MORRIS & COMPANYS

STAINED GLASS
for
THE CHAPEL OF

CHEADLE ROYAL HOSPITAL

From designs by

WILLIAM MORRIS &

EDWARD BURNE-JONES
HASLAM & WHITEWAY LTD.

An Exhibition of

MORRIS & COMPANYS

STAINED GLASS
for

THE CHAPEL OF CHEADLE ROYAL HOSPITAL

William Morris

Edward Burne-Jones

An Illustrated Catalogue with text by

Peter Cormack F.S.A.

Published in 2008 by Haslam & Whiteway Ltd

105 Kensington Church Street London W8 7LN
t: 0207 229 1145 e: info@haslamandwhiteway.com w: www. haslamandwhiteway.com

MORRIS & COMPANYS

STAINED GLASS

showing three figures Solomon, David and Jonathan which

were not used in the final scheme (not illustrated). The overall
design conception for the twelve windows was developed by
John Henry Dearle (1859-1932), Morris & Co.s Art Director
and the manager of its Merton Abbey workshops, in consultation
with the clients at Cheadle, who no doubt stipulated the biblical
figures to be depicted. Advised by Dearle, they would then
have chosen the specific cartoons (almost all by Burne-Jones)
to be used for the glass. This selection process was facilitated
by photographic albums of the firms past work, which by the
1900s encompassed several hundred windows. The Burne-Jones
cartoons used for the Cheadle windows date from between 1866
and 1895, spanning nearly thirty years of the artists prolific
career in stained glass and representing some of his most
significant and prestigious commissions, including windows
for Jesus and Peterhouse Colleges, Cambridge, Christ Church
Cathedral, Oxford, the Chapel at Castle Howard, and St Giless
Cathedral, Edinburgh.

for
THE CHAPEL OF

CHEADLE ROYAL HOSPITAL

Our stained glass, at any rate, may challenge any other firm to

approach it wrote Dante Gabriel Rossetti in January 1862, just

ten months after the founding of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner
& Company. More recently, in her 1994 biography of William
Morris, Fiona MacCarthy has concluded that the glorious sequence
of Morris & Co. stained-glass windows surpasses all his other
artistic achievements. Historians of 19th-century stained glass
have generally agreed that the contribution to the medium made
by William Morris (1834-1896) and his principal collaborator,
Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), marked an epoch in its postmedieval development. In Morris & Companys later history,
following the deaths of both Morris and Burne-Jones, the firm
remained faithful to the artistic standards they had established,
producing work of artistic distinction and superb technical skill.

The surviving sketch designs represent the next stage of the

Cheadle commission, when the treatment of the patterned
glazing around the figures was decided. In one of the designs at
the Huntington (fig 40), this background glass takes the form
of scrolling foliage in a greenish grisaille, a motif first devised
by William Morris in the 1870s and subsequently used for many
windows. However, perhaps for reasons of cost, this suggested
treatment was rejected in favour of simpler, lozenge-shaped
quarries, each decorated with sprigs of daisies and other flowers
based on designs by Morris. All the windows have this quarryglazing apart from the west, in which the more elaborate scenes
are set within a stylised landscape and against a sky of denselyleaded, deep blue glass, the latter a motif typical of Burne-Joness
designs from the 1880s onwards. In all but the west window,
each figure was identified by a simple scroll above or below
bearing his or her name. Throughout the series, there are no
ornamental borders, only a simple fillet of greenish-white glass
around each light.

The reputation gained by Morris & Co.s stained glass was such
that, by the 1890s and 1900s, a number of their patrons, in
churches or in educational and other institutions, determined
to ensure the visual unity of their buildings by commissioning
windows exclusively from the firm. This was the decision of
the authorities at Cheadle Royal Hospital, near Manchester,
when they asked Morris & Co. to glaze all the windows of their
new Chapel, built in 1904. A relatively simple brick building
in Perpendicular Gothic style, the Chapel had five three-light
windows on each of its north and south sides, with a four-light
east window and another, larger, three-light window at the west
end. The glass in the east window was installed in 1906, then the
aisles were glazed in 1909 and 1911, and finally the west window
was completed in 1915. Following the closure of the Hospital
Chapel some years ago, all the stained glass, apart from that in the
east window, was removed and sold.

