At the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries, Art Nouveau, the new style then booming in neighbouring countries, had not yet spread to Luxembourg. Only a few private homes were built in this style, and the fairly small number of Art Nouveau pieces of furniture that have survived shows that the style also failed to establish itself in the furniture industry.

A few examples of the style are known, however; one of them is this leaded-glass window made in 1903 by Pierre Linster, a glazier in Mondorf-les-Bains, for the staircase of a local house. Dismantled and split into two parts a few years later in order to be installed in a house at Echternach, the leaded-glass window was acquired by the museum in 2007.

The lower part of the window shows a lake from which two ducks are taking to flight. There are reeds and flowers in the front of the scene as well as a fantasy castle in the background. The reeds are framed by multi-coloured swirls in patterns that are characteristic of French and Belgian floral Art Nouveau. The profusion of bright colours, the effect of which is enhanced by sunlight, characterizes the love of ornamentation which is so specific to Art Nouveau.

Pierre Linster (1863-1906) was the first artistic glazier to set up a leaded-glass workshop in Luxembourg in 1891, after having studied art and completing an apprenticeship in Paris.

Text | CC BY-NC | Régis Moes