This grand, mysterious window has stood at the top of the stairway at 21 Sussex Avenue in Toronto for decades. Sussex Court is the oldest surviving purpose-built apartment building in Toronto. It opened in 1903. But this window, based on its style, is much later. This is the grand, symbolic Art Deco of late1920s.
The window has not been touched in decades. There was a serious fire at some point, and it was never cleaned afterwards.
In the time since, the window has bowed out of its frame,
to the extent that the Moon has broken and the Sun has fallen.
Very luckily, the Sun was recovered from the ledge outside.
This is the dirtiest window I ever handled. The inside was caked with smoke from a serious fire and had never been cleaned since. The outside was coated in grime, having never been cleaned even once since installation day.
Apart from the aspects of total ruin,
I thought the condition was pretty good.
When I took it apart, I was impressed at how accurate all the cutting was. I was also impressed at how dirty it was.
It was a great pleasure see it all clean. What a transformation! It’s not the least bit dark or brooding. And it has a subject. Of the gems, only the central one is colourless. The rest are green. So this is the Morning Star, dividing Night from Day. This kind of rhetorical design is characteristic of late 1920s Art Deco.