Notwithstanding the deaths of Morris and Burne-Jones in the

1890s, the firm of Morris & Company continued in business
with its shop in central London and studio-workshops at Merton
Abbey, Surrey until its voluntary dissolution in 1940. Although
it was reorganised in 1905 and registered as Morris & Company,
Decorators Ltd., a large measure of continuity was maintained
through Dearles role as chief designer. Having joined the firm as
a teenager, and having worked with Morris in almost all branches
of its production, Dearle identified closely with its stylistic ethos
and tradition of workmanship. In stained glass he revered the
later collaborative work of Morris and Burne-Jones, and it is clear
that under his supervision the Merton Abbey workshop rarely
deviated in any significant way from the style and technique of
the windows made during their lifetimes.

The Chapels glazing scheme consisted of full-length Old and

New Testament figures (one per light) occupying most of the
windows, along with a pair of narrative scenes flanking a figure in
one of the side windows and three more elaborate scenes in the
west window. The important Morris archive at the Huntington
Library and Art Collections at San Marino, California, includes
some of the visual documentation for the commission: there are
six watercolour sketch designs by Morris & Co., one for the west
window, showing the glass substantially as executed (fig. 42),
and five for the side windows (figs. 38 - 41), including one


The stylistic and technical characteristics highlighted in Morriss

and Burne-Joness comments are conspicuous in the Cheadle
windows. Even those figures whose cartoons date from earlier
phases of Morris & Co.s work, such as Melchisedek (fig. 27),
designed in 1866, and Timothy (fig. 2), dating from 1872, are
treated in the later manner, with plenty of emphatic leading to
create the desired jewel-like effect. Consistency of treatment was,
of course, essential to create a unified appearance for the glazing
scheme, regardless of the date of origin of individual cartoons; but
above all, it is in the windows sumptuous coloured glass that one
sees the continuing spirit of Morris and Burne-Jones.

In effect this was an implicit acceptance that, in its last stylistic

phase of the 1880s and 1890s, Morris & Co.s stained glass had
reached its apogee, and that this would therefore be the idiom
employed for all subsequent work in the twentieth century.
Thus the Cheadle windows, although they date from 1906-1915,
share in all their essentials very much the same character as those
previously made often in fact by exactly the same craftsmen
at Merton during the latter days of Morris and Burne-Jones.
William E. Stokes, for example, who was a glass-painter for all
but one of the Cheadle windows, worked for Morris & Co. from
1880 until 1915.

Morris & Co. bought their glass from James Powell & Sons
and W. E. Chance, sometimes having pot-metals specially made
to achieve particular colours. In the later 1880s, Morris had
even planned to follow his success in textile manufacture by
making his own pot-metal glass at Merton Abbey, a venture only
prevented by restrictive covenants on the lease of his workshop
premises. Although dependent on outside suppliers, Morris &
Co.s choice of glass colour, pure and sweet, as described in
the firms brochure for its 1883 exhibition at Boston remained
one of its superlative hallmarks. The Cheadle windows include
some magnificent examples: deep or smoky blues in the Mary
Virgin (fig. 5), St Peter (fig. 8), Enoch (fig. 21) and Ruth (fig. 14)
windows; ruby-reds and pinks in the Miriam (fig. 1), Timothy
(fig. 2) and St John (fig. 4); amber, gold and bronze in the St
Matthew (fig. 3), Jeremiah (fig. 16) and St Thomas (fig. 7);
and lush grass- and emerald-greens in the Isaiah (fig. 10),
Noah (fig. 13) and St Elizabeth (fig. 18).

