News

Glaziers’ Trust supports Vidimus

The future of Vidimus has been secured for another year thanks to a generous grant towards our running costs from the Glaziers’ Trust.

‘This is great news, not just for our contributors and readers, but for the whole glass community,’ said Vidimus editor, Dr Tim Ayers. ‘Since our launch eighteen months ago we have created a unique on-line magazine. The readership of Vidimus grows every month and from readers’ emails we know how much it is valued. We have exciting plans to extend our international coverage over the next twelve months and to introduce additional features. We will also be outlining new ways that our readers can help fund and promote our work. None of this would be possible without the encouragement of the Trust, and we are very grateful for their generous support.’

The Glaziers’ Trust exists to promote the craft of stained glass, and its activities include supporting the education and training of young craftsmen and women in the medium, undertaking activities to create public awareness, and the restoration and conservation of historic and important stained glass. More details can be found on the Trust’s website.

New MA in Stained Glass Conservation and Heritage Management,

at the University of York

A new MA programme in stained glass conservation at the University of York, supported by the Pilgrim Trust, meets a widely recognized need for training and a qualification in this field; internationally, it is the only one to be conducted in English. Teaching is based at the historic King’s Manor, in central York, five minutes walk from York Minster.

York is probably the best place in the world to study stained glass. The glass of York Minster and the city’s parish churches counts among the most important anywhere. Since the nineteenth century, the city has also developed an international reputation as a centre for the restoration and conservation of historic glass. Study of the subject has been one of the University’s strengths for forty years, and the Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA), Britain’s national stained glass recording project, is based there. At the King’s Manor, home to the Archaeology Department, the Centre for Eighteenth-century Studies and the Centre for Medieval Studies, students will be part of a thriving graduate community.

The programme lasts two years, including modules devoted to techniques of glass conservation; the history of art; archaeology (including conservation studies and heritage management); a placement in a qualified workshop, in Europe or the United States; and a dissertation. It takes advantage of partnerships with many bodies nationally and internationally, and leading conservation studios in Britain, on the Continent and in the United States. Twice a year, week-long masterclasses will be offered by visiting lecturers of international reputation.

Substantial scholarships are available.
•The Samuel H. Kress Foundation scholarship, for a student from the United States, covering fees and maintenance (2 years)
•Three Headley Trust studentships, covering home fees (2 years)
•The Glaziers’ Trust Studentship, covering home fees (2 years)
•Up to six Headley Trust scholarships, for maintenance grants of £1,000 to £5,000

For further details, visit the University’s website, or email enquiries to Dr Tim Ayers, Director of the Stained Glass Research School, University of York.

Meysey Hampton Glass Returned

A festival of medieval music and other events will be held at St Mary’s Church, Meysey Hampton (Gloucestershire, Fig. 1) over the weekend 27–29 June to celebrate the return of five extremely fine fourteenth-century panels of stained glass, once thought irretrievably lost.

The story of the loss, discovery and rescue of the Meysey Hampton glass was covered in the Features section of Vidimus no. 3 (January 2007, accessible via the Vidimus archive). Following a timely exhibition at the nearby Corinium Museum in Circencester, an anonymous donor has now funded the reinstatement of the panels at St Mary’s (Fig. 2). The work was undertaken by Steve Clare of Holy Well Glass earlier this year. The glass has been installed in a window on the north side chancel, opposite a tracery light on the south side that retains another early figurative scene, St Michael Weighing Souls (Fig. 3).

Thanks
Vidimus is grateful to the PCC of St Mary’s and to Steve Clare of Holy Well Glass for their help. Thanks are also extended to the anonymous donor whose generosity made the reinstatement of this important glass possible.

Wragby Theft Appeal

A new appeal has been launched for information about an important panel of sixteenth-century Swiss stained glass, which was stolen from a window on the north side of the chancel of St Michael’s church, Wragby (West Yorkshire), in October 2003.

