Karl Parsons – Designer in Coloured Light

Karl Parsons (1884-1934) was one of the greatest artists in stained glass of the early years of the twentieth century. A fine natural talent was honed through an apprenticeship with the leading Arts and Crafts master craftsman, Christopher Whall (1849-1924) before he established his own studio, and went on to create some of this country’s most outstanding Arts & Crafts windows.

An introductory essay on Karl Parsons, Subtle subversion in religious iconographies by Sarah Lear, introduces his life and work.

Sarah describes the windows listed below in more detail, placing the windows in context and explaining the iconography.

Church of St Alban, Hindhead, Surrey	1908-10
Church of All Saints, Eastchurch, Kent	1912
Old St Paul's, Edinburgh	1913
Church of St Mary, Tenby, Pembrokeshire	1917
Church of St James the Less, Pangbourne, Berkshire	1919
Church of St Philip, Leicester	1921
Christ Church, Fulham, London	1922
Church of St Martin of Tours, Epsom	1926
Church of St Peter, Bardon Hill, Leicestershire	1930
Church of All Saints, West Winterslow, Wiltshire	1931

A full list and timeline for both the Karl Parsons windows discussed here and those highlighted by other contributors can be found on his artist page.

Sarah Lear

Sarah Lear entered the magical world of stained glass later in life during her MA in Christianity and the Arts from Kings College, London. Her dissertation was entitled ‘Living Light: Recreating context and meaning in Harry Clarke’s Scenes from the Life of the Virgin with Emblems from her Litany at Ashdown Park, Sussex.’ She is currently a PhD candidate studying the work of Arts and Crafts artist Karl Parsons at the University of York, supervised by Prof. Sarah Brown. She has spoken at conferences in Düsseldorf - Heart of Glass and Dublin - New Illuminations.