Physical description

Depicts St Agatha shown in profile looking to our left. She is dressed in a long flowing robe and holds a martyr's palm frond in her right hand. She is wearing a tiara. The figure is surrounded 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.

Place of Origin

England (made)

Date

c.1901 - 1910 (made)

Artist/maker

Whall, Christopher Whitworth, born 1849 - died 1924 (maker)

Materials and Techniques

Stained and painted glass.

Dimensions

Height: 31.25 in, Width: 12.25 in

Object history note

Possibly made for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1910, this panel and C.87-1978 are small scale copies of the western-most window of the Lady Chapel at Gloucester Cathedral, designed by Whall in 1900.

Historical context note

Christopher Whall began designing stained glass panels in the 1880s. At that time and until 1907 when he opened his own workshop, Whall did not construct his own windows and instead relied on the skilled glass craftsmen employed by such firms as Lowndes & Drury.

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). The light that passes through such glass is broken up, producing a variable effect in each individual piece of glass. Whall was a master in exploiting the qualities of this new technique in glass production.

Descriptive line

Panel of painted and stained slab glass. Designed by Christopher Whall, English, c.1901-10.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Cormack, Peter, Christopher Whall, 1849-1924: Arts & Crafts Stained Glass Worker, London: Libraries and Arts Department, London Borough of Waltham Forest, 1979.
Lovett, Gina.The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 Years of the Royal College of Art. London: Royal College of Art, 2012. ISBN978-1-907342-51-6

Production Note

Attribution note: Possibly made for exhibition.

Materials

Stained glass

Categories

British Galleries; Stained Glass

Production Type

Unique

Collection

Ceramics Collection