Glasby started his apprenticeship at the age of twelve in October 1876 with the Whitefriars Glass Company. It was owned by James Powell and his sons and known as the Whitefriars Glassworks. [1] The apprenticeship wage was six shillings a week. James Powell (1774-1840) was a wealthy London wine merchant and a prominent Anglican layman. He had a large family, which included four daughters and four sons. The eldest son became a priest.
James realised that the wine business would not support his other three sons, so, in 1834 he bought the established Whitefriars Glassworks, close to the Thames in the City of London. [2] The firm was bought on behalf on his sons, Arthur (then 22) and Nathanael (then 21), to provide them with an income. [3]
The firm was well-known for its scientific and industrial glassware, and for tableware and ornamental glass. But it was not permitted to manufacture window glass, which was subject to strict excise regulations. The window design department opened in 1845, after these regulations were relaxed. Most of the output involved white (clear) glass which, if contaminated, provided the raw material for opus sectile.
After James Powell’s death in 1840 his son, Arthur Powell (1812-94) opened a department for stained glass to meet a growing demand. The 1850s and 1860s witnessed the popularity of the Gothic Revival as an architectural style, particularly for churches. This resulted in the mass production of glass-making by a multitude of firms. It coincided with an expansion of creating windows of dedication in churches, both at home and overseas, alongside using stained glass in domestic residences.
“A Christian Society, World Fairs and an aggressive marketing department meant few churches, institutional buildings and indeed houses across the British Empire, and North America, escaped a Powell window.” [4]
Harry James Powell (1853-1922), the grandson of James, joined the studios in 1875, opening up new perspectives from his interest in chemistry which he had studied at the University of Oxford. While studying chemistry at Oxford, Harry had attended a lecture on Art and Design by John Ruskin, who was critical of the contemporary cut glass design, seen as “barbarous”. Ruskin argued that the main characteristics of glass were “its ductility when heated and its transparency when cold”, declaring that any glass which concealed these qualities was simply bad. "
Under Harry Powell the firm took on an experimental scientific approach, developing new colours and glass effects, with Harry controlling the production of table glass, tube and coloured glasses for church windows, taking heed of Ruskin’s advice to exploit the natural ductility and transparency of glass.[5] Producing new colours from chemical processes and new techniques, he developed "heat resistant scientific glass, for use in laboratories and industry, and for the likes of x-ray tubes and early light bulbs" ("Whitefriars Glass"). [6] Drawing on his scientific training, in 1877 he developed two new delicate heat reactive colours, straw opal and blue opal, creating glass with a beautiful iridescence, which was used to create Venetian inspired vases and goblets. In 1894 Harry studied glass from the Roman period onwards, researching Antique objects and glass tableware depicted in historical paintings. He combined these elements to create modern glassware. [7]
Harry became the manager in 1875, the year before Glasby was taken on as an apprentice, and continued as manager under 1919. This was at a time when the the Whitefriars Glass Works were the leading firm of glass makers, making the studios and workshops a vibrant place for Glasby to learn his trade. The leading role played by Powell & Sons is seen in their order books. By the 1890s the firm was supplying Venetian-style, Arts and Crafts, historical and Art Nouveau glassware to Liberty’s, Siegfried Bing (1838) and La Maison Moderne (Paris) Keller and Reiner (Berlin) Van de Velde (Brussels) and Tiffany and Company (New York).
