Window with Starfish ("Spring")

Multiple layers of richly worked glass, a technique Louis Comfort Tiffany used with great success, provide an appropriately watery effect for these images of undersea life. Thick stone-like glass "jewels" and wavy and twisted "drapery" glass forming heavily encrusted borders further enliven the scenes. Although Tiffany's glass usually incorporated lush natural imagery, only a few surviving windows depict aquatic themes-an unusual subject more often seen in select examples of his glass vessels, enamels, and lamps. In this pair of windows, Tiffany's appreciation of Japanese art and his innovative approach to stained glass design are dramatically revealed.