Saint Chad
Panel
ca. 1901-1910 (made)
ca. 1901-1910 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Christopher Whall began to design stained-glass panels in the 1880s. Until 1907, when he opened his own workshop, he relied on the skilled glass craftsmen employed by such firms as Lowndes & Drury to construct his windows.
Whall was one of the earliest stained glass artists to make use of 'slab' glass. This had been invented by E.S. Prior in 1889 and is also known as 'Early English' glass. Slab glass is blown into a square mould and then cut into slabs. The resultant slabs are irregular in thickness and in colour (when coloured glass is blown). When light passes through such glass it is broken up, which produces a variable effect in each individual piece of glass. Whall was a master in exploiting the qualities of this new technique in glass production.
St. Chad became Bishop of Lichfield in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia in 669. His cult is particularly strong in this part of England. The cathedral authorities at Gloucester commissioned Christopher Whall to make windows for their Lady Chapel. This panel and another in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Museum number: C.88-1978) that depicts St. Agatha are smaller versions of two windows that Whall made for Gloucester Cathedral. These smaller versions may have been trial panels for these windows, or they may have been made later for the Arts & Crafts Exhibition of 1910.
Whall was one of the earliest stained glass artists to make use of 'slab' glass. This had been invented by E.S. Prior in 1889 and is also known as 'Early English' glass. Slab glass is blown into a square mould and then cut into slabs. The resultant slabs are irregular in thickness and in colour (when coloured glass is blown). When light passes through such glass it is broken up, which produces a variable effect in each individual piece of glass. Whall was a master in exploiting the qualities of this new technique in glass production.
St. Chad became Bishop of Lichfield in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia in 669. His cult is particularly strong in this part of England. The cathedral authorities at Gloucester commissioned Christopher Whall to make windows for their Lady Chapel. This panel and another in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Museum number: C.88-1978) that depicts St. Agatha are smaller versions of two windows that Whall made for Gloucester Cathedral. These smaller versions may have been trial panels for these windows, or they may have been made later for the Arts & Crafts Exhibition of 1910.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | Saint Chad (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | Slab glass with painted and stained details |
Brief description | Stained and painted slab glass panel depicting St Chad. Made by Christopher Whall. English, c.1901-1910. |
Physical description | St. Chad is depicted as a Bishop in robes and wearing a mitre with a halo. He is facing frontally, holding a crozier in his left hand and a model church in his right. The figure is sourrounded by foliate and floral detail and is executed in shades of grey, pale blue, green and yellow stains. Some small areas of dark blue above the head and below the feet. The palm fronds are in dark green. |
Dimensions |
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Production type | Model |
Gallery label | SAINT CHAD
This is a reduced replica of a panel in a window on the north side of the Lady Chapel in Gloucester Cathedral, made by Christopher Whall and his workshop in 1900-1. They may have been made for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1910.
England, about 1905-10; by Christopher Whitworth Whall (1849-1924)
Museum nos. C.87, C.88-1978; bequeathed by Mr C.J. Whall((PW) 2003) |
Object history | Possibly made for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1910, this panel and C.88-1978 are small scale copies of the western-most window on the north side of the Lady Chapel at Gloucester Cathedral which Whall designed in 1900. Historical significance: Christopher Whall was one of the early stained glass artists to make use of Prior's 'Early English slab glass', invented in 1889. |
Production | Attribution note: Smaller version of panel made for Lady Chapel, Gloucester Cathedral |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | Christopher Whall began to design stained-glass panels in the 1880s. Until 1907, when he opened his own workshop, he relied on the skilled glass craftsmen employed by such firms as Lowndes & Drury to construct his windows. Whall was one of the earliest stained glass artists to make use of 'slab' glass. This had been invented by E.S. Prior in 1889 and is also known as 'Early English' glass. Slab glass is blown into a square mould and then cut into slabs. The resultant slabs are irregular in thickness and in colour (when coloured glass is blown). When light passes through such glass it is broken up, which produces a variable effect in each individual piece of glass. Whall was a master in exploiting the qualities of this new technique in glass production. St. Chad became Bishop of Lichfield in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia in 669. His cult is particularly strong in this part of England. The cathedral authorities at Gloucester commissioned Christopher Whall to make windows for their Lady Chapel. This panel and another in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Museum number: C.88-1978) that depicts St. Agatha are smaller versions of two windows that Whall made for Gloucester Cathedral. These smaller versions may have been trial panels for these windows, or they may have been made later for the Arts & Crafts Exhibition of 1910. |
Associated object | C.88-1978 (Object) |
Bibliographic reference | Cormack, Peter, Christopher Whall, 1849-1924: Arts & Crafts Stained Glass Worker, London: Libraries and Arts Department, London Borough of Waltham Forest, 1979. |
Collection | |
Accession number | C.87-1978 |
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Record created | April 21, 1998 |
Record URL |
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