Church of St Martin, Brasted, Westerham, Kent
Theme
Overview
Lawrence Lee (1909 – 2011) was one of the most distinguished stained glass artists of the 20th century. It is not surprising therefore that a number of contributors chose to include one of his windows in their selections. But there is much more to say and to celebrate about this wonderful artist.
A Theme has therefore been dedicated to the work of Lawrence Lee. The windows highlighted within the Theme have been chosen in conjunction with his son, Stephen Lee, to highlight some of his father’s best work.
A full list of the windows chosen can be found by following the link above or here. There you will also find two papers written by one of his former assistants, Philippa Martin, covering his life and his most famous achievement, the masterminding of the ten nave windows of Coventry Cathedral.
Highlight
East windowArtist, maker and date
Lawrence Lee, 1992Reason for highlighting
As noted above, this window is one of a selection made in conjunction with Lawrence Lee’s son, Stephen Lee.
Stephen Lee comments “The East Window was destroyed by fire in November 1989 (and it was itself a post-war window replacing one destroyed by a flying bomb). The vicar at Brasted was Tony Currie, who had been vicar of Penshurst when my father made the Becket window there, and he persuaded the artist (80 years old and more or less retired) to make one last big window, and he seems to have put everything he could think of into it!“
Lawrence Lee described the window thus:
At the base of the window are human figures either side of a crucified Christ, representing the evolution of man. Above is a depiction of Earthrise as seen from the moon. The main figure of the risen Christ has the holy spirit above, the Blessed Virgin on the right, and the angel Gabriel on the left. In the surrounding background are the Hosts of Heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, Sun, Moon, and stars, the Alpha and Omega, and the Hand of God at the very top.
Artist/maker notes
Lawrence Stanley Lee FMGP (1909 – 2011) trained at Kingston Art School and the Royal College of Art before the war. After the war he worked for Martin Travers, and it was Travers’ unexpected death in 1948, which led to Lee forming his own studio. A wide range of commissions followed, including his famous windows at Coventry Cathedral, with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke, which established his reputation. Lee was also a teacher both formally at the Royal College of Art, and in his studio to a succession of assistants. He was notable in acknowledging the contribution of his assistants by including their initials on windows, along with his own.
Other comments
Lawrence Lee was assisted in the making of the window by Nicola Kantorowicz.
A visit to the church will also be rewarded by the opportunity to see some other fine stained glass windows, including two on the theme of St Martin by John Hayward (1991) and Carl Edwards (1962). The latter has St Martin depicted in the upper tracery, while some charming figures from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are spread around the lower lights.