"Transom" window

"Transom" windows were the horizontal rectangular stained glass panels above bedroom doors in many Victorian era homes. They were hinged on the bottom to tilt into the room for ventilation when the door below them was closed.

This is  a modern interpretation of that idea. Installed in an interior wall, it doesn't need to open for venting, but shows off the variable effects of light through a stained glass window very effectively.

The wall it is mounted in separates the dining room and the hallway that leads to an under the stairs sleeping alcove and to the bathroom. The light on either side is dramatically different whether day or night or with natural or artificial light.

During the day (or primarily with artificial light on the dining room side), light reflecting off the surface of the glass makes the darker shades almost opaque. Walking around to the other side, the dark glass can be seen to be a translucent aqua, with highlights on parts of the clear beveled glass.

The variable effects of light on other colours of glass can be seen between the upper and lower narrow edge pieces in this view.

Another view shows the variety of textures and 'imperfections' (air bubbles and  striations) in the hand blown stained glass. These give a vibrancy and variation to the shadows cast by light through the glass that cannot be matched by the machine roller textures of production glass. These are some of the subtle details that can make a glass panel a pleasure to live with over many years, with the enjoyment of surprise at seeing the variable effects of light.