Louis Davis
Encyclopedia
Louis Davis was an English
watercolourist, book illustrator
and stained-glass artist. He was active in the Arts and Crafts Movement
and Nikolaus Pevsner
referred to him as the last of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Davis was the son of Gabriel Davis, merchant and manufacturer of East St Helen Street, Abingdon
, where Louis was born. Davis was educated at Abingdon School
. Recognised as talented, he was awarded a scholarship the following year. Later, he may have received initial training from Edward Burne-Jones
, William Morris
and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
. In 1891 he became an early pupil of the glass artist, Christopher Whall
, at his studio in Dorking
, and was a central member of Whall's coterie of glass artists. For a time he lived at Whall’s home, which was also his studio. Davis later maintained his own studio and home at Ewelme Cottage, Pinner. He worked with Lowndes & Drury in Chelsea in the late 1890s and early 1900s and later at the Glass House
which Mary Lowndes
and A J Drury established to provide studio space for stained glass artists.
From 1886 onwards he was an illustrator, mainly for The English Illustrated Magazine
. Davis was a member of the Art Workers Guild
. As a painter he had many exhibitions but he attracted controversy when he showed a design for glass at an exhibition of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. His work was not appreciated as he had breached the convention that glass work and water-colours did not mix. He resigned as a member of the water colourists (probably around the end of 1910 or early 1911) and concentrated on stained-glass work.
Davis married Edith Webster in the mid-1890s. It is probable that she acted as his model for much of his glass work. Davis became a full-time glass artist, employing one craftsman. By 1900, because of the volume of work, his glass was being made up by James Powell & Sons (also known as Whitefriars Glass), in the City of London.
From 1910 Davis worked with Karl Parsons
. Parsons had been Christopher Whall’s pupil-apprentice and became his principal assistant. Parsons with Edward Woore
helped illustrate Whall’s book, Stained Glass Work (1905) and photographs of stained glass by Davis were used in the book. In 1915 Louis and Edith were overcome by fumes from a gas fire. He suffered severe damage that robbed him of speech and required the occasional need for a wheelchair. Nevertheless Davis produced some outstanding designs after 1915, including the east window in St Mary’s Church at Rockbeare in Devon and First World War memorial windows at Cheltenham College
.
He was a member of the Society of Painters in Tempera
.
; Wemyss Castle
; St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and Welbeck Abbey
. He also decorated the private chapels of the Marquess of Londonderry at Wynyard Park, County Durham
and the Duchess of Bedford at Woburn Abbey
. In southern England examples of Davis's work can be found at Littlemore Church, Oxford (1900); Abingdon School Chapel (1924, inserted 1952); Barton Hartshorn
Church near Bicester
; Foxley
Church, Wiltshire (1901); Stoke Poges
Church, Buckinghamshire (1899); St Silas's Church, Kentish Town, London (1900) and at Pinner
(1900) and Hatch End
Churches (1903–1932) in Middlesex. At All Saints' church, Longstanton
, Cambridgeshire
a depiction of Faith, Hope and Charity (1938) re-uses the figure of Hope from St Silas's Church.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
watercolourist, book illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and stained-glass artist. He was active in the Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
and Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
referred to him as the last of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Davis was the son of Gabriel Davis, merchant and manufacturer of East St Helen Street, Abingdon
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
, where Louis was born. Davis was educated at Abingdon School
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
. Recognised as talented, he was awarded a scholarship the following year. Later, he may have received initial training from Edward Burne-Jones
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet was a British artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company...
, William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
. In 1891 he became an early pupil of the glass artist, Christopher Whall
Christopher Whall
Christopher Whitworth Whall was an English stained glass artist who worked from 1897 into the 20th century.He was an important member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, who became a leading designer of stained glass. His most important work is the glass for the Lady Chapel in Gloucester Cathedral...
, at his studio in Dorking
Dorking
Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
, and was a central member of Whall's coterie of glass artists. For a time he lived at Whall’s home, which was also his studio. Davis later maintained his own studio and home at Ewelme Cottage, Pinner. He worked with Lowndes & Drury in Chelsea in the late 1890s and early 1900s and later at the Glass House
The Glass House (Fulham)
The Glass House was a purpose-built stained-glass studio and workshop for independent artists established in 1906, in Fulham, West London. It was closely connected with the Arts and Crafts Movement....
which Mary Lowndes
Mary Lowndes
Mary Lowndes was an important British stained-glass and poster artist, and an active member of the Suffragette movement. She was a leading light in the Arts and Crafts Movement and Chair of the Artists Suffrage League .-Work:...
and A J Drury established to provide studio space for stained glass artists.
From 1886 onwards he was an illustrator, mainly for The English Illustrated Magazine
English Illustrated Magazine
The English Illustrated Magazine was a monthly publication that ran for 359 issues between October 1883 and August 1913. Features included travel, topography, and a large amount of fiction and were contributed by writers such as Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Stanley J. Weyman and Max Pemberton...
