Our day started at the Channing Memorial Church. (E. Boyden and Sons 1881). William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century.
We were at the church to view the John LaForge stained glass windows. I promised I would tell this story, so here goes. Charles Lewis Tiffany, father of Louis Comfort and man of the silver company, agreed to sponsor John LaFarge in a business if he would teach his son Louis the art of stained glass. At this point, LaFarge had developed a new style of stained glass.
Originally Glass was painted and then fired and was truly lovely. However, LaFarge realized that adding the color to the glass gave a far better experience. The glass would be colored and then poured into large vats. Eventually that colored glass would be either broken or cut to fit into the lead caning. The rivalry I spoke of a few days ago, is that after LaFarge taught Tiffany everything, his father reneged on the deal. That is a blatant statement, that possibly has other things behind it. LaFarge was known for having absolutely NO business sense, he was always over budget and over time, and possibly this had something to do with the situation. LaFarge windows now command a higher price because they are considerably more detailed than Tiffany’s.
LaFarge Glass Windows
Red glass in a LaFarge window, that also has a second layer of clear glass to give even more depth to the drapery.
Even in LaFarge windows the hands and faces would be painted, I assume because the caning would interfere with the reverence. These are the first part of the window to fail, and as you can see this guy is aging badly – who doesn’t?
An idea of the detail in the LaFarge windows.
Our next stop was the Newport Casino. Commissioned by James Gordon Bennet, because there was no place to have fun in Newport, (after a peeing in the fireplace incident) it was designed by McKim, Mead and White (MMW) in 1873. The word Casino has morphed over the years, in this case it does not mean a gambling spot. In Italian it is a diminutive of casa, “house.” The word was first applied to a country house and then came to be used for a social gathering place, a room or building where one could dance, listen to music, and gamble.
Lawn Tennis was first played here in 1881.
We were shown around the theater with its gilded woven plaster walls, but also had the chance to watch a round of the Men’s World Championship of Court Tennis. Court Tennis is very, very different and if you are interested you can read about it here.
This is the same basket weave plaster that was first seen in the Isaac Bell house, here it is gilded for that special POP.
Next was the Griswold House which now houses the Newport Art Museum. The home was originally built for John N. A. Griswold who made his money in the China Trade. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt between 1861 and 1864.
Then a stop at the Redwood Library.(Peter Harrison 1748-50) The library has the first full temple facade in the US.
There were no photographs allowed, but it is rather gorgeous inside. More importantly is the libraries collection. The library is a private subscription library, one of only 13 in the U.S.. Founded in 1747, it is the oldest community library still occupying its original building in the United States.
We then proceeded to do another Richard Guy Wilson death march past fourteen houses with explanations. One, we pleasantly were able to tour, and it just blew me away, that was the Samuel Tilton House, McKim Meade and White (1880-82). The home is private and yet has some of the most stunning original interiors. I am just going to leave you with the photographs.
The top of the chimney at the Tilton House
The exterior walls made from the grout of the stone and broken glass
We then proceeded to a delightful cocktail party sponsored by the William Vareika Art Gallery. The gallery has a superb collection of Newport and Narragansett related art and upstairs is a wonderful collection of LaFarge paintings.
The home of Clement Clarke Moore house, the man who wrote The Night Before Christmas
William Morris Hunt did the Horses of Anahita, this seems to be a study for the final bronze.