1941

**Opalescent Ninigret Window Restoration** *Special thansk to Mr. Jim Pignataro Class of 1941, without whom this gift would not have been located.

Donated by the Class of 1941.
Presented by the Class of 1941. Originally located in entrance to the Westerly Public Library. * *(In the recent library renovations, the library relocated the stained glass to a cozy alcove in the A/V room) (Picutres of new location forthcoming.) Photos taken in 2005 Plaque reads: NINIGRET WINDOW RESTORATION Gift of the Westerly High School CLASS OF 1941 || (See below for Text Format of this image.) || The window depicts the fifty five inch standing figure of Ninigret (died 1676), Sachem of the Niantic, a tribe of the Narragansetts whose principal residence was Weekapaug. It was based on the frontispiece engraving that appears in the Reverend Frederic Denison’s book, __Westerly and Its Witnesses__ (1878) which in turn was derived from an eighteenth century oil portrait of Ninigret now in the collection of the Rhode Island School of Design. The Ninigret window is a typical example of the sort of decorative window that appeared in American homes and public buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century. These windows were partially or completely made of opalescent glass, called opalescent because of the various streaks of color fused together which resulted in a milky-textured iridescent appearance. As is characteristic of opalescent glass, most of the shading effect ts in the window appear as an integral part of the glass itself, while the human features and some landscape areas have been pained on the surface of the glass in a realistic manner. Opalescent windows are distinctly American. Although opalescent glass has been made and used by American glass firms from the early 1800s, two American artists and designers John LaFarge (1836-1906) and Louis Comfort Tiffany (1884-1933) are given credit for popularizing the opalescent window. Thousands of this type of window were installed in churches, homes, and other buildings; this style reached its peak in the 1880’s and 1890’s and was to affect the public taste and preference for decades to come. ||
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 * = The window was specially designed for the Westerly Public Library in 1894 at the time of the building’s construction. It is located in what is now the arched stairway opening that is the west entrance to the Hoxie Gallery. Although the window is not marked and no record of its origin has been found, it was undoubtedly contracted by Longstaff and Hurd of Bridgeport, Connecticut, architects of the original building. When the Hoxie Wing was added in 1928, the window was moved and stored for the next sixty years.