The World Through Colored Glasses / Forget peace symbols and unicorns, today's stained glass boasts classic designs

TARA ARONSON, Special to The Chronicle

Alameda's Allen Michaan is fascinated with its texture and colorful special effects.

And Adriana and Thomas J. Williams of San Francisco call it ``an obsession.''

``It'' is stained glass, a time-honored art form that spans more than 1,000 years of religious, artistic and architectural history.

The latest incarnation of stained glass really began in the 1960s, when the hippie set adopted it as a folk art. But if the term ``stained glass'' conjures memories of peace signs and unicorns, you'll be surprised. As stained glass artists became more skilled, they started studying works of the old masters. This trend, plus the interest in restoring turn-of-the-century homes in the Bay Area, has returned the art form to its historic roots.

The hottest new designs are the old ones -- antiques or turn-of-the century reproductions.

Most antique windows are from dismantled churches, historic buildings or the occasional estate sale. A three-window set at Antique Traders in San Francisco, for example, once was a stately backdrop at Pickfair, the estate of screen luminaries Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

``These pieces are double-layered glass and leaded,'' says Antique Traders owner Alan Schneider, ``which helps give that feel of truly looking at a morning glory snaking its way through the honey-colored glass, not just a one-dimensional representation of it.''

This historic view comes with a modern price tag -- for about $75,000, you can take it home. Antique stained glass windows -- those at least 100 years old -- range from $50 for small, simple designs to more than $250,000 for original, ornate works by the legendary stained glass masters Louis Comfort Tiffany and his contemporary, John La Farge.

CATHOLIC CONNECTION

The industry's history is nearly as colorful as the glass itself: The first stained glass windows were created for churches in Europe during the Cathedral Age of the 11th and 12th centuries. Stained glass windows remained popular during the ensuing three centuries. But since medieval stained glass was so closely connected to Catholicism, its popularity was shattered by the Reformation in the 16th century.

In the late 1800s, innovative techniques developed in America by Tiffany and La Farge sparked the revival of the art. Dissatisfied by the poor-quality glass of the time, the pair experimented with making opalescent glass, in which strands of color were introduced into the molten glass. By the end of the century, stained glass windows, lamps, skylights, backdrops, room dividers, greenhouses and entryways were a hot ticket for the well-dressed home.

Stained glass also figured prominently in the Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries, only to disappear during the bleak days of the Depression.

AT THE MOVIES

Allen Michaan has been collecting Tiffany's stained glass since the 1970s for both his home and his various Bay Area movie theaters, including the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, where several of the grand, colorful windows are on permanent display.

``I'm utterly fascinated with Tiffany's work,'' says Michaan, who has more than 20 such pieces in his Alameda home. ``People respond to different types of art. Some people prefer Oriental rugs, others prefer paintings. My favorite is Tiffany glass.''

David Valenga of Mill Valley traces his obsession with the multicolored glass to his college days in the late 1960s. He began making pieces on his own and researched the techniques used by the masters.

``I soon realized that the old glass was treated in a way that can't be duplicated today,'' he says. ``The grid work, the latticework, the colors are just beautiful. They were mostly done by hand, without some of the more streamlined techniques used today.''

He and his wife, Julie, are collectors whose passion has spilled over into an antique business, Age of Elegance in Mill Valley. Some 4,000 antique stained glass windows have passed through their home office over the years.

Today the couple's elegant home features various stained glass centerpieces, including two dramatic, 6,000-piece mosaics in rich shades of green and deep blues with elegant, beveled red jewels so popular at the turn of the century.

``It feels to me when I come home that I have been transferred back into another time,'' David says. ``I've always marveled at the beauty and the people of the Victorian era. They lived with these pieces I have here. It's the closest I can get to capturing a bit of that time period in my life.''

San Francisco art enthusiasts Adriana and Thomas Williams became enchanted by the charm and colors of turn-of-the century stained glass after viewing several pieces at Antique Traders in 1987. They bought two long, narrow antique windows at $20,000 each to begin their collection.

