Early 20th Century Design

Nels E. Johnson, Vice President of Linden Glass Company, Chicago, by 1942

Marguerite Phillips, Chicago, circa mid 1940s

Thence by descent

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Catalog Note

The Linden Glass Company of Chicago (1884-1934) represented the finest in leaded glass window craftsmanship and was the preferred stained-glass producer for Frank Lloyd Wright.  Opened in 1884 by Frank L. Linden (1859-1934) and Ernest J. Spierling (1856-1931) as the Spierling & Linden Decorating Co., the collaboration focused initially on murals, stained-glass and other fine interior decorating services and by 1906 became the largest stained-glass employer in Chicago, employing 50 workers. 

Linden created more glass for Frank Lloyd Wright than any other firm and was the major art glass fabricator for some of his best-known projects, including: Unity Temple (Chicago, Illinois); Frederick C. Robie House (Chicago, Illinois); Avery and Queene Ferry Coonley House (Chicago, Illinois); Susan Lawrence Dana House (Springfield, Illinois); and the Darwin D. Martin House (Buffalo, New York). The company closed in 1934 with the death of Frank Linden.

The eclectic collection offered here features a variety of colorations, lead weights and styles created by the Linden company through its manufacturing years. The intricacies of some of the leadwork in this collection are among the most complex and artistic in the medium. The designers of these windows are unknown.

This collection of windows belonged to Nels Ernest Johnson (1871-1954), who was named Vice President of Linden Co. in 1910. In the 1940s, when the Johnson Family moved from their home, the windows passed to the Phillips family, close friends and neighbors residing on North Magnolia Street in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. The current owner purchased these from the Phillips family. Included in that purchase were several examples of Frank Lloyd Wright windows that sold at Sotheby's, Important Design, December 13, 2017, Lots 88, 89 and 92.