SIR EDWARD BURNE-JONES (1833-1898) FOR MORRIS & CO.
'ABRAHAM' STAINED GLASS PANEL, 1909
stained, leaded and painted glass
123cm x 44.5cm (frame size 128.5cm x 50cm)
Provenance: The Chapel of Cheadle Royal Hospital, Cheshire
Literature: Sewter A. Charles The Stained Glass of William Morris and his Circle, Yale University Press 1974, nos. 401, 428, 539Note: The contribution to the medium of stained glass by William Morris and his principal collaborator Edward Burne-Jones marked an epoch in its post-medieval development. By the 1890s, the reputation gained by Morris & Co. for their stained glass was such that a number of their patrons exclusively commissioned windows from the firm, to ensure the visual unity of their buildings. One such commission was from Cheadle Royal Hospital near Manchester, who in 1904 instructed Morris & Co. to glaze all of the windows of their new chapel. The glass was installed over four periods, 1906, 1909, 1911, and finally in 1915. The design for ‘Abraham’ was first employed in the scheme for St John the Devine, Frankby in 1873 at Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge in 1873-4, and further at St Martin's, Brampton in 1878. The guiding principles that governed the manufacture of the Cheadle windows can be found in an article by Morris in 1890 in which he stressed the importance of clarity of design and colour, ‘The qualities needed in the design […] are beauty and character of outline […] Whatever key of colour may be chosen, [it] should always be clear, bright and emphatic.’