 1912 
earlier times, whose works La Farge made his life study. 
But quite the most exquisite part of this panel is the wind- 
blown mass of Peonies, held back by their curving stems. 
Conventionalized though they are, to a certain extent, they 
still possess all the strength and vitality of nature in the 
curved lines and rich masses that suggest fresh June color 
and Nature’s very own fresh brilliancy. The introduction 
of the exquisite rose-color that has marked so much of John 
La Farge’s work is to be found here. This artist’s suc- 
cessful efforts to obtain glass of suitable richness to meet 
the requirements of his conceptions resulted in that long 
series of experiments which led him, perhaps, to the highest 
achievements of his day in this direction, which; together 
with the work of his contemporaries, Louis C. Tiffany and 
others, placed American stained glass on the very highest 
plane of modern decorative art, recovering to our workmen 
the quality and richness of the stained glass of the medieval 
masters of the craft. 
In the Worcester (Massachusetts) Art Museum is an- 
other window by La Farge, the “Peacock Window,” a 
famous example of the fusing together the edges of various 
pieces of glass, held in position by a thin brass wire, some- 
what after the manner of Cloissonné enamel work. Sub- 
mitted to the right degree of heat, the glass is fused, piece 
to piece, thus making it possible to connect various delicate 
tints without requiring the assistance of the intervening 
leaded lines. Nevertheless, the decorative value of the 
contrast afforded by lead lines is enormous, and one would 
not, except in rare instances, wish to do entirely without them. 
The lovely window by the late Walter Shirlaw, repro- 
duced on the first page of this article, is an example of a 
window intended for a residence (that of Mrs. William T. 
Evans), which especially well exhibits this value to the 
whole of the leaded line. Always occupied as he was with 
the expression of symbolic representation of ideals, Walter 
Shirlaw never failed to give life and movement to any sub- 
ject from his hand. In this window is depicted a lovely 
goddess seated on the ledge of a marble terrace, two pea- 
cocks at the left. Beyond are dark masses of Fir trees and 
Pines in the landscape, and in the clearing sky above is seen 
a suggestion of the rainbow that gives the window design 
its name. The lovely flesh tints, perfect 
modelling, the folds of the drapery falling 
in sweeping masses and blown by the gust 
of Summer wind, unite the composition in 
a manner characteristic of this noted artist’s 
work. One would never tire of a window 
of this sort. 
The use of enamel color on nearly opaque 
white glass has enabled the glass painter of 
the present day to attain excellent results 
in the matter of actual portraiture. Until 
very recent years the usual manner of treat- 
ing portrait heads, as seen in ecclesiastical 
glass (where it is quite sufficient), was by 
means of obtaining tints approximating flesh 
tones by means of lines of brown applied on 
a flesh-tint glass. For centuries this was 
deemed all that was necessary in the way of 
representing the color of flesh in glass 
painting. However, in order to attain more 
perfect representation in this medium, 
American artists in glass working have de- 
voted much persevering effort in solving the 
problem of a better means of working out 
portraiture for stained glass, and our artist- 
craftsmen have the honor of having 
achieved a distinct success for their pains, 
although portraiture in stained glass has 
been very little attemptedas yet. When the 
The 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
ee” 
“Peony Windo 
by John La Farge, an exquisite 
example of American stained glass 
~ 
pete 
AigRacemnen es segsetttines 
BE 4 
Portrait window designed and painted by Ida J. Burgess 
lifelike quality of the portrait in glass becomes better known, 
doubtless it will lead many persons to a recognition of its un- 
usual merits as deserving consideration for a place in home 
decoration. Of course, there are great difficulties for the art- 
ist to overcome in the use of enamel colors on glass, but the 
thorough artist will enjoy solving his problem all the more 
for the pleasure he will find in surmounting the difficulties 
that may beset his progress. 
The fondness we have shown as a nation for landscape 
in painting has found expression in our work in stained 
glass as well, especially in connection with 
composition employing the human figure. 
The three-panel design by Clara Burd, for 
a library window, a reproduction of which 
is here given, is such an instance. ‘This 
‘‘Launcelot”’ window illustrates a scene from 
the Arthurian legend, the text of the side 
panels reading as follows: ‘‘Then in the 
boyhood of the year, Sir Launcelot and 
Guinevere rode through the covert of the 
deer. She looked so lovely as she swayed 
the rein with dainty finger tips. A man had 
given all other bliss and all his worldly 
worth for this, to waste his whole heart in 
one kiss upon her perfect lips.” 
Although leaded glass is much more sim- 
ple in effect than any stained glass possibly 
could be, still it requires the hand of the 
artist in its designing, just as truly as does 
stained glass. Its leaded lines must be just 
right or its effect will be all wrong, espe- 
cially as it will rarely, perhaps, have a note 
of color to help it along. 
One does not, perhaps, think so much 
about the matter of patterned windows cur- 
ing the Summer months, when the outlook 
through the casement frame is pleasing, but 
with the approach of the Winter months, in 
those localities where the landscape prac- 
fie Wiis pire | 
w’ —designed 
