Parlby, George
George Measures Parlby (1856- 1944) was an artist and designer of stained glass and opus sectile. As a young man he worked as an assistant to Harry Burrows (1846-82), whose designs where principally used by James Powell & Sons, but who also designed for others, including Fouracre & Watson of Plymouth. After Burrows’ untimely death, Parlby completed his outstanding projects and produced numerous of his own designs for Powells, for both ecclesiastical and domestic settings, in a style that was distinct from that of his master, yet within the general Powell style.
The majority of Parlby’s designs for Powells were completed by 1903, after which time he provided designs for two companies of which T. F. Curtis was proprietor, Cox, Sons, Buckley & Co and Curtis, Ward & Hughes, in a style that is noticeably different from his earlier work.
Away from work Parlby was a noted member of the Art Workers Guild, becoming Master in 1942, the Savage Club and the London Sketch Club. He died in his Chiswick Studio at the age of 88, and his membership of the latter two clubs, along with his love of pranks and practical jokes, sealed his reputation as a noted Bohemian personality of Edwardian and Victorian London.
Sources:
Harry John Burrow (1846-1882), stained glass artist, and his work for James Powell & Sons and other firms, with notes on George Parlby 1856-1944) by Dennis Hadley, Journal of Stained Glass Vol. XXXIX (2015)
Gloucestershire Echo, May 4 1944