``They're like a piece of art, a painting,'' says Thomas, a San Francisco attorney. ``We put the stained glass windows in our home to give us some privacy from our close neighbors, and it was just beautiful. We ended up buying five pieces for the dining room and the foyer. Stained glass has become our obsession.''

LANDSCAPES AND FAUNA

All stained glass doesn't require such an investment. Contemporary works go for about half the price of antiques and usually include the landscapes and fauna depictions so prevalent in yesteryear's creations.

``People are fascinated with the textured, colored glass and bevels that were popular in those days (the Art Nouveau and Victorian periods),'' says Carolyn Shadomy, owner of San Francisco Stained Glass Works. ``We find that people these days are asking us to create Victorian styles and beveled clusters to match the period houses in San Francisco and the Bay Area. They think the older styles are better.''

Many of the artists working today are also focusing on the turn- of-the-century styles.

``Today there are 10,000 to 15,000 people across the country working in professional stained glass,'' reports Joe Porcelli, a stained glass craftsman and Pennsylvania-based publisher of the industry publication Glass Artist Magazine.

``The renewed interest in stained glass is first in the hand-crafting, and second in the medium. There's a whole new crew of people making glass out there, and today it's accessible to the widest audience ever.''

DISPLAYING STAINED GLASS Not all stained glass has to go in a wall. These historic windows can be either permanently installed or remain movable.

Hanging the stained glass window on chains or by hooks is a popular

Here are a few of the most popular ways to display stained glass windows in the home:

-- Built-in

This is a favorite of homeowners. The stained glass window is installed as a traditional window would be: permanently attached to the surrounding walls.

-- Suspended by chain or hooks

This makes the window glass easy to install and remove.

-- Hung as artwork directly on a wall, with or without back lighting

-- Incorporated into kitchen or other cabinets

A window is set in the door of existing cabinets.

-- Light box

This is an enclosed box built around a stained glass window illuminated from behind.

-- TARA ARONSON

PUBLIC VIEWING

Tiffany and other antique stained glass can be viewed in public places throughout the Bay Area including:

-- Bardelli's Restaurant, 243 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco; (415) 982-0243

-- Cypress Lawn Cemetery, 1370 El Camino Real, Colma; (415) 755-0580

-- Grand Lake Theatre, 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland; (510) 452-3556

-- Neiman-Marcus, 150 Stockton Street, San Francisco; (415) 362-3900

-- Sheraton-Palace Hotel, Market and New Montgomery streets, San Francisco; (415) 392-8600

RESOURCES Like the look of antique stained glass windows but not the price? Make your own. Here are a few places that offer instruction and assistance to get you started.

STORES

-- Age of Elegance, P.O. Box 2117, Mill Valley; (415) 388-

-- The Antique Traders, 4300 California Street, San Francisco; (415) 668-4444

-- Butterfield & Butterfield, 220 San Bruno Avenue, San Francisco; (415) 861-7500

-- San Francisco Stained Glass Works, 345 Divisadero Street, San Francisco; (415) 626- 3592; also offers classes

CLASSES

-- Evergreen Stained Glass Studio, 1245 Howard Avenue,

-- I Love Stained Glass Shoppe, 24052 Grand Street, Hayward; (510) 537-6270

-- Kaleidoscope Stained Glass Studio, 1318 Old County Road, Belmont; (415) 591-8770

-- Stained Glass Garden, 1800 Fourth Street, Berkeley; (510) 841-2200

-- Stained Glass Images, 1025 Tanklage Road, Unit E, San Carlos; (415) 592-4858

PUBLICATION

-- Glass Artist Magazine, 28 South State Street, Newtown, PA

DAY: WEDNESDAY

DATE: 10/12/94

PAGE: 1/Z1

© 10/12/94 , San Francisco Chronicle, All Rights Reserved, All Unauthorized Duplication Prohibitted