An influential visitor to the Glass Works was the "barrister, archaeologist and connoisseur of glass," Charles Winston (1814-64). Winston had taken some samples of medieval glass to be analysed by James Powell & Sons in the hope of reproducing the similar products. This focused attention on the chemical analysis of glass improving its quality to allow for painting Winston is described as an opinionated man:
“ Sir George Gilbert Scott, for example, felt that he could have achieved much more if he had been less abrasive: "The art of glass-painting has suffered a great loss from the crochets and ill-nature of a man who of all others was the best qualified to help it forward," [8 ]
Nevertheless Scott himself admitted that Winston, "in conjunction with Messrs.Powell of Whitefriars, effected very important improvements in the manufacture of glass for the purposes of glass-painting" .”[9] These improvements were partly because the findings from the chemical analysis were useful in the production of authentically antique glass. But they were also due to the high standards that the demanding Winston set. Both the artist and critic: “… must acquire a thorough acquaintance with the deep principles of each style of ancient glass painting, and of the defects and excellencies of the ancient glass painters: to which must be added a competent knowledge of art, derived from an acute, refined, and unprejudiced observation, not only of the works of the middle ages, but of the great masters of the sixteenth century, and of the invaluable relics of classical antiquity.” [10]
Whitefriars windows are found in cathedrals across the world - from St. Paul's Cathedral, London, to St. Thomas's, New York; from Wellington Cathedral, New Zealand, to the Anglican Cathedral of Liverpool, But also in village churches throughout England. The Whitefriars Works museum houses some of the designs created for many of these churches. The Project | Whitefriars: Behind the Glass
The interest in coloured glass led to the creation of tesserae for glass mosaic work. One example is the interior of the morning chapel, of the choir and of the dome of St. Paul's cathedral. But Whitefriars also manufactured cheaper, mass-produced quarry glass, used in borders and backgrounds, as well as in domestic dwellings. Thus Whitefriars became the only glass manufacturer to run a successful stained-glass operation in the early Victorian period and became the leading firm of ornamental glass [11 ] Powell & Son had its own design studio but also made use of freelance artists. [12 ]
Glasby would have worked alongside, and have been influenced by, a range of famous designers who were trained or worked there, or designed for the Powells. The most notable designers were Rossetti [a friend of Winston's] and Burne Jones,[13] alongside Ford Madox Brown, James Doyle, Henry Holiday, William de Morgan, and Edward Poynter.
It would be possible to carry out further research to discover the Windows painted by Glasby . The Victoria and Albert Archive of Art & Design has James Hogan’s papers and hold James Powell & Sons Whitefriars: https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/archive-of-art-and-design
Further documents can be found at: James Powell | The Arts Society and Historic Stained Glass - BSMGP | The home of British Stained Glass
There are Archival Collections in the Rakow
Whitefriars Stained Glass Cartoon CollectionThe Rakow Library houses this collection of an estimated 10,000-15,000 preparatory stage designs from the Whitefriars Glass Factory in London, most of which are full-scale. The medium used varies: pencil, charcoal, watercolor. Designers of the windows include James Hogan, Pierre Fourmaintraux and Alfred Fisher. The collection currently exists in about 1,800 rolls. Many of these are unavailable to researchers due to their fragility. Contact the Rakow for more information (607.438.5300; rakow@cmog.org).More than 2,000 items in the Whitefriars collection at the Rakow have individual catalog records. To locate these, use a keyword search with the following phrase in quotation marks: “Whitefriars stained glass cartoon collection,” or, if you are looking for a specific item, you can search [name of church] or [location of church] as a keyword plus Whitefriars.
Our thanks to Remi Dyll, Collection Manager, The Bayou Bend Collection
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas for suggesting these resources.
Glasby began his career at a time when stained glass was being recognised as an important art form by the Aesthetic Movement which flourished during Glasby’s apprenticeship. The emphasis of this Movement was relatively uniform in its style with an intention to introduce beauty into everyday life, underpinned by a pursuit of elegance and grace. As a result Ecclesiastical windows grew more beautiful and secular in appearance. [ 14 ]
However, the Aesthetic Movement, as represented in stained glass, existed for a very short period of time from c.1870 to c.1890. Burne-Jones and Henry Holiday, who were central figures and had set the pace, moved away from the central movement creating their own individual style. This was to benefit Glasby later in his career, when Henry Holiday opened his own studio, employing Glasby as chief foreman and glass painter.