. Davis was a member of the Art Workers Guild
Art Workers Guild
The Art Workers Guild or Art-Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British architects associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of all the arts', denying the distinction between fine and applied art...
. As a painter he had many exhibitions but he attracted controversy when he showed a design for glass at an exhibition of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. His work was not appreciated as he had breached the convention that glass work and water-colours did not mix. He resigned as a member of the water colourists (probably around the end of 1910 or early 1911) and concentrated on stained-glass work.
Davis married Edith Webster in the mid-1890s. It is probable that she acted as his model for much of his glass work. Davis became a full-time glass artist, employing one craftsman. By 1900, because of the volume of work, his glass was being made up by James Powell & Sons (also known as Whitefriars Glass), in the City of London.
From 1910 Davis worked with Karl Parsons
Karl Parsons
Karl Parsons was an English stained glass artist.At the age of 15 Parsons became an apprentice in the studio of Christopher Whall where he was strongly influenced by the philosophy and practice of the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was an exceptional pupil and became Whall’s principal assistant...
. Parsons had been Christopher Whall’s pupil-apprentice and became his principal assistant. Parsons with Edward Woore
Edward Woore
Edward Woore was a stained glass artist.Woorewas part of a group of artists trained by Christopher Whall, a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Fellow apprentices included Louis Davis and Karl Parsons. Together with Parsons he helped illustrate Whall’s book, Stained Glass Work...
helped illustrate Whall’s book, Stained Glass Work (1905) and photographs of stained glass by Davis were used in the book. In 1915 Louis and Edith were overcome by fumes from a gas fire. He suffered severe damage that robbed him of speech and required the occasional need for a wheelchair. Nevertheless Davis produced some outstanding designs after 1915, including the east window in St Mary’s Church at Rockbeare in Devon and First World War memorial windows at Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
.
He was a member of the Society of Painters in Tempera
Society of Painters in Tempera
The Society of Painters in Tempera was founded in 1901 by Christiana Herringham and a group of British painters who were interested in reviving the art of tempera painting. Lady Herringham was an expert copyist of the Italian Old Masters and had translated Il Libro dell' Arte o Trattato della...
.
Stained-glass work
Among his more important work, in a distinctive Arts' and Crafts' style, was his scheme for glazing the choir windows at Dunblane Abbey (1913); several windows in the chapel of the Order of the Thistle at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh; glasswork at Colmonell Church in Ayrshire; Paisley AbbeyPaisley Abbey
Paisley Abbey is a former Cluniac monastery, and current Church of Scotland parish kirk, located on the east bank of the White Cart Water in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, in west central Scotland.-History:...
; Wemyss Castle
Wemyss Castle
Wemyss Castle is situated on the cliffs between the villages of East Wemyss and West Wemyss in Fife, Scotland.- History :Accounts date the construction of the castle to the year 1421 when Sir John Wemyss decided to build a fortified castle to replace one destroyed by the Duke of Rothesay at...
; St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin and Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey near Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire was the principal abbey of the Premonstratensian order in England and later the principal residence of the Dukes of Portland.-Monastic period:...
. He also decorated the private chapels of the Marquess of Londonderry at Wynyard Park, County Durham
Wynyard Park, County Durham
Wynyard Park, sometimes known as Wynyard Hall is a large country house in County Durham, England. The house used to be the family seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, an Anglo-Irish aristocratic dynasty, but it was sold in the 1980s.-The house:Designed by Philip Wyatt...
and the Duchess of Bedford at Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
. In southern England examples of Davis's work can be found at Littlemore Church, Oxford (1900); Abingdon School Chapel (1924, inserted 1952); Barton Hartshorn
Barton Hartshorn
Barton Hartshorn is a civil parish about southwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. Its southern boundary is a brook called the Birne, and this and the parish's western boundary form part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire....
Church near Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
; Foxley
Foxley
Foxley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is about 15 miles north-west of Norwich and 9 miles south-east of Fakenham....
Church, Wiltshire (1901); Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, about three miles north of Slough and a mile east of Farnham Common....
Church, Buckinghamshire (1899); St Silas's Church, Kentish Town, London (1900) and at Pinner
Pinner
- Climate :Pinner's geographical position on the far western side of North West London makes it the furthest London suburb from any UK coastline. Hence the lower prevalence of moderating maritime influences make Pinner noticeably warmer in the spring and the summer compared to the rest of the capital...
(1900) and Hatch End
Hatch End
Hatch End is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, located north west of Charing Cross in Central London. The suburb is part of the Pinner post town.-Attractions:...
Churches (1903–1932) in Middlesex. At All Saints' church, Longstanton
Longstanton
Longstanton is a village in South Cambridgeshire, England, 6 miles northwest of Cambridge city centre.-History:For most of its history Longstanton was split into two parishes: the larger Long Stanton All Saints to the north and the smaller Long Stanton St. Michael to the south...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
a depiction of Faith, Hope and Charity (1938) re-uses the figure of Hope from St Silas's Church.