This long-lasting (as it transpired) final evolution of the firms

stained glass happens to be the only one for which there is some
written evidence for both Morriss and Burne-Joness aesthetic
and technical approach to the medium. In 1883, both artists
expounded their views in a series of letters to John Ruskin
concerning the firms windows for Whitelands College Chapel in
Chelsea. Subsequently, Morris combined a summary history of
stained glass with a characteristically robust statement of his own
practice in an article written for the 1890 edition of Chambers
Encyclopaedia. Burne-Jones commented further on several major
stained glass commissions in letters written to clients in the later
1890s. A few excerpts from these sources provide a useful way of
appreciating the guiding principles which would have governed
the manufacture of the Cheadle windows.
Writing to Ruskin, Morris explained that:
in some of the pot-metals [coloured glasses], notably the blues,
the difference between one part of a sheet and another is very
great. This variety is very useful to us in getting a jewel-like
quality which is the chief charm of painted glass []. You
will understand that we rely almost entirely for our colour
on the actual colour of the glass; and the more the design will
enable us to break up the pieces, and the more mosaic-like it,
the better we like it.
His 1890 article likewise stresses clarity of design and colour:
The qualities needed in the design [] are beauty and
character of outline; exquisite, clear, precise drawing of
incident, such especially as the folds of drapery. [ ] Whatever
key of colour may be chosen, [it] should always be clear, bright
and emphatic. Any artist who has no liking for bright colour
had better hold his hand from stained-glass designing.
Not surprisingly, Burne-Joness words, written in 1897, closely
echo Morriss while also emphasising the particular role of the
lead-work in a design:
figures must be simply read at a great distance [] the leads
are part of the beauty of the work and as interesting as the
lines of masonry in a wall the more of them, the deeper the
colour looks. [] It is a very limited art and its limitations
are its strength.

It is a happy coincidence that just as Burne-Joness monumental

painting The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon, normally resident in
Puerto Ricos Museo de Arte de Ponce, temporarily returns to
London, these Cheadle windows, richly representing his genius in
stained glass, will also be on view.
PETER CORMACK
April 2008

fig.12

fig. 1

Miriam


fig. 2

Fig. 1 ~ MIRIAM
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of Joshua and Ruth) ~ 1911
H.146 W.45 cm ~ H.57 W.18 in

For this figure of Miriam, Morris & Co. used

Burne-Joness cartoon (BJ WB71 in the Morris & Co.
listings) for the figure of Deborah, drawn in 1896 for
Albion Congregational Church, Ashton-under-Lyne.
The sensitive glass-painting is the work of William Glasby
(1863-1941), who began his career with James Powell &
Sons, then became principal glass-painter for
Henry Holiday (1839-1927) in the 1890s. By the 1900s,
while still working for Holiday and, as here,
for Morris & Co., he was also designing and making
his own independent stained glass commissions.

Fig. 2 ~ TIMOTHY
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St James and St Mark) ~ 1911
H.145 W.45 cm ~ H.57 W.18 in

Burne-Joness original cartoon for this figure

(now in the Art Institute of Chicago) was drawn in
1872 for a window in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.
His account book records a charge of 12 for
Big Timothy (to distinguish it from a smaller design
of Timothy and Eunice for the same Oxford window).
The cartoon, numbered BJ 23 by Morris & Co.,
was used for a number of windows in schools,
including: William Morriss own school, Marlborough
College (1877); Forest School, Walthamstow,
where Morriss brothers had been pupils (1881);
and Maidstone Grammar School (1897).

Fig. 3 ~ ST MATTHEW
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Andrew and St Peter) ~ 1909
H. 122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

This and the companion figures of the other three

Evangelists were designed by Burne-Jones for the major
scheme of Morris & Co. windows at Jesus College Chapel,
Cambridge, in 1872-73. The artist charged 15 for his
cartoon (listed as BJ 18 in the firms inventory),
which he described as hastily executed I admit but
altogether a bold conception. There were many
subsequent re-uses, including windows for churches at
Speldhurst (1875) and Frome (1885).

Fig. 4 ~ ST JOHN
part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Mary Virgin and St Elizabeth) ~ 1911
H.122 W.46 cm ~ H.48 W.18 in

The original cartoon of St John (listed as BJ 422

by Morris & Co.) was drawn by Burne-Jones in
1876 for a window in St Marks, New Ferry.
It was re-used for several later windows, including
one at Coddington (1882) and the large east window
of Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).

fig. 3

fig. 4

fig. 5

fig. 6

Fig. 5 ~ ST MARY VIRGIN

(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Elizabeth and St John) ~ 1911
H.145 W.44 cm ~ H.57 W.17 in

Fig. 6 ~ ELIJAH
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of Melchisedek and Samuel) ~1911

Like the Cheadle St Elizabeth, this figure of

St Mary Virgin was originally drawn by Burne-Jones for
a window at Speldhurst church in 1874. Numbered BJ
213 in the Morris firms listing, it proved to be one of
Burne-Joness most popular designs, with versions in
windows at All Saints, Putney, and Welburn (both 1878)
and at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).

