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"I am the Way"

Designer: Arthur Louis Duthie (1868-1940)

Maker: James Powell & Sons

South Transept (middle left), Romsey Abbey, Hampshire

1892

The risen Christ with Cleopas and another unnamed disciple on the way to Emmaus, with an inscription below taken from John 14: 6, declaring that faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven. Interestingly, the face of the disciple on the right is a likeness of the Hon. Ralph Dutton of Tisbury Manor, whom this and the adjacent window commemorate. Dutton, who had been Conservative MP for South Hampshire, died in 1892. It is by no means the only case in which a designer has incorporated someone's face in this way. [Commentary continues below.]

Photograph by parish historian Liz Hallett, and text by Hallett and Jacqueline Banerjee.

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL, or credit the Victorian Web in a print document. [Click on the image for a larger picture, and mouse over the text for links.]

Orders for the south transept windows at this time can be found in the Powell Order Book (e.g. "2-1l, S trans 5599/441"), with the name "Duthie." Arthur Louis Duthie was a "Scots glass artist & historian" (Osborne 100), a designer of note, who wrote books on church decoration and decorative glasswork, the latter (Decorative Glass Processes, 1908) including an account of Powell's opus sectile work.

Related Material

  • Romsey Abbey, Hampshire (gives a list of other stained glass windows from this church shown on the website)
  • See the window grouping in the transept
  • Duthie's discussion of Powell & Sons' opus sectile work

Bibliography

"The Biography and Ancestry of Ralph Heneage Dutton (1821-1892." The History Database. Web. 28 May 2019.

Duthie, Arthur Louis. Decorative Glass Processes. London: Constable, 1908. Internet Archive. Contributed by the Getty Research Institute. Web. 28 May 2019.

Eberhard, Robert. "Stained Glass Windows at Romsey Abbey, Hampshire." Church Stained Glass Windows. Web. 28 May 2019.

James Powell (the order book can be accessed from here). Web. 28 May 2019.

Osborne, Ray. Books on Colour: History and Bibliography. Morrisville, N. Carolina: Lulu.com, 2018.



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Created 28 May 2019