Jane Gray (b.1931)
Design for stained glass window

Pencil and coloured pencil on paper
52 x 68 cm
Dated 1975 to lower right.

Jane Gray A.R.C.A. (b.1931) is a British stained glass artist. She studied stained glass at the Kingston School of Arts (1949-51) and later at the Royal College of Art (1951-55) under Lawrence Lee. Lee was so impressed with Gray’s work that he asked her to work alongside him on the design of ten nave windows for Coventry Cathedral. This six-year-long design project culminated in their final installation in 1962 after the cathedral’s consecration. Gray was the first woman to become a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and has designed more than a hundred windows in private and public buildings, chapels and over forty churches across the country, including St Peter’s, Martindale, Shrewsbury Abbey, St Oswald, Oswestry and St Mary, Chirk. Gray’s designs mark a crucial turning point in the history of stained glass art as the Victorian style gave way to a modern aesthetic. In her work, Gray navigates this shift with a style that, whilst distinctly modern, retains a deep rooted sense of the medieval. Despite many of her commissions being for church windows, stained glass design was not simply about religious depiction for Gray, but more about ‘colour, shapes, luminosity, [and] playing with rainbows’.

This stained glass cartoon depicts a lovely wildflower meadow. In keeping with her love of colour and luminosity, the flowers included in this design promise to breathe a breath of fresh air into any room. Although it remains unclear if and where this design was realised in glass, Gray’s drawing and annotations offer valuable insights into her working process.