H.155 W.44 cm ~ H.61 W.17 in

Burne-Joness Elijah cartoon (numbered BJ 144

by Morris & Co.) was originally drawn for part
of the west window of Calcutta Cathedral in 1874.
The firm re-used it for one of their windows
(now at Birmingham City Art Gallery) displayed at the
1883 Foreign Fair at Boston, USA, and again
for windows at All Saints, Putney (1884) and at
Manchester College Chapel, Oxford (1897).

Fig. 8 ~

ST PETER

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of St Andrew and St Matthew) ~ 1909
H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

Although depicting a saint, Burne-Joness cartoon

for this figure was originally drawn in 1871
for a secular building, the Dining Hall
of Peterhouse College in Cambridge. Morris & Co.
later used the same cartoon, numbered BJ 24
in their listing, for windows at Waterford (1876),
Clay Cross (1879) and Brampton (1881).

Fig. 7 ~ ST THOMAS
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Luke and St Paul) ~ 1911
H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

The cartoon for St Thomas (Morris & Co.

number BJ 135) was originally drawn by Burne-Jones
for the west window of Calcutta Cathedral in 1874.
There are several later re-uses of the cartoon,
including windows at All Saints, Putney (1883)
and Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).

10

fig. 7

11

fig. 8

fig. 9

12

fig. 10

Fig. 9 ~ DANIEL

Fig. 10 ~

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Jeremiah and Isaiah) ~ 1911

ISAIAH

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Jeremiah and Daniel) ~ 1911

H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

Listed by Morris & Co. as BJ 269, Burne-Joness

cartoon for this figure was originally drawn in 1875
for a memorial window in Tavistock church.
It was subsequently used for windows
at Allerton, Liverpool (1876),
Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge (1878) and
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).

Drawn originally for a window at Tavistock,

the cartoons for this figure of Isaiah
(BJ 266 in Morris & Co.s listing) and three other
Old Testament figures were charged at only 5 each
in Burne-Joness account book. His self-deprecating
entry 4 Major Prophets on a minor scale designed
I regret to say with the minimum of ability
may actually denote that his original drawings
were less than full-size and were intended to be enlarged
by a draughtsman in the Morris & Co. workshop.
The cartoon was adapted for use in later windows at
Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge (1877),
Kings College Chapel, Aberdeen (1897) and
Crescent Street Church, Montreal, Canada (1901).

13

Fig. 11 ~ TWO MINSTREL ANGELS

(pair of tracery lights from above the
Nativity scene in the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.121 W.25 cm ~ H.48 W.10 in (each)

Listed as WM 270 and WM 101a by Morris & Co.,

these two Angel figures, one playing a dulcimer and
the other double-pipes, were originally designed by
William Morris in 1864 for part of the
large east window of Bradford Cathedral.
They were often used for subsequent commissions,
including windows at Llandaff Cathedral and
Bloxham church (both 1869) and
at Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge (1874).
Fig. 12 ~ TWO ANGELS

WITH LONG TRUMPETS

(tracery light from above the Ascension scene

in the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.121 W.25 cm ~ H.47 W.10 in (each)

Although used here as tracery lights, these Angel

figures were originally drawn by Burne-Jones
as full-size figures for an impressive window at
Cheddleton church, Staffordshire, in 1869.
His cartoons (BJ 26 and BJ 28) were used for several
other Morris & Co. windows; full-size versions are
at All Saints, Bingley (1874) and the tracery versions are
at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).

14

fig. 11

fig. 12

15

fig. 13

16

fig. 14

Fig. 14 ~

RUTH

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Miriam and Joshua) ~ 1911
H.145 W.45cm ~ H.57 W.18 in

The artist William Glasby (1863-1941),

who for a time worked as a glass-painter
for Morris & Co., painted this figure of Ruth
from the cartoon by Burne-Jones. The figure
(cartoon number BJ 467) was originally designed
for a window in St Giless Cathedral, Edinburgh
in 1886, and later re-used for windows at
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95) and at
Crescent Street Church, Montreal, Canada (1901).

Fig. 13 ~ NOAH
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of Abel and Enoch) ~ 1909
H.144 W.44 cm ~ H.57 W.17 in

Originally drawn in 1874 for part of a window

in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge,
Burne-Joness cartoon of Noah was subsequently
used for a number of later commissions,
including windows at Brampton (1878) and
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95).
The cartoon was catalogued as BJ 173 in
Morris & Co.s numerical listing of stained glass cartoons.
The documentation for the original use of the
cartoon at Jesus College suggests that the
dove holding the olive branch might possibly have
been drawn by Philip Webb (1831-1915).