Many new small firms emerged as artists responded to the increased demand. Morris & Co. and Burne-Jones are the largest and most well-known of the firms thriving in this Movement, Evidence reveals that the method of producing the glass created problems for William Morris. Many of the designs were peeling by the 1870s because of the borax added to glass paint designed to act as a flux to ease application and lower the firing temeperature. . William Morris re-painted and re-fired the Windows, without charge.
James Powell & Sons and Henry Holiday created an equally important body of work. Lesser- known artists at the time included Selwyn Image, H. Arthur Kennedy, J.W. Brown, Carl Almquist, Daniel Cottier, who were equally prolific. William Wailes had started out in this area of design, and he too soon began reviving the old methods. The stained-glass expert Jim Cheshire, describes the revival of this art as a vast collective effort, to which, A. W. N. Pugin and William Morris made major contributions.
There is a mention that Glasby won a prize in 1887. Published by the RSA the Journal of the Society for the Arts mentions:
CLASS I. - PAINTED GLASS
Second Prize (£15) to William Glasby, J. E. Penwarden, and A. Lawrenson, for careful execution of a painted panel, "Music" from a design by Henry Holiday. Flesh and general superindence by William Glasby; drapery by John E. Penwarden; background by A. Lawrenson. (Exhibited by Messrs. Powell and Sons, Whitefriars, E.C.)
Journal of the Society for Arts, Vol 36, no 1830, Author(s) Philip Magnus, Vol 36, no 1830 page 97
By 1879 William Glasby was listed in Powell’s books as a glass painter at a weekly wage of eighteen shillings.
His skills were quickly recognised, and by 1890 Glasby was the highest paid painter at the firm, earning £3 an hour for a 45 -hour week. Green et al [2008] express the view that some of Powell’s work in this period was dull. [15]
This probably reflects the move towards mass production of glass, but during this time Powell & Sons experimented with opus sectile techniques, and these formative years came to good use later in Glasby’s independent career. [16 ] Opus sectile was first coined as a term of art in April 1877, describing three decorative panels made for a reredos for Evercreech, in Somerset. The designer was Thomas Graham Jackson (1835-1924), an architect and scholar, and a close friend of the Powell family. [17]
Donald Green provides this description of the method of opus sectile:
“Pieces of opaque coloured glass are cut into shapes, painted and fired, in much the same way that pieces of translucent glass are treated to make a stained glass window: but, instead of being leaded together, the pieces are cemented to a solid backing panel. In addition to opaque glass, small tesserae are often used to make decorative borders and for some parts of the design; but they form only a small part of the whole.” [18]
Notes
[1] The firm's name was changed to Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) Ltd in 1919.
[2] The Glassworks dated back to 1680. They were built on the site of the former White Friars Carmelite Monastery from 1241. The proximity to the River Thames allowed sand, clay, coal and other materials used in the glass making process to be transported to the Factory. https://whitefriars.glass/history
The modern business appears to be founded in 1710 by William Davis, who chose the site probably because of its nearness to the Thames wharves and also because of the cheapness of the land consequent upon its unsavoury reputation. Succeeding Davis came Alexander Seal, Carey Stafford, Stephen Hall, Hall and Holmes, John Holmes. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_Powell_and_Sons_(Whitefriars)
. See also: https://whitefriars-glass.com/; Whitefriars Glass – The Art of James Powell & Sons , published by Richard Dennis Publications.
[3] James Powell was born on 14th October, 1774 in Homerton, Hackney, East London. He was the twelfth child of 14, and the sixth son (two had died before his birth); his parents were David Powell (13 Dec 1725 - 31 Jan 1810) and Laetitia Clark (25 Dec 1741 - 27 Apt 1801). On 28 Jan 1807, James Powell married Catherine Cotton (25 Apr 1774 - 24 Dec 1840), and they had four daughters and four sons, the Rev. James Cotton Powell (24 Feb 1809 - 29 Mar 1851), Arthur Powell (4 Feb 1812 - 28 Apr 1894), Nathanael Powell (15 Oct 1813 - 23 Jan 1906) and the Rev. John Cotton Powell (22 Mar 1817 - 28 Nov 1907) James Powell died on 5 Aug 1840 at Clapton House, Hackney.
