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Ref No
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IE TCD MS 11182
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Title
| Clarke Stained Glass Studios, Dublin |
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Creation Dates
| 1894-1966 |
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Extent And Medium
| 1761 items |
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Level Of Description
| Collection |
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Author
| Clarke Studios, Dublin |
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Admin Biographical History
| Joshua Clarke (1858-1921) moved to Ireland from Leeds in 1875 and by 1886 he had secured a lease on 33 North Frederick St, Dublin where he established his business as 'Church Decorator, Manufacturer of objects of Art and Sanitary Contractor'. He married Brigid MacGonigal (died 1903) from Cliffoney, co Sligo. They had two sons, Walter (1888-1930) and Henry ('Harry') Patrick (1889-1931), and two daughters Kathleen ('Lally') and Florence ('Dolly'). Harry Clarke married artist Margaret Crilly (1888-1961) in 1914 and his brother Walter married her sister Minnie Crilly in 1915. Joshua Clarke died in 1921 but his sons were determined to keep the business going with Harry taking over management of the stained glass Studios and Walter responsible for the decorating business which was eventually wound up in 1930. In 1924 the company moved to larger premises at nos 6-7 North Frederick St. This collection covers the early days of stained glass design and church decoration under the company founder Joshua Clarke, through Joshua Clarke & Sons (1886), and Harry Clarke Stained Glass Ltd (1930) which continued after Harry's death, until the closure of the firm in 1973. Margaret Clarke acted as director of the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Ltd until her death in 1961 and her sisters-in-law Dolly and Lally Clarke continued to run the clerical side of the business. A retrospective of Harry Clarke's work was held in the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College Dublin in 1979. |
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Scope And Content
| This collection contains stained glass designs, colour schemes, opus sectile designs, architects' blueprints and plans, photographs, and reference materials for stained glass work executed by the Clarke Studios, Dublin from the 1894 to 1972. The bulk of the material covers the period after Harry Clarke's death in 1931. Stained glass works were commissioned from Ireland, Great Britain, USA, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
The chief designers cited in the collection are:
Terence ('Terry') Clarke (1917-68), son of Walter Clarke.
William ('Willie') J Dowling (1907-80), manager of Harry Clarke Stained Glass Ltd, 1940-73. He continued
as a freelance stained glass artist after the closure of the firm.
Richard J ('Dick') King (1907-74), joined the firm in 1928 and acted as manager from 1935 until his
resignation in 1940.
Charles B Simmonds joined the Studios in 1930, as Harry Clarke's health declined, working as manager until 1935.
Other designers cited are David Clarke (son of Harry Clarke), Philip Deegan, Austin Molloy, Norah MacGuinness, Miss Gandi, Albert Altendorf. Ann Clarke (daughter of Harry Clarke, married name Bourke) was a director of the Studios; she designed windows and painted glass but most of her work was unsigned.
There are a couple of instances when original designs are tentatively attributed to Harry Clarke. The attributions have been made by Harry Clarke's son David Clarke.
Early design work was commissioned by Joshua Clarke from Meyers of Munich. In those instances when it has not been possible to identify the designers the company logo or stamp (eg Joshua Clarke; J Clarke & Sons; Clarke, Dublin; Harry Clarke Stained Glass Ltd) has been cited to givesome indication of period.
Digitised material from this collection can be browsed in the Library's Digital Collections repository using this link: https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/collections/d504rk32w?locale=en |
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Document
| 11182clarke.pdf |
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Access Conditions
| Please contact mscripts@tcd.ie |
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Copyright
| Please contact mscripts@tcd.ie |
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Mgt Group
| Art, music & architecture |
| Business records |
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Language
| English |
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Related Material
| See also Clarke Studios business papers, IE TCD MSS 5970-6197.
See also Harry Clarke and Margaret Clarke letters in the Thomas Bodkin papers: IE TCD MS 6941/102-226.
See also Harry Clarke material held by the National Library of Ireland (IE NLI MS 39,292) and Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
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