Church of St Martin, Sandford St Martin, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Address
Church of St Martin, Ledwell Road, Sandford St Martin, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 7AHRecommended by
Highlight
North aisle east windowArtist, maker and date
Designed by John Piper and interpreted in glass by Patrick Reyntiens, 1973Reason for highlighting
Only a small lancet, but a wonderful piece of design by John Piper. His rendition of the story of St Martin in three hands is masterful – the hands of St Martin, with the cloak at the top and with a knife in the other in the middle, and at the bottom the rougher hand of the beggar.
Artist/maker notes
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (1903–1992) was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows, and both opera and theatre sets. He began working in stained glass in partnership with Patrick Reyntiens, whom he had met through John Betjeman, from 1950
Sources:
John Piper on Wikipedia
Stained Glass: art or anti-art by John Piper (Studio Vista, 1968)
John Piper and stained glass by June Osborne (Sutton Publishing, 1997)
Patrick Reyntiens OBE (1925-2021) studied fine art at Edinburgh College of Art. He began his career in stained glass with an apprenticeship with Eddie Nuttgens, and flourished when he met and collaborated with John Piper.
Together they redefined the medium in the post war era, working on the Baptistery Window, Coventry Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral as well as numerous ecclesiastical and secular commissions in Britain and USA.
Sources:
patrickreyntiens.com
From Coventry to Cochem: The Art of Patrick Reyntiens, DVD, Reyntiens Glass Studio
Patrick Reyntiens Catalogue of Stained Glass by Libby Horner (Sansom &Co, 2013)
Other comments
There are a couple of medieval fragments in tracery lights, but the only other complete window is the fine chancel east window. It was made by Alexander Gibbs & Co., c.1856. Despite being more than a hundred years earlier than the Piper window and in a very different style, there is an echo between the two in their colours. Its survival also owes something to Piper, who expressed reluctance to see it removed, when there was discussion as to the location of his window.