Morris & Co glass Bradford, Keighley and Bingley

Some very early Morris & Co windows in and around Bradford, West Yorkshire, are less well-known than they deserve, being among the very first commissions for the Firm and displaying the striking originality of the early designs.  They moreover offer both ecclesiastical and secular sequences, with Biblical figures in the Cathedral complementing Arthurian episodes now in Cliffe Castle.  Here are details of two forthcoming events

Tour: Morris & Co. stained glass, Bradford Cathedral 1.15–2pm Tuesday 29 April, and 1.15–2pm Tuesday 6 May, Bradford Cathedral Come for a free guided tour of the stained glass windows produced by Morris & Co. for Bradford Cathedral including designs by Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Madox Brown and William Morris. No booking required.

Tour: Morris & Co. stained glass, Cliffe Castle 2 – 3 pm Thursday 22 May, Cliffe Castle Museum Join  Nilesh Mistry, Curator (International and Decorative Arts) for this free tour of the King Arthur themed stained glass panels by Morris & Co. commissioned for Harden Grange, Bingley, with designs by William Morris, Rossetti, Madox Brown, Burne-Jones, Arthur Hughes and Val Prinsep. Places are limited so please book. cartwright.hall@bradford.gov.uk or Tel: 01274 431212. The 13 stained glass panels depict scenes from the story of Sir Tristram and La Belle Isoude from Malory's Morte d'Arthur.  They were commissioned by textile merchant Walter Dunlop for a music room at Harden Grange, his house near Bingley and were produced and installed in 1862-3 by Morris Marshall Faulkner & Co, established in 1861. A full description of ALL the glass in Bradford Cathedral here  http://www.bradfordcathedral.org/the-building/the-windows/ and in Bingley a new discovery for me: a sequence of Four Seasons, with figures, roundels and floral quarries, mainly designed by EBJ and executed by the Firm for mill-owner Thomas Garnett at Oakwood Hall and still in situ on the grand staircase.  Much MMF & Co domestic glass has been moved or lost so this is a great survival. The central figure is a St George; the roundels depict Chaucer and four Chaucerian heroines: Dorigen, Griselda, Criseyde and Constance.