The panel was one of several hundred bought by Charles Winn of Nostell Priory in the 1820s for the church, which is in the grounds of the Priory. It was signed ‘Peter Bock’ and dated 1587. Some details of Bock’s life are known. He was born c.1550 in Zurich, where he also probably served his apprenticeship as a glass painter. In 1570, he went to Altdorf (canton Uri), where he became naturalized in 1583 together with his first wife Katharina Gisler. After the death of Katharina Gisler, he married Barbara Kachler. He died in Altdorf before 1594. As a glass painter Bock worked primarily for clients in Altdorf and in the Uri canton. Four panels (dated 1572/73, 1582) with Bock’s ‘PB’ monogram are in the cloister of Wettingen.

The CVMA’s Picture Archive contains more than one hundred images from Wragby Church.

Thanks
Vidimus is extremely grateful to Rolf Hasler of the Vitrocentre Romont in Switzerland for his help with this item. Thanks are also extended to Valerie Sauterel, Brian Sprakes, Nick Teed, and the churchwardens of Wraby for their assistance.

Further Reading
Peter Hoegger, Glasmalerei im Kanton Aargau. Kloster Wettingen, Corpus Vitrearum Switzerland, Aarau 2002, pp. 40–41, 271–73, 404–05.

Carola Hicks Lecture

The Ely Stained Glass Museum’s 2008 Summer Lecture will be given by Dr Carola Hicks, who will be speaking about her splendid new book, The King’s Glass, a fascinating account of the glazing of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, in the early sixteenth century.

The lecture will be held at 5pm on the 17 July, in St Ethelburga’s Church, Bishopsgate, London. Tickets are £5 each and available on the door, or via the museum’s website. The admission price includes tea.

A feature review of the book appeared in Vidimus no. 13 (December 2007, accessible via our Archive).

Sophie Lagabrielle Lecture at the Cluny Museum

On 15 May, senior conservator Sophie Lagabrielle will be giving lectures at lunchtime and in the evening about some important stained glass in the collection of the Musée Cluny (National Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris. The talks will take place at the Museum at 12.30 pm and 6.30pm, and admission is free.

Sophie will discuss twelve panels belonging to the museum from Betton, a small town near Rennes, Brittany, in north-west France. The glass was given by Jean de Saint-Gilles, chamberlain and councillor to Jean, 5th Duke of Brittany, around 1430. It depicts scenes from the Passion of Christ and also includes a gallery of donor portraits of the Saint-Gilles family.
For more information, visit the museum’s website.

International Conference on Twentieth-Century Stained Glass

An international two-day conference, ‘Aspects of Twentieth-Century Glass’, will be held at the Glaziers Hall in Southwark, London on the 31 July and 1 August 2008. Organized by the British Society of Master Glass Painters (BSGMP) and the Worshipful Company of Glaziers, the conference promises to be an exciting event with speakers from three countries and lots of time for questions and discussions. The conference organizer, Susan Shaughnessy, points out that it will be an unparalleled opportunity to review the far-reaching developments in stained glass that took place in the first three quarters of the twentieth century.

For further details, including costs, visit the BSMGP website, or email Susan Shaughnessy. Written enquiries should be sent to Susan Shaughnessy, 5 Portsdown Avenue, London NW11 ONH. The full programme is as follows

Thursday 31 July
Morning Session. Chairman t.b.a.
•8.30–9.15 Registration
•9.20–9.30 Chairman’s introduction
•9. 30–10.30 Julie L. Sloan, ‘Early Twentieth-century Stained Glass’
•10.30–11.30 Libby Horner, ‘Frank Brangwyn: Stained Glass’
•11.30–12.00 Tea/coffee
•12.00–1.00 Michael Barker, ‘A Survey of Twentieth-century Stained Glass in France, from the End of the Belle Epoque to Abstraction’

Afternoon Session. Chairman: Martin Harrison FSA
•2.00–2.10 Chairman’s introduction
•2.10–3.10 Iris Nestler, ‘The Influence of Modern Art on Twentieth-century Glass in Germany’
•3.10–3.45 Tea/coffee
•3.45–4.45 Wilhelm Derix and Andrea McKay, ‘Glass as “fine art in architecture”, from the Second Half of the Twentieth Century to the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century’

Glass by guest speaker Alex Beleschenko.

