Presentation Window, "William Penn, Peace Movement, Pennsylvania"
Decorative Arts and Design
In addition to Tiffany Studios and John La Farge, J. & R. Lamb Studio was a prestigious maker of stained-glass windows in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This window, a presentation piece, was probably shown to the leaders of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, in Brooklyn Heights, for approval to proceed with the extant, large window titled William Penn, Peace Movement, Pennsylvania that the Lamb Studio executed for the church. In the nineteenth century the leader of the Plymouth Church was the ardent antislavery activist Henry Ward Beecher. William Penn, a Quaker and founding father of Pennsylvania, was an early opponent slavery as well, and therefore this subject had social meaning for the congregation.
MEDIUM
Glass, lead, wood
DATES
ca. 1905
DIMENSIONS
32 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 5/8 in. (82.6 x 62.2 x 4.1cm)
(show scale)
MARKINGS
Partial label affixed to upper part of wooden frame on recto
". . . & R LAMB / Ecclesiastical and Memorial Art Workers / 23-25-27-Sixth Avenue . . . New York."
SIGNATURE
no signature
INSCRIPTIONS
no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER
1989.180
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Adrian Lamb in memory of his father, Frederick Stymetz Lamb
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Window, stained glass (colored and painted leaded glass), black-painted wooden frame. Window consists of two layers of leaded glass. Central bust-length male figure with shoulder length brown hair, wide brimmed blue hat and coat in blue, pale purples and white articulated with four large buttons and darker blue neck ruff. Secondary male figure with moustache and shoulder length brown hair behind proper left shoulder of central figure. Background in blue/greens and white. Reverse: faces rendered in grisaille. Clothing in dark blue/black and brown with white neck ruff in molded glass panel. Background, upper right, squared green glass panels, large brown panel to left, framed in 2 1/2" black painted wood frame.
Condition: Fair; two cracks in black pane, center-right, 8" from bottom; single crack in another black pane, center-right, 8" from bottom; crack to top of central white molded pane. Conservation report on file.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Frederick Stymetz Lamb (American, 1862–1928). Presentation Window, "William Penn, Peace Movement, Pennsylvania," ca. 1905. Glass, lead, wood, 32 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 1 5/8 in. (82.6 x 62.2 x 4.1cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Adrian Lamb in memory of his father, Frederick Stymetz Lamb, 1989.180. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1989.180_PS9.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1989.180_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2016
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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we welcome any additional information you might have.
I'm really drawn to the line work in the skin tones of this stained glass piece. I haven't noticed this in other stained glass pieces before. Could you tell me more about this work?
This was an innovation by Lamb Studios that they called "double-painted glass" and was often used for flesh areas of figures in the stained glass windows. This involved painting two plates of different types of glass with separate colors of vitreous enamel that shine through each other for a rich, lifelike effect.
Who is this?
That is William Penn, Quaker and founding father of the state of Pennsylvania. This window was probably shown to the leaders of the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, in Brooklyn Heights, for approval to proceed with the extant, large window titled "William Penn, Peace Movement, Pennsylvania" that the Stained Glass Studio executed for the church. Penn is depicted in this window because, like Plymouth Church's first pastor, Henry Ward Beecher, he too was an early opponent of slavery. This gives the subject social meaning for the congregation.