July, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



267 



windows in general use. They represent 

 the highest development of the lead line 

 in pictorial domestic glass. 



The stained glass window is only a mat- 

 ter of design, of leading,, of cutting and of 

 selection. But while the "pot metal" is at 

 the service of every man who cares to buy 

 it, so are artists' brushes and tube colors, 

 but if an artistic result is desired only an 

 artist can give it, and for glass an artist is 

 needed part of whose training has been to 

 design and work in this particular medium; 

 a medium whose advantages and limita- 

 tions are marked and pecular. This is the 

 baldest of truisms, but for some inexplic- 

 able reason it is almost uniformly over- 

 looked. Instead of going to the studio of 

 an artist and craftsman, the average patron 

 wends his way to the office of a glass fac- 

 tory, often with lamentable results. 



For the ordinary dwelling something 

 less elaborate and expensive than the land- 

 scape or figure window is generally called 

 for, and in the vast majority of cases is 

 necessary and desirable both on the score 

 of good taste and economy. 



For small houses or small rooms, those 



and skilfulness in its use is the test of the competent windows in which the leading forms geometric or ornamental 



designer. patterns are most appropriate, the question of color being 



In old glass the lead line was arbitrary; holding together governed by the surroundings, as is also the pattern, which 



sheets and pieces of glass of different colors on which the must have some relation to the architectural character of the 



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Design for Window on Stairway Landing in Residence, Montclair, New Jersey, by Joseph Lauber 

 in its use is the test of the competent 



design was painted or stained, and consequently differs radi 

 cally from the American practise. The term "stained glass" 

 is a misnomer when applied to American glass, but it has the 

 sanction of usage. In American glass the pigments are 

 molten in and each sheet contains a variety of blended tones 

 which the artist selects and which are cut to the pattern 

 shown on the cartoon. 



Space and distance being available the human figure, 

 either singly or in a composition group as elaborate as the 

 opening may justify, can always be used; provided the color 

 effect of rich glass is borne in mind. In important houses 

 figure compositions are often the logical 

 treatment for a given space, and by availing 

 himself of the abundance of light and deli- 

 cate colors produced by American opales- 

 cent glassmakers the artist can produce a 

 result in every way secular. 



A peculiar and most interesting form of 

 figure window has been evolved, in which 

 no painting whatever is employed. The 

 heads and hands in American windows are 

 painted in verifiable colors, the remainder 

 being free from pigment and made of what 

 is generally termed "pot metal." In the 

 windows in question no pigment is used 

 anywhere. The face and hands are made 

 entirely of cut glass, and all the features 

 are leaded in — -to accomplish this without 

 making a grotesque is in itself a "tour de 

 force." 



They have been principally produced in 

 Europe by devotees of "L'Art Noveau," 

 and to a limited extent here under the same 

 influences. They are expensive to make, 

 and call for the highest form of trained 

 skill, both in designer and cutter. In the 

 cartoon there can be no uncertainty; every 

 line must be even more carefully studied 

 and more accurately placed than in the 



room. If the room is in one of the historic styles the kind 

 of leading is in a manner prescribed and it must of necessity, 

 if the dictates of good taste and custom are followed, recall 

 the architectural ornament by which it is surrounded. If the 

 color of the room is permanent, that is, if hard wood 

 or much marble has been used, the dominant note of color 

 has also been determined in advance. 



Fortunately most rooms are relatively simple both as to 

 moldings and carving and in the windows of these the most 

 tempting opportunities occur. In them the designing becomes 

 simply a question of taste and of the conditions of outlook. 



Design for Window in Residence, Montclair, New Jersey, by Joseph Lauber 



