Charity, a stained glass design

The present drawing, and the following two lots, are full-size cartoons for stained glass windows. These working drawings, done to the size of the window, were never intended for display, but were designed by an artist to be used by the artisan makers to guide the shaping and cutting of each section of glass. The heavier lines demarcate the leading, while lighter lines would be painted in. Victorian interest in and production of stained-glass windows was initiated by William Morris (1834-1896), and his company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. designed new windows for churches throughout Great Britain and across the world. In the 1860s there was renewed church-building and restoration, and so more windows were needed than had been for over a hundred years - a space Morris happily filled. Artists such as Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) began their careers at Morris & Co., with stained glass designs one of the major parts of the business.

The church for which the present designs were destined has not been identified, but the graphic style, with heavy lead-lines and rich drapery, suggests that they date to around 1890. By this time, other firms had followed in Morris's footsteps, and companies such as Heaton, Butler and Bayne were also successfully designing stained glass windows.