An Orchard of Stained Glass Fruit

If you look closely at stained glass, you can see all sorts of themes: religion, flowers, art, music and even fruit. When considering the theme of fruit, in ecclesiastical stained glass, a bunch of grapes may signify the sacrament of Holy Communion. Grapes and vines can also represent the church itself. Pomegranates have diverse cultural-religious significance, as a symbol of life and fertility owing to their many seeds but also as a symbol of power (imperial orb), blood and death. Pomegranates already symbolised fertility, beauty and eternal life, in Greek and Persian mythology. The apple of course is the forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. With Art Nouveau being the predominant architectural and design influence between 1880 and the start of the Great war in 1914, there was a great interest in portraying both stylised flowers and fruit in stained glass.

 

This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.

 

This week the theme, “fruit” was chosen by Gary, Gazman_AU.

 

I thought a collage of some of the examples of fruit themed windows I have photographed in Churches and private houses over the years might be suitable.

 

Top row far left, second and third from left: Detail of the King David window of St John’s Church of England, Heidelberg, designed and manufactured by William Montgomery.

 

Top row right: Detail of the Suffer the Little Children window of Holy Trinity Church of England, Balaclava, attributed to I. A. Gibbs and Howard, London.

 

Middle row left: Detail of a dressing room window of “The Gables”, Malvern, painter and manufacturer unknown.

 

Middle row second from left: Detail of a shop window, corner Brunswick and Bell Streets, Collingwood, painter and manufacturer unknown.

 

Middle row third from left: Detail of a window from the former Sassafras Methodist Church, Sassafras, manufactured by Brooks Robinson and Company.

 

Middle row second from right: Detail of the “Lay of the Last Minstrel” window, “Warwilla” (formerly “Redholme”), St Kilda Road, painted and manufactured by William Montgomery.

 

Middle row right: Detail of the King David window of St John’s Church of England, Heidelberg, designed and manufactured by William Montgomery.

 

Bottom row far left: Detail of an entrance hall window of “The Gables”, Malvern, painter and manufacturer unknown.

 

Bottom row second from left: Detail of the Virgin Mary window of St Ambrose’s Catholic Church, Brunswick, manufactured by Brooks Robinson and Company.

 

Bottom row third from left: Detail of a dining room window of “The Gables”, Malvern, painter and manufacturer unknown.

 

Bottom row second from right: Detail of the “Lay of the Last Minstrel” window, “Warwilla” (formerly “Redholme”), St Kilda Road, painted and manufactured by William Montgomery.

 

Bottom row far left: Detail of an entrance hall window of “The Gables”, Malvern, painter and manufacturer unknown.

 

Built to the specifications of architect George Reilly Cox, Saint John\'s Church of England in Burgundy Street Heidelberg, is a fine example of simple Early English Gothic architecture. The building was completed by April 1851. Comprising of a gabled nave, without aisles, a narthex below the west tower and a sanctuary and vestry at the east end, Saint John\'s Church of England is simple, unpretentious and elegant in its design. The nave and chancel are constructed of handmade bricks laid on a bluestone rubble plinth. The church features lancet windows in Early English Gothic style. It has a square tower surmounted by four pinnacles and crenulations. The roof is slated and contains small gable vents, and the roof drains to galvanised steel quad section eaves gutters. The gable parapets are fitted with galvanised sheet steel cappings. The formal opening of Saint John\'s Church of England took place on the 26th of October 1861. The church was dedicated by Bishop Perry the first Bishop of Melbourne on the 30th of September 1861 and named the Church of Saint John the Evangelist. The roof was completely replaced around 1856 with slate after the original shingles had deteriorated. The interior was plastered and the exterior brickwork was covered with cement. Another renovation took place in 1965 at the cost of $56,000.00. The vestry, choir room, chapel and new entrance porch were added at the original back of the church. Interestingly, the congregation today no longer use the 1965 entrance and have reverted to the original entrance. The choir room now serves as a Sunday school for the children of the congregation, whilst the newer chapel is not generally used at all.

