Tiffany windows getting makeover
If you think the exquisite Tiffany stained glass windows at First Presbyterian Church are something special now, imagine what they will look like after they are cleaned and restored in the coming months.
The windows, which show various biblical scenes, are getting a major makeover just in time for the 100th anniversary of their installation, which will be Oct. 1.
Workers from Willet Hauser Architectural Glass Co., based in Winona, Minn., have been taking painstaking care as they began dismantling the windows this week at the downtown church, located directly west of the Statehouse at 817 S.W. Harrison.
Each piece of glass in the windows will be taken out and cleaned, then put back in with new lead.
A tall scaffolding was erected in the church's sanctuary balcony to enable Garrick Holey, Rob Wang and Jeff Post, of Willet Hauser, to begin taking apart the Ascension window, which depicts Christ rising to heaven after his resurrection.
Each pane in the windows is composed of several layers of stained glass. A Tiffany trademark, the layered glass gives the windows a depth and three-dimensional appearance, as well as an iridescent glow during nearly any period of the day when sunlight can be captured.
"When you're looking through them," Holey said, "you're looking at sometimes six or seven layers of glass."
Holey said the early dismantling process revealed some of the windows were needing their leading replaced, but as of Thursday morning, no broken or cracked panes had surfaced.
Still, Holey said, "it's good they didn't wait any longer" to begin restoring the windows.
The Ascension window, which is the largest of the Tiffany windows and occupies a prominent place on the upper east wall of the sanctuary, will be packed and crated to go to the Willet Hauser office in Minnesota. Work on restoring the window will be done there.
Other Tiffany windows will be dismantled and cleaned on site before they are replaced.
Because the Tiffany window cleaning is considered a historical project, Willet Hauser workers are taking careful notes to record the condition of the various pieces of glass. Records also are being made of the location of each pane of glass.
Beyond the stained glass cleaning, work also will be done on the exterior window coverings that protect the windows on the outside.
The old protective coverings had become opaque over time, said First Presbyterian Church deacon Gary Koeppen.
New protective glass coverings will be much clearer and will enable the church to light the windows at night so they can be seen by passers-by on S.W. Harrison.
The Tiffany windows were installed in 1911. According to church records, Louis Tiffany came to Topeka and planned the windows for the church sanctuary. The windows were a memorial to Jonathan Thomas from his widow, Josephine.
When they were installed, the windows cost $14,000. Now, they are considered irreplaceable.
The windows were made of Favrile glass, which the church said was an invention of Tiffany.
The glass is made without paint, enamels or stains. Colors were produced by formulas with such additives as cobalt, gold and copper.
Colors were enriched by using layers of glass or by wrinkling or changing the surface texture.
Phil Anderson can be reached
at (785) 295-1195
or phil.anderson@cjonline.com.