17

Fig. 15 ~ RACHEL
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of Abraham and Joseph) ~ 1909
H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

Fig. 16 ~

Listed by Morris & Co. as BJ 540/544,

the cartoon for this figure of Rachel was drawn
by Burne-Jones for a window of 1878 at Guilsborough.
Apart from the Cheadle version of the figure,
only one other is recorded, part of a
1901 window (destroyed by fire) at the former
Crescent Street Church, Montreal, Canada.

JEREMIAH

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Daniel and Isaiah) ~ 1911
H.121 W.45 cm ~ H.48 W.18 in

Burne-Joness cartoon, listed as BJ 268 by Morris & Co.,

was first drawn for a window of 1875 (commemorating
William Morriss sisters father-in-law) at Tavistock church.
It was used thereafter for windows at Jesus College Chapel,
Cambridge (1878), St Martins, Brampton and Kings
College Chapel, Aberdeen (both 1897).

18

fig. 15

19

fig. 16

fig. 17

20

fig. 18

Fig. 17 ~ ST JAMES THE GREATER

(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Mark and Timothy) ~ 1911
H.145 W.44 cm ~ H.57 W.17 in

Fig. 18 ~ ST ELIZABETH

Burne-Joness cartoon of St James, as used for this

window, was first drawn in 1876 for a window
made for St Marks church, New Ferry, Cheshire.
As with some of the artists depictions of Christ,
this figure has a suggestion of self-portraiture.
The cartoon BJ 365 in the Morris & Co. list
was re-used for windows at Clay Cross (1879),
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95)
and Youlgreave (1897).

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of St Mary and St John) ~ 1911
H.145 W.45 cm ~ H.57 W.18 in

Burne-Jones drew the cartoon

(BJ 212 in Morris & Co.s list)
of the mother of St John the Baptist for
a window at Speldhurst church, Kent, in 1874.
There are several later uses of the cartoon,
including windows at Paisley (1876), Welburn (1878),
Halewood (1879) and Monkton (1892).

21

Fig. 19 ~ ST ANDREW
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of St Matthew and St Peter) ~ 1909
H.176 W.44 cm ~ H.69 W.17 in

Fig. 20 ~ VIRGIN MARY AND CHRIST CHILD

(part of a three-light window, with flanking scenes of Christ in
the Carpenters Shop and Christ blessing Children) ~ 1909

Burne-Joness drawing of St Andrew, BJ 514 in

Morris & Co.s list of cartoons, was first made
for a window in St Marks church, New Ferry,
in 1876. Later re-uses of the cartoon are at
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, Chelsea (1894-95) and
Albion Congregational Church, Ashton-under-Lyne (1896).

H.165 W.43 cm ~ H.65 W.17 in

The first use of Burne-Joness cartoon of the Virgin and

Child, for which he was paid 10 by Morris & Co.,
was for a window of 1868 in Tilehurst church.
The cartoon was numbered BJ 2a by the firm
and used for several later windows:
at Furneaux Pelham in 1874, Littlemore in 1889 and
All Saints, Putney in 1890.

22

fig. 19

23

fig. 20

fig. 21

24

fig. 22

Fig. 22 ~

ST PAUL

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of St Thomas and St Luke) ~ 1911
H.122 W.45 cm ~ H.48 W.18 in

Fig. 21 ~ ENOCH

This late design by Burne-Jones (BJ WB61 in

Morris & Co.s numbered list) dates from 1892.
It was originally used for a window at
Ashton-under-Lyne, and subsequently for
St Germans (1896) and St Marys, Dundee (1897).

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Abel and Noah) ~ 1909
H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

Burne-Jones originally designed this figure of the

Old Testament prophet Enoch for part of the
west window of Calcutta Cathedral, India, in 1874.
As well as its later use for the window at Cheadle (1909),
it was adapted for Morris & Company windows in
26 other locations, including those at St Martins,
Brampton (1878) and Holy Trinity, Sloane Street,
Chelsea (1894-5). Burne-Joness cartoon was
catalogued as BJ 143 in Morris & Co.s numerical
listing of stained glass cartoons.

