Karl Parsons | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Parsons in 1900 | |
| Born | 23 January 1884 Peckham, London |
| Died | 30 September 1934(1934-09-30) (aged 50) Putney, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Central School of Arts and Crafts |
| Known for | Stained glass |
| Movement | Arts and Crafts movement |
| Spouse | Grace Millicent Simmons |
Karl Bergemann Parsons[a] (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a Britishstained glass artist associated with theArts and Crafts movement.
Parsons was born inPeckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th and youngest child of Arthur William Parsons (1838–1901), a foreign language translator, and Emma Matilda Parsons, née Bergemann (1837–1914). He was christened with the names Charles Bergemann, though the family always called him Karl, the name he was to use in later life.[b][1]
From 1893 to 1898 he attendedHaberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys School atNew Cross in south London.
One of Parsons' older sisters was the artistBeatrice Emma Parsons (1869–1955). Beatrice worked for a while inChristopher Whall's studio and when Parsons left school, Beatrice persuaded Whall to take him on as an apprentice. Whall it seems saw promise in Parsons'sketches. Apart from starting with Whall as a pupil-apprentice at Whall'sHammersmith studio, he also worked atLowndes and Drury in Chelsea, this under Whall's supervision. He also attended Whall's classes at theL.C.C.Central School of Arts & Crafts.[2]
He completed his apprenticeship in the 1900s and then worked as one of Whall's assistants. In September 1904 he began teaching at the Central School, initially as one of Whall's assistants and then as principal teacher of stained glass. One pupil wasM. E. Aldrich Rope, cousin ofMargaret Agnes Rope. Another pupil was JoanFulleylove who worked withMabel Esplin and in fact continued Esplin's work for theAnglican cathedral inKhartoum when Esplin could no longer do so.
Throughout the 1900s he was to assist Whall on his major commissions and in 1905 drew some of the illustrations for Whall's bookStained Glass Work[c] this along with fellow studentEdward Woore. Parsons assisted Whall with the windows forGloucester Cathedral and also those forCanterbury Cathedral,Southwell Minster,Tonbridge School Chapel, and churches inAshbourne,Ledbury andBurford.
In 1907 he married Grace Millicent Simmons. She too studied at the Central School and became an Arts and Craftsembroiderer.
In 1908 he worked with Whall on the design and execution ofapse windows forCape Town Cathedral and in that year set up his own studio at the Glass House in Fulham.[d] In the same year he began work on his first independent commission, a series of windows for St Alban,Hindhead. He also exhibited three designs at theRoyal Academy and 25 September 1908 saw the birth of his daughter Margaret Rosetta.
It was the architectHerbert Baker who had asked Whall to take on the Cape Town windows and it was Baker's associate Fleming, who in later years was to invite Parsons to undertake other commissions in South Africa.[e] Close connections with architects were important to people like Parsons and he was to have a similar relationship withRobert Lorimer in Scotland which was to lead to his receiving important Scottish commissions. Other important contacts were John Duke Coleridge, andEverard and Pick.[f] Whall had similarly benefitted from close ties to the likes of the architectsJohn Dando Sedding andHenry Wilson.
During the period 1909 to 1910, he worked for a short period withLouis Davis, cartooning windows from Davis' designs. In 1910 he exhibited designs at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition. Certainly Parsons worked closely with Davis in 1910 on the windows for St Anseln church (seven lancets for the Holy Spirit chapel) andHoly Trinity in St Andrew's Fife (a five-light Crucifixion window). It was Davis who had introduced Parsons to Robert Lorimer. In 1910, Parsons lived at 38 Gainsborough Road inBedford Park, London.[3]
1911 saw the birth of his second daughter, Jacynth Mary, who became abook illustrator.
In 1912 he received a commission for the Rolls and Grace memorial window atEastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey and in the next year his work was exhibited at theGhent International Exhibition. It was in 1913 that Parsons met the Irish artistHarry Clarke.[4][g] One was to influence the other.
The Great War saw many of the Glass House staff leave to do military service and in 1916 Parsons himself wasconscripted into theArmy but was not posted overseas.
Demobilised in 1918, he resumed work at the Glass House and went back to teaching at the Central School. As a teacher, Parsons was, like Whall before him, to inspire several of his pupils to become stained glass artists, includingLilian Pocock,Joseph Edward Nuttgens andHerbert Hendrie.[h]
After the war there was a boom in demand for stained glass, particularly with many memorial windows being commissioned and Parsons appointedEdward Liddall Armitage[i] as an assistant and later Leonard Potter. Both were ex-pupils.
1924 saw Parsons make what was to prove a seminal visit toChartres where, with his brother Ambrose, he carried out a detailed study of medieval glass. Parsons wrote "So far as my knowledge goes, this world cannot show anything made by men so amazingly beautiful".
In 1927 he was commissioned to make the apse windows for the newSt Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg.
1929 saw a collection ofpoems that he had written published by theMedici Society under the titleAnn’s Book. His daughter Jacynth provided the illustrations. (The previous year she had illustratedForty Nine Poems byW. H. Davies, also for Medici). Over the years Parsons had several of his poems published in anthologies and periodicals. In the same year he resigned from his teaching post at the Central School.
In 1930 Parsons moved fromNorthwood, where he had lived for many years[clarification needed], toShalbourne in Wiltshire. There he set up a studio at Ropewind Farm where he converted a mid-18th centurythree-bay barn, adding a large, porch-like window to let in natural light on the north side. He also incorporated a smallgranary on unusual brick and timberstaddles thus converting it into a larger purpose-built storage building and garage, giving access directly from Rivar Road. The house he lived in adjoined the site. His health deteriorated and finally, in 1933, he had to return to London, took a flat inPutney and worked for a while with his friendEdward Woore. He died there the following year at the young age of 50. After his death on 30 September 1934, the cause of death being given ascerebral thrombosis andarteriosclerosis, existing commissions were taken over or completed by Woore.[citation needed]
Painting, sculpture, tapestry and every other craft we appreciate by the light that falls on it. But stained glass we can only see by the light coming through it. The glass worker, in fact, designs in coloured light".
Parsons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