Evening Session. Glaziers’ Lecture.

•6.15 for 6.45 Alex Beleschenko, artist, his work and influence
•8.00 Buffet supper (optional)

Friday 1 August
Morning Session. Chairman: Peter Cormack FSA
•10.00–10.15 Chairman’s introduction
•10.15–11.15 Patrick Reyntiens OBE, ‘The Vital Exchange’
•11.15–11.45 Tea/coffee
•11.45–12.45 Donald Buttress, ‘New Wine in Old Bottles (or New Glass in Old Windows)’

Afternoon Session. Chairman: Tony Benyon

•2.00–2.10 Chairman’s introduction
•2.10–3.10 Peter Cormack FSA Hon. FMGP, ‘Teaching Stained Glass in the Arts & Crafts Era: “a single grain of wheat, not a whole ear of corn”’
•3.10–3.45 Tea/coffee
•3.45–4.45 Martin Harrison, ‘The Persistence of Gothic’

Vidimus Readers’ Offer

A warmly reviewed book on medieval wall paintings in English and Welsh churches has just been published. Simon Jenkins hailed Medieval Wall Paintings as his ‘Easter book of the year’, and British Archaeology has called it ‘one of the most interesting, useful and attractive books on the medieval church to appear for some time’. The book is the work of Roger Rosewell, News Editor for Vidimus. Roger will donate £5 or $10 to Vidimus for every copy of his book bought by Vidimus readers via his website. Every copy will be signed by Roger.

Church of Ireland Launches Stained Glass Database

A new database recording stained-glass windows in Church of Ireland churches has been launched. Named ‘Gloine’ (Gaelic for glass), the new database will allow users to search for windows by church or architect’s name, geographical location, names of stained-glass artists and studios, dates, religious subject-matter, and other categories. The survey-work has been carried out by Dr David Lawrence on a diocese-by-diocese basis and has already been completed in six dioceses. The survey will move onto the remaining six dioceses over the coming years.

The project, funded by the Representative Church Body of the Church of Ireland and the Heritage Council, will provide a permanent art-historical record and aims to be the most accurate and comprehensive account of any aspect of the visual arts in Ireland. The survey has already revealed previously unknown examples of nineteenth-century ecclesiastical art of exceptional quality from Irish, English and German artists and studios, as well as recording better-known work by twentieth-century Irish artists. The database will be accessible at the Representative Church Body Library in Churchtown, Dublin, and at the Irish Architectural Archive, also in Dublin.

For enquiries, contact the Irish Architectural Archive in Dublin, or the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin.

Burnham Norton: A Puzzle

Readers of Vidimus may be able to help a reader who is studying two twentieth-century Arts and Crafts style panels in the east window of the round-tower church of St Margaret at Burnham Market (Norfolk). By tradition, the figures in the panels depict St Margaret of Antioch and St Margaret, Queen of Scotland. The absence of a dragon from the left-hand panel may seem puzzling, but the punning inclusion of daisies (marguerites) indicates that this figure should be identified St Margaret. The right-hand figure could reasonably be identified as St Margaret, Queen of Scotland, who was known for her seriousness and piety; however, the inclusion of lilies has puzzled parishioners for years.

Documentary evidence shows that the glass was given by Captain Lance, a local resident, in 1927, but there is nothing in the church records to identify the artist responsible for the work. Previous suggestions as to who made them have included Harry Clark or Wilhemina Geddes. One thought is that they might have been made by someone who was not a regular glass-maker.