Frank Lloyd Wright

Mr. and Mrs. Darwin D. Martin, Buffalo, NY
Mr. and Mrs. Darwin R. Martin, Jr., Buffalo, NY
Ralph and Margaret Herniman, Buffalo, NY, ca. 1960

Frank Lloyd Wright:  Windows of the Darwin D. Martin House, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, July 31-November 28, 1999

Julie L. Sloan, Light Screens:  The Complete Leaded-Glass Windows of Frank Lloyd Wright, New York, 2001, p. 167 (for a variant laylight design from the Martin House in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum)
Jack Quinan, Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House:  Architecture as Portraiture, New York, 2004, pp. 103, 116, 137 and 167-168 (for period photographs showing laylights installed within the Martin House pier clusters)   

Overall in very good and stable condition. One clear glass tile with a small edge chip (1/4 inch approximately) along the caming. One clear glass rectangular tile in one of the corner quadrants of the window with a small and minor crack to one corner. Two small white opalescent glass tiles have fine cracks. One small square white opalescent glass tile appears slightly brighter and glossier than its counterparts and may possibly be a replacement. However, the caming and soldering around this tile appears to be undisturbed and consistent with the rest of the lay light, suggesting it may just be an irregular piece of glass originally selected for the composition. A few of the green iridized tiles have subtle folds and striations in the glass which all appear to be inherent in the making and consistent throughout the lay light—it is possible that a few of these striations may represent very fine hairline cracks but unlikely in our opinion. The brass caming shows gentle surface wear throughout, with minor scattered losses and discoloration to the original gilt surfaces. There is some minor separation to some of the mitered corners surrounding the gilt bands within the brass caming, as well as to two mitered corners of the outer brass frame surround—all of which appear stable. The frame surround is slightly bruised at one corner with a small indentation. The frame surround and a few areas of the interior caming have scattered traces of what appears to be house paint, as well as some small scattered areas of discoloration and oxidation. With surface soiling throughout and small traces of a white residue along some of the contours of the brass cames. According to the current owners of the window, no restoration or work has been done to the window since their family's ownership since the 1960s. A superb example of this rare and striking Wright leaded glass composition, displaying intense color and iridescence.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

When Frank Lloyd Wright designed his celebrated house for Darwin D. Martin, he described the entire first floor as a "living room with subdivisions."  Those subdivisions were created not by walls, but by structural pier clusters, each with four piers forming the corners of a square.  Within each cluster, hidden behind three-quarter brick partitions between each pier, were the heat registers.  At eye level, above the brick, were pairs of leaded casement windows that, when opened, permitted heat to enter the rooms.  Within each cluster, behind the casement windows, on the ceiling were leaded-glass laylights.

Each laylight—there were originally seven, but most are lost—is constructed of the same materials as the windows:  delicate brass cames, opalescent glass, iridescent glass, and clear window glass.  The pattern is a condensed version of the so-called Wisteria windows in the living and dining rooms and the library.  Myriad rectangular pieces comprise a wide border around a large central square of magnificent iridescent glass set off by a wide band of brass came.  Bits of white opalescent glass provide some relief between rectangles of iridescent green glass.

The kaleidoscopic pattern has very little clear glass and is far more intensely colored than any windows in the house, even the famous Tree of Life windows, making the laylights perhaps the most beautiful of the Martin house glass.  Wright's selection of glass for the laylights was dictated by the practical issues of lighting in residences which were used both day and night.  First, by definition, a laylight is illuminated by artificial lighting at night, which required Wright to install an incandescent bulb above each laylight.  The bulb must be hidden by the laylight glass, so the design cannot contain much clear glass.  At night, the golden light from the bulb flows through the colored glass in tints of mossy green, butterscotch, and amber with dark bands formed by wide caming setting off the design.  Wright's second concern was the appearance of the laylight during the day, when the artificial lights were not required.  Then the light was not passing through the laylight, but was reflected from it.  The laylights received no direct sunlight, but light would bounce off the various interior surfaces and strike the glass.  Ordinary colored glass would look dull, so Wright indulged his passion for iridescent glass that would reflect the colors of the rainbow, enlivening the recesses of the pier clusters and emphasizing their openness as subdivisions of the whole living room.

—Julie L. Sloan

Ralph Herniman, a regional manager of the Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, became acquainted with Darwin Martin, Jr., when they occupied the same office building on Elmwood Avenue around 1960.  According to family history, Herniman acquired the laylight in a trade with Martin for an aluminum ashtray. This important offering represents the first appearance of this rare laylight design at auction.