25

Fig. 23 ~ AN ANGEL, THE EMBLEM OF ST MATTHEW

Fig. 24 ~ WINGED LION, THE EMBLEM OF ST MARK

(part of a three-light window, with figures of

St Matthew, St Andrew and St Peter) ~ 1909

(part of a three-light window, with figures of

St Mark, St James and Timothy) ~ 1911

H.90 W.44 cm ~ H.35 W.17 in

H.90 W.45 cm ~ H.36 W.18 in

This is one of four Emblems of the Evangelists designed by

Burne-Jones for windows in the Chapel of Castle Howard,
Yorkshire, in 1872. He charged Morris & Co. 16 for
the four cartoons of Evangelistic Beasts, of which this was
BJ 77 in the firms numerical list.

Burne-Joness friend and patron George Howard, Earl of Carlisle,

commissioned the first version of this design (along with
the emblems of the three other Evangelists)
for windows in the Chapel of Castle Howard, Yorkshire, in
1872. The cartoon was catalogued as BJ 78 in Morris & Co.s
numerical listing of stained glass cartoons.
26

Fig. 25 ~ WINGED OX, THE EMBLEM OF ST LUKE

Fig. 26 ~ EAGLE, THE EMBLEM OF ST JOHN

(part of a three-light window, with figures of

St Luke, St Thomas and St Paul) ~ 1911

(part of a three-light window, with figures of

St John, St Mary Virgin and St Elizabeth) ~ 1911

H.90 W.45 cm ~ H.35 W.18 in

H.90 W.45 cm ~ H.35 W.18 in

This is one of the four Evangelistic Beasts

originally designed by Burne-Jones for George Howards
refurbishment of Castle Howard Chapel in 1872.
The cartoon was listed as BJ 79 by Morris & Company.

This Emblem of St John the Evangelist

(cartoon number BJ 80) was originally drawn by
Burne-Jones in 1872 for the windows installed by
Morris & Co. in the Chapel of Castle Howard.

27

Fig. 27 ~ MELCHISEDEK
(part of a three-light window,
with figures of Elijah and Samuel) ~ 1911
H.145 W.44 cm ~ H.57 W.17 in

Fig. 28 ~ SAMUEL

The figure of Melchisedek was first used

in the east window of All Saints church, Cambridge.
An entry dated August 1866 in Burne-Joness
account book records his charge of four guineas
for the drawing, which was numbered BJ 72
in Morris & Co.s listing of stained glass cartoons.
It was re-used for several later windows,
including one at Meole Brace (1871) and at
St Peters church in Albany, New York, USA (1881).

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of Melchisedek and Elijah) ~ 1911
H.146 W.45 cm ~ H.48 W.18 in

A Morris & Co. window of 1868 at Llandaff Cathedral

has the first version of Burne-Joness Samuel figure,
numbered BJ 177/317 in the firms listing.
Several later versions exist, including windows at
Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge (1872),
Tamworth (1874) and Middleton Cheney (1880).

28

fig.12

fig. 27

Miriam
29

fig. 28

fig.12

Miriam
30

fig. 29

Fig. 29 ~

St. Mark

(part of a three-light window,

with figures of St James and Timothy) ~ 1911
H.122 W.44 cm ~ H.48 W.17 in

This is one of the four Evangelist figures originally drawn

by Burne-Jones for windows in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge.
His account book entry (between February and May 1874) lists
his charge of 15 for the cartoon, to which Morris & Co. gave the
list number BJ 146. There are other versions at Speldhurst church
(1875) and Birmingham City Art Gallery (1883), the latter one of
several windows originally made for Morris & Co.s display
at the Foreign Fair in Boston, USA.

31

Fig. 30 ~ CHRIST BLESSING CHILDREN

(part of a three-light window, with a figure of the Virgin &
Child and a scene of Christ in the Carpenters Shop) ~ 1909
H.98 W.44 cm ~ H.39 W.17 in

The cartoon for this panel (numbered BJ 277 by

Morris & Co.) is now in Leeds City Art Gallery.
It was drawn by Burne-Jones in 1874
for a window in Speldhurst church, Kent.
Morris & Co. made several subsequent versions,
including those for windows at Allerton,
Liverpool (1876), St Michaels, Torquay (1878) and
Manchester College Chapel, Oxford (1896).

