Charles Eamer Kempe
Encyclopedia
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
designer. After attending Twyford School
Twyford School
Twyford School is a co-educational, independent, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire.-History:Twyford claims to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom....
, he studied for the priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
hood at Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
, but it became clear that his severe stammer
Stammer
A stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary repetition of a sound or sounds.Stammer, Stammers and Stammmering may also refer to:* Notker of St Gall "Notker the Stammerer" * Steven Stamkos A stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary ...
would be an impediment to preaching. He decided that "if I was not permitted to minister in the Sanctuary I would use my talents to adorn it", and went to study architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
with the firm of George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
, where he learned the art of decorating church walls and ceilings. During this part of his life he was making a serious study of mediaeval stained glass, and in 1866 he opened a studio of his own in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, supplying not only stained glass to Bodley's firm but also furnishings and vestment
Vestment
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially among Latin Rite and other Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans...
s. By 1899 he had over fifty employees.
As a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
, the firm used a golden garb or wheatsheaf, taken from Kempe's own coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. After his death, the firm was taken over by Kempe's cousin, Walter Tower, and thenceforth used a black tower above the golden garb. A lack of orders caused by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
ended the firm's life in 1934.
Kempe was a rather shy person, who never married. He had a dog called Nora. His maternal grandfather was Sir John Eamer, who served as Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1801.
Rosalie Glynn Grylls, Lady Mander
Mander family
The Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life....
, whose home Wightwick Manor
Wightwick Manor
Wightwick Manor is a Victorian manor house located on Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, and one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement...
, near Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, contains many pieces of Kempe's stained glass, wrote in 1973:
- Kempe's work has a unique charm; its colours shine out from jewels that cluster on the mitreMitreThe mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
s or the crownsCrown (headgear)A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
his figures wear and from their peacocks' feathers, while angelAngelAngels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s playing their instruments are drawn with tender delicacy and scattered above the main windows informally but making a pattern of precision. Above all, the prevailing yellow wash is literally translucent, for it lets through the rays of the full or the setting sun...
Kempe is buried in the churchyard at St Wulfran's Church, Ovingdean
St Wulfran's Church, Ovingdean
St Wulfran's Church, dedicated to Wulfram of Sens, a 7th-century French archbishop, is an Anglican church in Ovingdean, a rural village now within the English city of Brighton and Hove...
. Unfortunately, most of Kempe's records were disposed of after the firm shut in 1934.
See also
- Stained glassStained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
- Stained glass - British glass, 1811-1918
- Victorian EraVictorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
- Gothic Revival
- St. Thomas of Canterbury Church, ChesterSt. Thomas of Canterbury Church, ChesterThe Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury is situated in the City of Chester, in an area of the city informally known as "The Garden Quarter". This is a densely-populated area, close to the University. While the church was built in 1872, the parish of St. Oswald which it serves, is much older, dating...