The Clarke Stained Glass Studios Collection

Joshua and Bridget Clarke’s eldest children, Walter and Harry, were born in 1888 and 1889. Harry was born on St Patrick's Day, March 17th 1889. Bridget Clarke died in 1903, when Harry was only 14. By then Harry had already shown an aptitude for drawing, and it is likely that he had done some work for his father’s stained glass firm even before leaving school. The following year he worked in the offices of the architect Thomas McNamara, and in 1905 he was attending night classes at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. There are a number of drawings by J. Clarke & Sons from the period between 1903 and 1920, which may have been designed by Harry Clarke despite lacking his signature, as they are particularly fine.

The highly expressive faces of St Columcille and St Brendan, achieved through a very free flowing use of the pen, ink and wash, indicate that a highly skilled hand, perhaps that of Harry Clarke himself, was at work in this drawing.

This drawing depicts a scene from the life of St Patrick, in which the two daughters of the King of Connaught converted to Christianity after meeting the saint. They were baptised, and died after receiving the Eucharist. The scene at the bottom of the drawing depicts the two maidens lying on their biers, mourned by the King and his noblemen. The drawing uses intricate interlace and Celtic revival motifs as framing devices, which were particularly popular during the early part of the 20th century in Ireland.

Detail of the scene at the bottom of the design showing the two dead maidens. There are beautifully observed details in this section, from the painstakingly depicted footwear of the King and the noblemen, to the way the wind is blowing on the candles' flames, which again indicate that a very skilled artist, perhaps the young Harry Clarke, carried out the design.

Little is known about the purpose or the creator of this drawing. The romantic feel of the scene and its small size (9 x 13.2 cm) indicate it may have been an illustration for a book, with a tentative attribution to Harry Clarke.

Watercolour, pencil and white gouache were used to create this tiny drawing. Notice the delicate lines in brown watercolour that the artist used to convey the separate strands of the young woman's hair, and the blurry features on her face: eyes, eyebrows, nose and lips.

Colour design for memorial window with tracery for the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Simon Stock in South Kensington, London.
A photograph of the final design for this window bears the following inscription:
"This window has been erected by the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 2nd B[attalio]N Irish Guards in loving and grateful memory of Major the Rev. S. S. Knapp O.D.C. O.S.O. M.C., for two years of war their devoted chaplain who died of woundes received at Boesinghe Flanders on Aug. 1st 1917. May he rest in peace. A perpetual monthly Mass has also been founded for the souls of Irish Guardsmen who fell during the war."
The church in South Kensington, a Gothic revival building designed by the English architect and designer Augustus Welby Pugin, was destroyed by German incendiary bombs on 20 February, 1944.

Detail of the colour design for the memorial window in South Kensington. The careful attention to detail makes this scene particularly poignant. For instance, the details of the soldier's uniforms have been painstakingly rendered, and it is striking that underneath the Reverend's chasuble one can see the cuffs and collar of his uniform's jacket. He is also wearing soldier's boots. The smoke and flames of the burning buildings in the background, so close to the head of the horse, lend drama to the scene. This was an important commission carried out in 1918, after Harry Clarke had already completed the Honan Chapel windows in Cork, and it is very likely that he had a hand in the design.

Joshua Clarke died in
1921, and after that his two sons, Walter and Harry, took over the running of
the firm. By this time, Harry had become a highly successful artist in his own
right. The ten years
between 1921 and 1931 were a period of intense activity both for Clarke
personally, and for the firm, which eventually had a very negative effect on
Harry’s health. Trinity College Dublin’s archive contains several designs dating from
this period. Some of them are still in a
very traditional vein, while the later designs clearly bear the hallmarks of
Harry Clarke’s style.

This pencil drawing is attributed to Philip Deegan, one of Harry Clarke's assistants. During the years between 1921 and 1931 the Studios were extremely busy, and used several highly skilled assistants to carry out the commissions in which they were involved. It is clear from the order books and correspondence that the commission for Lady Dillon in Skryne Church was handled by Harry Clarke. However, this formal presentation drawing was completed by Deegan, rather than by Clarke himself. Nevertheless, Christ's elongated figure with the long, tapering fingers and the jewel-like decoration of the medallions on the sides are particularly reminiscent of Clarke's distinctive style.

This is a colour scheme for the window of the Ascension of Christ in Skryne Church. Colour schemes were created to give an indication of how the blocks of colour would appear in the stained glass windows. However, the Studios were always at pains to indicate to their clients that these colour sketches could never convey the final effect of the actual stained glass in the church.

Detail of the colour scheme for the Ascension of Christ. This medallion to the left of the central figure shows one of Christ's miracles: the Resurrection of Lazarus. Colour schemes are always exciting because paint is handled very freely in them. The narrative is conveyed through very few but carefully placed brushstrokes: the figure of Christ is recognisable through the cross-like red lines on his nimbus, and we know the figure standing to his right is Lazarus because of the very sketchy touches of white gouache and grey watercolour of the mummified corpse that Christ was raising from the dead.

Colour scheme for Edmund Arrowsmith's stained glass window at Ashton-in-Makerfield. Despite the very free blocks of colour used in this design, it still manages to convey the main features of the previous drawing.

Close-up detail of colour scheme for Edmund Arrowsmith's stained glass window at Ashton-in-Makersfield. The freedom with which the colour has been applied makes this design effective even as an abstract painting.

Harry Clarke died on
January 6, 1931. After his death his wife, Margaret Clarke, run the firm in
conjunction with a series of highly talented studio managers, until her death
in 1961. After that, Harry’s sisters Dolly and Lally Clarke run the
administrative side of the business. The firm closed down in 1973. In 1930 the firm had
been renamed Harry Clarke Stained Glass Ltd., and for many years afterwards, it
produced designs which replicated Harry Clarke’s style, quite likely because
clients requested it. Figures had elongated faces and fingers and pointed feet,
and compositions were highly influenced by the Symbolist art movement.

Detail of colour scheme for St Brendan's window. The motif of the tiny sail boat inscribed inside a medallion harks back to prior designs and book illustrations by Harry Clarke, perpetuating Clarke's style even after his death.

The elongated figures of St Joseph and the Virgin Mary, their elegant hands, pointed feet and spiral motifs in the decoration of the symbols at the bottom are reproducing key elements of Harry Clarke's style, indicating that this design was made in the decade after his death.

The jewel-like dabs of pigment in the robes of St Joseph and the Virgin Mary are reminiscent of Harry Clarke's book illustrations. The watercolour stains on the sides of the design testify to the painstaking manner in which colours were tested and mixed in these designs.

This tinted pencil drawing also includes twelve African saints, and may indicate that the commission was linked to missionaries in Africa.

Close up detail. From left to right: African saints at the top, St Peter (identified by his attributes, the keys of heaven), St Patrick (with his attribute the shamrock), and St Thérese de Lisieux (with her attributes the cross and roses).