Stained glass “Circle Windows”

Edgar Miller
c. 1930s
Colored antique glass, enamel, lead

The stained glass windows Edgar Miller crafted for the Port Room are some of the most unique and memorable in the entire Glasner Studio due to their eclectic imagery. Two window sets come together at the corner of the Port Room, and use deep and rich stained glass blues and reds. Each window is made up of nine circular panes of glass, three-over-three; suggestive of the early crown glass windows of bullseyes of blown glass. Within each circle is a different illustration or design motif, from a hand-painted, butterfly to shaded and textured abstractions to a bust of a woman's head.

It is this interplay between the random painted images that give each circle the sense of being an icon that Miller intended to imbue with some sort of meaning. But of course, the artist never espoused any specific meaning to these windows or any of his characteristic symbols he enjoyed employing throughout his work. The windows show Miller having fun connecting motifs through the ages. Their intended message could change depending on where they were embedded or even the time of day that they were viewed.