32

fig.12

Miriam

fig. 30
33

fig.12

Miriam

fig. 31
34

Fig. 31 ~ TWO ANGELS OF THE ASCENSION

(part of the lower section of the Ascension scene
in the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.118 W.60 cm ~ H.46 W.24 in

Morris & Co.s first use of Burne-Joness cartoon

for these figures was in a window of 1874 at
Brown Edge in Staffordshire. Listed as BJ 325
in the firms inventory of cartoons, the design was
re-used at Staveley (1881) and Troutbeck (1898).

35

Fig. 32 ~ THE DOVE / HOLY SPIRIT

(upper central tracery light from
the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.67 W.63 cm ~ H.26 W.25 in

J. H. Dearle probably adapted his cartoon

for the descending Dove from earlier
cartoons by Burne-Jones and Philip Webb.

36

fig. 32

fig. 33

fig. 34
38

Fig. 33 ~

THREE SERAPH HEADS

(tracery light from above the

Nativity scene in the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.74 W.61 cm ~ H.29 W.24 in

This quatrefoil panel of Seraphim was made from

the cartoons of John Henry Dearle (1859-1932),
Morriss assistant and, after 1896, the principal
designer of stained glass, textiles and wallpapers
for Morris & Company.

Fig. 34 ~ THREE SERAPH HEADS

(tracery light from above the Nativity scene in the
Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.73 W.63 cm ~ H.29 W.25 in

J. H. Dearle drew the cartoon for this quatrefoil tracery

light. The Seraphs faces and coiffure closely replicate
Burne-Joness typical idiom for such details.

39

Fig. 35 ~ANGEL HOLDING

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM

(part of the upper section of the Nativity scene

from the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.55 W.61 cm ~ H.22 W.24 in

The original version of this design by Burne-Jones

was drawn for the famous Morris & Co. tapestry The
Adoration of the Magi, first woven in 1886-90 for the
chapel of Exeter College, Oxford (where both Morris and
Burne-Jones had been students in the 1850s). BurneJones also used the same subject, with minor changes,
for an enormous watercolour, The Star of Bethlehem,
commissioned by Birmingham City Art Gallery in
1887. The Morris firm adapted Burne-Joness design
more closely following the tapestry version than the
watercolour for at least two other stained glass windows,
at Westerham church (1909) and St Michaels church,
Macclesfield (1918).

Fig. 36 ~ CHRIST ASCENDING

(part of the upper section of the central
Ascension scene from the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.55 W.61 cm ~ H.22 W.24 in

The cartoon by J. H. Dearle for this Ascension scene

(HD 645 in Morris & Co.s listing) was first used for a
window in the Old Parish Church at Troon in 1903.
A much later version appears in a 1936 window by the
firm for St Andrews, Vancouver, Canada.

40

fig. 35

fig. 36

fig.12

fig. 37a

Miriam

fig. 37b
42

Fig. 37a & 37b ~ TWO PRAYING ANGELS

(tracery light from above the Crucifixion scene
in the Chapels west window) ~ 1915
H.118 W.24 cm ~ H.46 W.9 in (each)

John Henry Dearle designed these two

praying Angel figures for the central
tracery lights of the Cheadle chapels
west window. As in most of Dearles
cartoons for stained glass, the dominant
influence of Burne-Jones is evident.

43

fig 38

fig 40

fig 39

44

fig 41

fig 42

fig.12

Miriam
45

fig.12

Miriam
46

Further Reading:
The definitive account of Morris & Companys stained glass is
A. C. Sewters The Stained Glass of William Morris and his Circle,
published in two volumes by Yale University Press, New Haven
and London, in 1974 and 1975. Sewters work has been amplified
and, in a few cases corrected by Martin Harrison, author of
Victorian Stained Glass (1980), and by the late Donald Green,
whose research archive is now at the National Monuments Record
(English Heritage) at Swindon. The history of Burne-Joness
cartoons for stained glass is substantially documented in
Douglas E. Schoenherrs The Cartoon Book and Morris &
Companys sale of Burne-Joness cartoons in 1901-1904 in
The Journal of Stained Glass, Volume XXIX (2005).

Thanks to John Murdoch and his colleagues at the

Huntington Library and Art Collections at San Marino, California
Text of Introduction and Captions Peter Cormack 2008
Photographs 2008 Michael Whiteway
Figs 38-42 the Huntington Library and Art Collections

Design: Sarah Southin: email@sarahsouthin.co.uk

Printed in Great Britain by Henry Ling Limited,
The Dorset Press, Dorchester DT1 1HD
ISBN- 978-0-9559239-0-6
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

47

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