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A.J. Davies, 'Virgin and Child with Angels', 1938


It is the continued irony of stained glass that despite its public nature in churches around the world, it is still an art form that is neglected in exhibitions and critical scholarship. It is not art available to the public eye. Admittedly, displaying stained glass comes with its difficulties - works are created for their chosen spiritual or secular spaces, and they are not designed to be moved, whilst accompanying archival material is not always abundant. However, there is little excuse to be made for such a lack of scholarship on stained glass, from any exploration of larger London firms such as Lowndes and Drury, to decentralised narratives of art history which detail the schools around Birmingham or Manchester, to include specific artists. One such practitioner was A.J. Davies, whose window in Claverly Church, Shropshire, is an intriguing example of his later style. 

Davies' window is complex, yet three main layers can be identified. The perspective is stacked, recalling many Pre-Raphaelite designs from a century earlier where layers came to represent the boundaries between earthly and heavenly realms. In his window, however, Davies has blurred the distinction. At the base lies the 'earthly' realm, defined by a use of heraldry - this is a memorial window, as the inscription below the coat of arms details. However, these heraldic devices are almost being colonised by the luxurious floral motifs that sit at the window's base, growing up into the realm of the angels and Virgin and Child, thus implying the acceptance of the deceased into the realm of heaven. The rich blues, reds and greens accompanying the floral imagery furthers these notions of paradise and heaven. In the centre of the window are three figures - Mother and Child flanked by angels, where Davies can show off his skill at rendering a tenderness and individuality of angels through gesture and facial features. Mary, meanwhile, pushes her child up close to her own face, her whole body bending inwards as if to be as close to her son as possible. For a devout viewer who understood the foreshadowing of this imagery, it would be all the more emotional. In places, Davies has kept colour traditional, including the ultramarine blue of the Virgin's cloak, however he has experimented in the bright, Pre-Raphaelite reds and blues for his angels. Their wings are particularly striking, again slightly different and acting almost as a protective frame around both the angels themselves and the Virgin and Child occupying the central panel. The very top of the window could be interpreted as an abstract representation of God, raining light down upon the heavenly figures and by extension, the dedication to Laura who died in 1933. It is interesting that Davies has chosen to depict golden rays in the inherently illuminated material of stained glass. 

Davies was known for pioneering the Bromsgrove Guild, a lesser-known stained glass company in Birmingham at the turn of the century. Often hidden behind the larger and more successful work produced by students and staff at the Birmingham Municipal School of Art, the Bromsgrove Guild was nevertheless a prolific company, producing over 260 designs that were distributed throughout British churches. The Guild died with Davies in 1963, further highlighting his influence. Often, it is the names associated with artistic movements that are remembered for their stained glass work - Burne-Jones, for example, and his work for Morris & Co. Yet, stained glass was a complicated medium involving many different hands, the conflating of artistic styles and cooperation between a team of craftsmen. Although it is not often included in artistic monographs, discussions of movements or even the biographies of artists, it should not be reduced to 'craft', 'decoration' or 'design', but elevated to the status of fine art and painting, appreciated for its complexities. The work of A.J. Davies proves the longevity of stained glass, starting out as a student at the Birmingham School, before finding his feet in the Bromsgrove Guild and producing works across Britain which show an eclectic range of subject matter, unique colouration, an interest in lighting and natural imagery.

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