[39766] Norwich Cathedral : St Paul Window

Norwich Cathedral.

Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.

Window (detail) by James Powell & Sons, Whitefriars, c1909.

Scenes from the life of St Paul with the centre panel against a background of Greek temples.

 

James Powell & Sons, situated on the site of the former Whitefriars monastery, between the Thames and Fleet Street, was producing mainly flint glass when it was bought in 1834 by James Powell, a London wine merchant. On his death the firm passed to his three sons Arthur, Nathaniel and James Cotton Powell, who in 1844 established a stained glass department. The latter benefitted from the scientific researches of Charles Winston, a lawyer by profession, who had dedicated himself to the study of medieval stained glass. It had made him aware of the shortcomings of the glass available to contemporary artists, this being often thin and garish in colour. In 1847 he encouraged experiments aimed at rediscovering the chemical components of medieval glass and persuaded the firm of James Powell & Sons to produce 'antique' glass to his recipes. It was mainly due to this collaboration that the firm was to become one of the most important studios and glass manufacturers of the Victorian period.

Done