 

William Montgomery (1850 - 1927) was an artist who specialised in stained glass painting and design. He was born in England in 1850, and studied at the School of Art in Newcastle-on-Tyne. In his final year William was awarded one of only three National Art Scholarships that year to study at South Kensington School of Art (now the Royal College of Art). He was employed by the leading London stained glass firm, Clayton and Bell, before joining Franz Mayer and Company in Munich, Germany. Over the next seven years he not only designed windows he also trained others in the English style of glass painting. William arrived in Melbourne, Australia, in 1886 during the Boom Period provided by the Gold Rush. Melbourne was at the time one of the wealthiest cities in the world, and was in the throes of a building boom. He quickly set up his studio at 164 Flinders Street in the heart of Melbourne, bringing with him the latest in European style and design and achieving instant success amongst wealthy patrons. He worked equally for Catholic and Protestant denominations, his windows being found in many churches as well as in mansions, houses and other commercial buildings around the city. This extended to the country beyond as his reputation grew. A painter as well as stained glass window designer William was a founding member of the Victorian Art Society in Albert Street, Eastern Hill. William became President of its Council in 1912, a position he held until 1916. He was a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria. His commissions included; stained glass windows at Christ Church, Hawthorn: St. John\'s, Heidelberg, St. Ignatius\', Richmond: Christ Church, St Kilda: Geelong Grammar School: the Bathurst Cathedral and private houses "Tay Creggan", Hawthorn (now Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar), and "Earlsbrae Hall", Essendon (now Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School). The success of William Montgomery made Melbourne the leading centre of stained glass in the Southern Hemisphere. William Montgomery died in 1927.

 

The first Church of England built on the triangular site in Balaclava bordered by Brighton Road and Dickens Street was opened by Bishop Perry on January 29, 1871. It was a timber building accommodating about three hundred people. It stood where the Parish Hall now stands. Its designer was the architect Francis Maloney White (1819-1888) who lived nearby in William Street. In 1882 the architects Reed and Barnes, soon to become Reed, Henderson and Smart, were commissioned to design a new church. The first service took place on December 6, 1883. Due to the Parish\'s efforts to reduce the large debt that had been incurred in the construction of the church and the vicarage, the building of the spire was delayed. Regrettably this was never to be built. However, it gives Holy Trinity the feeling of an English country parish church.

 

The firm of I. A. Gibbs and Howard was established in England in the 1870s. Isaac Alexander Gibbs (1849 - 1899) was the youngest son of Isaac Alexander Gibbs (senior) and brother of the stained glass artists Alexander and Charles Alexander Gibbs. His partnership with William Wallace Howard (born 1856) was established before 1879 in London. The firm continued after the death of Gibbs under Howard until about 1915.

 

Built in 1902 for local property developer Lawrence Alfred Birchnell and his wife Annie, “The Gables” is considered to be one of the most prominent houses in the Gascoigne Estate. The house was designed by Melbourne architect firm Ussher and Kemp in what was the prevailing style of the time, Queen Anne, which is also known as Federation style (named so after Australian Federation in 1901). Ussher and Kemp were renowned for their beautiful and complex Queen Anne houses and they designed at least six other houses in Finch Street alone. “The Gables” remained a private residence for many years. When Lawrence Birchnell sold it, the house was converted into a rooming house. It remained so throughout the tumultuous 1920s until 1930 when it was sold again. The new owners converted “The Gables” into a reception hall for hire for private functions. The first wedding reception was a breakfast held in the formal dining room in 1930, followed by dancing to Melbourne’s first jukebox in the upstairs rooms. Notorious Melbourne gangster Joseph Theodore Leslie “Squizzy” Taylor was reputed to have thrown a twenty-first birthday party for his girlfriend of the day in the main ballroom (what had originally been the house\'s billiards room). “The Gables” became very famous for its grand birthday parties throughout the 1930s and 1940s. With its easy proximity to the Caulfield Race Course, “The Gables” ran an underground speakeasy and gambling room upstairs and sold beer from the back door during Melbourne’s restrictive era of alcohol not sold after six o\'clock at night. Throughout its history, “The Gables” has been a Melbourne icon, celebrating generation after generation of Melbourne’s wedding receptions, parties and balls. Lovingly restored, the atmosphere and charm of “The Gables” have been retained for the future generations.