[4] Abbott and Holder, POWELL & Sons (Whitefriars). See: https://www.abbottandholder-thelist.co.uk/powell-sons-whitefriars/
[5] Abbott and Holder, POWELL & Sons (Whitefriars). History of Whitefriars interview with Andrew Lineham from BBC homes and Antiques photographs of items from his stock antique coloured glass colored
[6] He was honoured for his contribution to the war effort, by making "glass for the projecting horns of marine mines". ("A Glassmaker's War Work").
[7] Glasses were decorated with prunts (raised blobs) taken from 17th Century German wide bowl glasses called romer with trailed decoration inspired by Roman prototypes combined with the flowing naturalism of Art Nouveau style.
[8] James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars, Jacqueline Banerjee, PhD, Associate Editor, the Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/stainedglass/jamespowell/index.html See also: https://whitefriars-glass.com/history-of-whitefriars.php
[9] James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars, Jacqueline Banerjee, PhD, Associate Editor, the Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/art/stainedglass/jamespowell/index.html See also: https://whitefriars-glass.com/history-of-whitefriars.php
[10] See: Evans, Wendy, Catherine Ross, and Alex Werner. Whitefriars Glass: James Powell & Sons of London. London: Museum of London, 1995; James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars, Jacqueline Banerjee, PhD, Associate Editor, the Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/art/stainedglass/jamespowell/index.html
[11] Whitefriars was not the only centre of excellence. In 1838, William Wailes had started out in this area of design, and he too soon began reviving the old methods.
[12] J W Brown is the most famous of these free-lance designers. It is notable that he used the opus sectile method and this was used by Glasby in later works.
[14] Further Reading: William Waters Alastair Carew-Cox, Damozels & Deities Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass 1870-1898: Edward Burne-Jones, Henry Holiday, 2017; AC Sewter, Stained Glass of William Morris and His Circle: Text and Illustrations 1977.
[15] Donald Green (1926-2006) deposited his research on William Glasby with English Heritage National Monument Record and it is referenced GND01, File 189, 10,000 slides and 1 photo, but it has not been catalogued or digitalised. COVID-19 lockdown has prevented me from visiting the archive.
[16] “Opus sectile (Latin for cut work) describes a form of opaque stained glass, composed of vitreous sheets with a thickness of 3/16 or ¼ of an inch, which are cut, painted and fired before being fitted together and cemented to a rigid backing; often a thin sheet of slate. Unlike stained glass, where the individual pieces are held firmly in position and separated by H-section lead calmes, they need to butt up neatly against each other. Sometimes the background is formed of gold or coloured mosaic tesserae. Confusingly the term is also applied to the thin sheets of material before they have been cut.” “OPUS SECTILE Art from recycled scrap”, Dennis Hadley, Published by the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society 2018, at p 3. https://tilesoc.org.uk/publications/2018%20Opus%20Sectile%20Art%20from%20Recycled%20Scrap. pdf
[17] Ibid
[18] Donald J R Green, WILLIAM GLASBY (1863-1941) Artist in Stained Glass and opus sectile mosaic, Notes available from the Rakow Library. The two pages of Notes are numbered 67 and 68, and must have been from a longer piece of work. With thanks to Allie Shanafelter, Rakow Research Library, Corning Museum of Glass, https://www.cmog.org/research/library
See also: Hadley, D. W. "From Rees Mosaic to Opus Sectile: The Development of Opaque Stained Glass." Glass Technology 45, no. 5 (October 2004), pp. 192-196
Further Reading
Jim Cheshire, Stained Glass and the Victorian Gothic Revival (Studies in Design and Material Culture, (Manchester University Press, 2004)
Jom Cheshire, Portraits in Victorian Stained Glass, Q&A Jim Cheshire The Stained Glass Museum, Ely
(c) Erika Szyszczak 21 June 2021
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