Amateur Stained Glass in English Churches, 1830-80

Nineteenth-century English stained glass has produced a rich corpus of works mainly produced by the many large and well-known Victorian studios. One group of artisans who can add much to the current debate on nineteenth-century stained glass are amateurs. However, almost every scholarly publication discussing stained glass or nineteenth-century material culture has ignored this minority group. Driven by the rejection of mass-produced windows that predates the well-known innovations of the Arts and Crafts Movement, this article is part of ongoing research and it discusses the cultural and social significance of nineteenth-century amateur windows in Anglican churches. Influenced by the Gothic Revival and the ideologies of the Oxford Movement and the Ecclesiologists, the range of amateur individuals is extremely diverse and most had a close connection with the Anglican Church. Inspired by religious literature, women amateurs, in particular, played an important sociocultural role striving for the demands of paid employment, training, education, and access to the professions. A small selection of case studies will explore some of the discovered amateur windows. The article will raise arguments in the context of Victorian religious material and visual cultures and will discuss the art of personalized making.