 

The former Sassafras Methodist Church, perched on the upper side of the hill, overlooking the Sassafras township had its foundation stone laid on the 18th of October 1902. A plaque records: Sassafra Church - the original of - this block was laid - by - Mrs D Stones - on October 18th 1902 - John Storrie. A Gothic Carpenter church, it is made of wood and is of simple design with simple stained glass windows. The church ceased in the 1970s and was eventually sold. For many years it was “Brother John’s”, a restaurant and wedding venue. Today it is “Dine Divine” a café that specialises in light luncheons and Devonshire cream teas, the latter being quite delicious.

 

Surrounded by modern office and apartment blocks the grand red brick mansion “Warwillah”, built on the corner of Beatrice Street and St Kilda Road, is one of the few remaining examples of a time Melbourne’s St Kilda Road was still a grand boulevard of elegant residences. In March 1875 the government announced that the land on the western side of St Kilda Road would be alienated from parkland and that the land would be sold for residential purposes. Following the subdivision, a gentleman of means named Rudolph D. Benjamin purchased the land on which he planned to build an elegant residence as befitting his station. Designed by well known Melbourne architect John Beswicke, “Redholme” was a sixteen-roomed brick mansion built on Mr. Benjamin’s block in 1896 by the builder James Downie. Although not in the Benjamin family, “Redholme” survived the death taxes that came after the Great War and the Great Depression of 1929. It was still a privately owned home in its entirety in 1939 when it was owned by Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Reddish. Sadly, after the Second World War, “Redholme” changed ownership, usage and even name. From the early 1950s, the red brick building became the “Warwilla Guest House”. The name “Warwilla” is what the house has been known as ever since. “Warwilla” is an unusual mansion as it is an early example of a transition from Modern Gothic to Queen Anne design. The red brick tuckpointed facade is asymmetrical with picturesque massing, but the larger half-timbered gable and cantilevered banked window on the south side is balanced by the octagonal corner tower and ‘candle snuffer’ roof on the north. The Modern Gothic is suggested by the depressed pointed arches to main openings, and engaged colonettes at the porch entrance, whilst the half-timbered gable, octagonal tower with ‘candle snuffer’ roof and Art Nouveau stained glass windows are very much stylistic elements of Queen Anne architecture. These elements were to remain popular for at least another decade. The tall banded brick chimneys (done in the style of Henry Kemp) dominate the terracotta tile roof, as do the decorative finials which include a dragon.

 

In 1869 the foundation stone was laid for Saint Ambrose\'s Church at 287 Sydney Road, Brunswick. The land for the church was donated by Mr. Michael Dawson, a resident of the neighbourhood. In 1873 the church was completed at a cost of £6,000.00. Parishioners Sebastian Danielli and his wife Harriet Bagatti, who had arrived in Brunswick in 1859 after being married in Milan the previous year, suggested the name Saint Ambrose\'s as the name for the church because St Ambrose was a much loved bishop in Milan in the 4th Century. All their children were born in Brunswick and baptised at Saint Ambrose’s. In 1888 Brunswick was proclaimed a town and it had a population of 14,792. In 1890, Saint Ambrose\'s became a parish in its own right, being made independent from the Coburg parish. With the need for a larger church, the present church was extended in 1899 when the transepts, with the sanctuary and the two chapels, the porch and the baptistry were added. The memorial stone was laid near the door of the northern transepts on 19 February, 1899. The parish church building is of a late Gothic style and is one of the finer churches of Melbourne, built in bluestone, with a timber supported ceiling, a 19th century organ and high quality stained glass windows.

 

Brooks, Robinson and Company first opened their doors on Elizabeth Street in Melbourne in 1854 as importers of window and table glass and also specialised in interior decorating supplies. Once established the company moved into glazing and were commonly contracted to do shopfronts around inner Melbourne. In the 1880s they commenced producing stained glass on a small scale. Their first big opportunity occurred in the 1890s when they were engaged to install Melbourne\'s St Paul\'s Cathedral\'s stained-glass windows. Their notoriety grew and as a result their stained glass studio flourished, particularly after the closure of their main competitor, Ferguson and Urie. They dominated the stained glass market in Melbourne in the early 20th Century, and many Australian glass artists of worked in their studio. Their work may be found in the Princess Theatre on Melbourne\'s Spring Street, in St John\'s Church in Toorak, and throughout churches in Melbourne. Brooks, Robinson and Company was taken over by Email Pty Ltd in 1963, and as a result they closed their stained glass studio.

Done