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Leaded glass windows or ‘light shades’ are a crucial
element of the Prairie style. Frank Lloyd Wright developed the use
of leaded glass as a form of ornamentation by light rather than
by shape alone. Many of his homes display shimmering, shifting color
patterns on the walls and floors caused by natural sunlight filtering
through colored glass. In the Darwin Martin house, home of his famous
‘Tree of Life’ windows (each of which contained over 750
pieces of glass!) light wells below the living room windows were
covered with thick glass that reflected the sunlight upward through
the windows. This resulted in ever changing, multicolored shadow
patterns on the room’s ceiling as well.
The leaded glass panels shown in many of our pieces are inspired
by the geometric nature motifs of the Prairie artisans and architects.
Our windows are hand made one at a time, normally with lead chemically
patinaed to darken the lead. This removes the shining, artificial
look of silver came and simulates the effects of age.
Most patterns include two to four colors of translucent or opaque
glass. Colors can be selected to match your decor. For a cabinet
door or hutch, lighter translucent glasses work best, as they don’t
obscure the cabinet interior. A very light color in larger blocks
with a darker accent color in smaller sections is also very effective.
The lamp at right uses opaque glass exclusively to hide the bulb
from view. All of our cabinets that feature leaded glass are lighted
to bring out the full beauty of the glass.
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