Firescreen
1884
Medium
Leaded opalescent glass, brass
Dimensions
Overall: 42 x 29 in. (106.7 x 73.7 cm) Panel: 30 x 26 7/8 in. (76.2 x 68.3 cm)
Classification
Firescreen
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Barrie A. and Deedee Wigmore Foundation Gift, 2000
Accession Number
2000.422
Art Historical Context
Step into the glow of John La Farge's *Firescreen* (1884), a stunning example of American decorative arts from the Gilded Age. Crafted as a protective panel for fireplaces, this 42 x 29-inch work features intricate leaded opalescent framed in brass, blending functionality with exquisite beauty. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's American Wing, it exemplifies the era's fascination with luxurious home furnishings. La Farge, a American artist, revolutionized stained glass by developing opalescent glass—a shimmering material that captures light's iridescence through layered colors and tex...
About the Artist
John La Farge · 1835–1910
John La Farge (1835–1910) was born into a wealthy French émigré family in New York City, the son of John Frederick La Farge and Louisa Binsse de Saint-Victor. Educated at Jesuit institutions including Mount St. Mary's College in Maryland and St. John's College (now Fordham University), he initially pursued law but turned to art after receiving early drawing lessons from his maternal grandfather, a...