Parsons, Karl
Karl Bergemann Parsons (1884-1934) was born in Peckham, South London, and grew up in a Christian household. His sister, the garden painter Beatrice Parsons, was involved in apprenticing him to the leading Arts and Crafts master craftsman, Christopher Whall. Parsons learnt much from Whall, working on the incredible Gloucester cathedral Lady Chapel windows, following his master’s footsteps to teaching at the Central school of Arts & Crafts and providing the illustrations for Whall’s famous text Stained Glass Work in 1905.
They began to disagree on Whall’s commission for Johannesburg cathedral and Parsons established his own studio at Lowndes & Drury’s Glass House in 1908. His first commissions for St Alban’s, Hindhead are impressive and although he never achieved the fame and success of Whall, his creative iconographic work is peppered with signature motifs – such as flames, animals, children and plaited hair – and there is much use of lavish deeply coloured tones of superb quality Norman slab glass. These combine to make spectacular windows and he was able to capture light and movement in an idiosyncratic manner. After learning his trade and gaining experience in a superb workshop, Parsons came into his own by advancing Whall’s beautiful work with his own subtle twists to create stunning Arts and Crafts windows.
Sarah Lear, Shropshire 2025
Sources:
Cormack, Peter, Arts & Crafts Stained Glass (Yale University Press, 2015)
Cormack, Peter, Karl Parsons 1884-1934, exhibition catalogue (London: William Morris Gallery, 1987)
A special theme dedicated to the work of Karl Parsons written by Sarah Lear and including an introductory essay can be found here – Karl Parsons – Designer in Coloured Light
A timeline for all the windows that have been highlighted by contributors is set out below. In addition the entry for St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh mentions his window of four saints (1915), while at the Church of St Michael & All Angels, Waterford, Hertfordshire, he
Visitors to The Stained Glass Museum, Ely should also look out for a delightful small panel entitled ‘Hammer and Tongs’ made around 1920, which was made to illustrate a comic poem. While stamp collectors will know that in 1992 details from his windows at Pangbourne, Bibury and Porthcawl were featured in that year’s Christmas stamps.
