Fig. 1. Representatives of Canterbury Cathedral present the gifted Damson Tree panel to The Stained Glass Museum. From left: Receiver General, Chris Nickols, Director of Cathedral Stained Glass Studio, Leonie Seliger, The Stained Glass Museum Director & Curator, Jasmine Allen, Stained Glass Conservator, Fernando Cortes-Pizano, Stained Glass Artist, Grace Ayson, Richard Oldfield, and Dean of Canterbury, the Very Revd Dr Robert Willis (Image © Canterbury Cathedral)
Canterbury Cathedral’s world-renowned stained glass studio has gifted one of its panels to The Stained Glass Museum.
The gift is of a recent test panel created for the Cathedral’s Damson Window, which was designed by Hughie O’Donoghue RA and made by the Cathedral’s own stained glass studio artist, Grace Ayson in 2018.
The Damson Window, located in the northern walkway of Canterbury Cathedral Cloisters, was made to honour the contributions made over many years to the life of the Cathedral by Richard Oldfield OBE DL. The subject for the window was inspired by a damson tree in the dedicand’s garden. The test panel was beautiful in itself and extremely useful in determining what changes had to be made for the whole window, but because of those changes, it never became part of the finished window. Rather than letting the panel sit unseen in a store, it was offered to The Stained Glass Museum (Fig. 2).
Director and Curator of the museum, Jasmine Allen said “We were delighted to receive this gift from the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral as an example of 21st century stained glass. It is fantastic to add to our growing collection a panel connected to Canterbury Cathedral, which demonstrates a fruitful contemporary collaboration.”
The Stained Glass Museum, located in Ely Cathedral, offers a unique insight into the fascinating history of stained glass, an art form that has been practised in Britain for at least 1300 years. Their permanent gallery displays over 125 stained glass panels representing 800 years of the history of this ancient art, from the thirteenth century to the present day.
Fig. 2. Jasmine Allen (Director and Curator of The Stained Glass Museum) admires the Damson Tree panel in the Cathedral Studios, Canterbury. The panel was a test created for the Cathedral’s Damson Window, designed by Hughie O’Donoghue RA and made by the Cathedral’s own stained glass studio artist, Grace Ayson in 2018. (Image © Canterbury Cathedral)
The Stained Glass Museum is currently appealing for donations to its ‘Glass Racks Appeal’ with the aim of raising £30,000 to purchase additional storage racks for its growing collection of stained glass. Additional storage will enable the museum to:
• continue to develop its collection through new acquisitions;
• ensure secure protected storage of its collections;
• increase access to its stored collections for researchers, academics and the public through specialised tours and at special events.
For more information about this appeal please visit https://stainedglassmuseum.com/glassracksappeal.html