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Story: Building materials

Art deco stained glass

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Art deco stained glass

Art deco became the dominant stained-glass style in New Zealand houses from around 1920 to 1940. It is typified by a lack of coloured glass, more straight lines, symmetry and the use of bevelled glass. This symmetry seems to have been too much for the craftsman as he has made a deliberate mistake – in the top right corner a quarter circle curves inwards instead of outwards.   

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Reference: Jock Phillips and Chris Maclean, Stained glass windows in New Zealand houses. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1983, p. 95

by Jock Phillips

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How to cite this page

Jeremy Salmond, Building materials – Roofing and glazing, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25128/art-deco-stained-glass (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jeremy Salmond, published 4 March 2010.