Woman’s Club legacy finds new home

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Pieces of hand-blown glass that were part of the clubhouse of the former Van Wert Woman’s Club found a new home at Brumback Library on Wednesday.

According to Reggie Buehrer of Window Creations Stained Glass Studios in Ottoville, who mounted the glass in a wooden frame and hung it in the library on Wednesday, the red glass was hand blown, likely in Germany, using a process rarely produced today because of its cost and the skill level required.

“The glass is what we call ‘flashed glass,’” Buehrer noted on Wednesday. “The glass is produced by gathering clear glass onto a glass blower’s blowpipe and then dipping it quickly into a crucible of red glass.”

Buehrer added that, when the glass is then blown onto a long cylinder it thins out the red glass. Once the glass is reheated in a kiln and subsequently flattened into a sheet, it can then be cut.

“The design that you see in this glass is hand ground into the surface at different depths,” Buehrer explained. “The craftsman/artist cuts through the red glass, revealing the beautiful clear glass underneath. This is a highly specialist art form.”

Buehrer noted that, because the glass, which is now hanging in the top east window of the library’s Main Reading Room, is only about 3/32 of an inch thick, it was very fragile and difficult to work with. He said the glass was originally mounted around a doorway in the home on South Washington Street where the Woman’s Club met.

This is also not the first time Buehrer has worked on the glass, which was original to the 130-year-old home used by the former Woman’s Club as a clubhouse.

“One of the center pieces was broken in 1992 and we recreated the piece to match the other remaining pieces,” the stained glass artist noted. The job was done so well that, Buehrer said he is not exactly sure which piece was the one recreated.

Following the disbanding of the Woman’s Club, Buehrer was called in last year to remove the glass from the home and mount it in a frame he designed for display at Brumback Library.

“I am proud to be a part of helping to preserve this beautiful historic artwork so it can be enjoyed by all,” Buehrer added.

Members of the former Woman’s Club were also on hand as Buehrer and his workmen use a scaffolding to raise and hang the glass in the library.