[42273] St Peter, Nottingham : East Window

St Peter, Nottingham.

East Window by Ward & Hughes, 1878.

Allsop memorial - detail.

 

The firm of Ward & Hughes spans the history of Victorian stained glass from the Gothic revival to the Aesthetic Movement. Despite having worked in so many styles, their windows are easily recognisable since, unlike those of many artists, they are always signed “Ward & Hughes, London” with the date of manufacture. The partnership of Thomas Ward (1808-1870) and Henry Hughes (1822-1883) began in the early 1850s. Thomas Ward had been a stained glass designer for almost twenty years by this time, in partnership with JH Nixon. When Nixon retired Henry Hughes, one of his pupils and a talented designer, took his place. After Ward’s death in 1870 Hughes was free to run things as he wanted. There was clearly a change of direction in the 1870s away from the now stale Gothic style towards a style influenced by the Aesthetic Movement. Henry Hughes died in 1883 and the firm was taken over by a relative of his, Thomas Figgis Curtis (1845-1924). Soon after, the firm’s output was signed “TF Curtis, Ward & Hughes”. The firm remained operational until the late 1920s, but most of the company’s archives have been lost, so little is known about this remarkable and enduring firm.

 

Done