Tiffany Windows

On October 1, 1911 the Thomas and Stormont Memorial Tiffany Windows were unveiled. The dedicatory plaque reads: The windows in this church excepting the Stormont Memorial commemorate the long and happy concordance in service of this church in diverse ways by the late Jonathan Thomas and Josephine Brooks Thomas, his wife, who gave them.

Louis Tiffany coined the word “favrile” and later had it established as a trademark of the Tiffany Studios, to apply to the special glass he created. The word derives from the old English “fabrile” meaning handmade or belonging to a craftsman. Louis Tiffany studied art and painting in America, Europe and the Orient. As early as 1875, Mr. Tiffany began work which would minimize the use of paint or enamels applied to the surface of glass, the traditional method of creating “stained glass.” Tiffany discovered that to create glass, where color is inherent within the glass rather than applied, it was essential to have his own glassworks to controls chemical experiments and glass production. He established a new glassworks factory at Corona, Long Island in 1892.

Being able to oversee his own furnaces allowed him to experiment with and carry out his own ideas. In these furnaces was made a pot-metal glass which was forced into folds and wrinkles while in a molten condition. These folds were adaptable to many forms of drapery. The development of iridescent colors and all the varied hues and shades in Favrile glass called for a great chemical knowledge on the part of Louis Tiffany.