John Ward Knowles - Misplaced Pages

John Ward Knowles (1838–1931) was a prominent British York-based stained-glass manufacturer, and commentator on local art and music.

Family

Knowles may have been related to the civil engineer George Knowles (c. 1776-1856june23: will 1856aug13, ref PROB 11/2237/206), who designed Scarborough's spa promenade and South Cliff Gardens. His brother was William Knowles (1846nov3-1908sep7).

His son John Alder Knowles (1881-1961) continued the craft traditions but also moved with the times. He spent some time studying glass manufacturing methods in the USA before the First World War. Enthused by the work of Tiffany, he attempted an English version of the famous lamps, but charming though his prototypes were, they lacked the delicacy of the originals and failed to catch on.

Career

After training in art, Knowles dabbled in photography. In 1869 John Ward Knowles took the premises at No.41, (The Star Inn) previously the house of Mr Robinson, Hosier. According to his notes he moved there in 1869 and he is shown there in the 1871 & 1872 Directories. His granddaughter, Jill Murray, thinks he was there about 5 years. She mentions that he did a lot of work on the house and took a room over one of the stables in the yard and turned it into a painting room. He removed into No.23 (The Sign of the Bible, now No.35), almost opposite on Stonegate, on his marriage to Jane Annakind in 1874. It then became a Knowles family home for the next one hundred and twenty years. He renovated the building which became a hub of artistic endeavour with workshops producing not only stained glass but all kinds of ecclesiastical decoration including beautiful embroideries and tapestry work produced by the Knowles daughters.

The building still retains much of Knowles' work, installed when he lived here including a collection of priceless late Victorian and Edwardian stained glass.

Knowles continued to live and work here until his death at the age of 93 and his sons continued the business up to 1953. The building remained in the Knowles family until 1999 when it was purchased by Jonathan Cainer to become the world's first psychic museum.

Works

Knowles archives at Borthwick Institute
Knowles papers at York City Archives.
"Splendour by the seaside" in Scarborough
York Minster
Sheriff Hutton church

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British and Irish stained glass

British and Irish stained glass (1811–1918)

History

Influences

Artistic movements	Aesthetic Movement Arts and Crafts Movement Biblia pauperum Cambridge Camden Society Classicism Early Renaissance Exoticism Gothic Revival Oxford Movement Romanticism
Organisations	The Glass House Hogarth Club Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

People

Architectural	John Loughborough Pearson Augustus Pugin George Gilbert Scott Alexander Thomson
Artists	Carl Almquist works Edward Liddall Armitage Hugh Arnold William Burges Alfred E. Child Margaret Chilton Brian Clarke Harry Clarke Walter Francis Clokey Charles Edmund Clutterbuck Trena Cox Louis Davis works Rachel de Montmorency Alfred Drury Mabel Esplin Moira Forsyth Wilhelmina Geddes Jane Gray Reginald Hallward works Herbert Hendrie James Humphries Hogan Evie Hone Joan Howson works Edward Holmes Jewitt works Marjorie Kemp Charles Eamer Kempe Mary Lowndes William Morris Catherine O’Brien Karl Parsons works Henry Payne works Lilian Josephine Pocock John Piper Patrick Pollen Sarah Purser Ethel Rhind Arnold Wathen Robinson works Arild Rosenkrantz Francis Skeat works Caroline Townshend works Christopher Webb Geoffrey Webb works Nathaniel Westlake Christopher Whall works Veronica Whall works Thomas Willement William Wilson Paul Woodroffe works Edward Woore works British stained-glass artists Irish stained-glass artists
Critics	Martin Harrison John Ruskin
Manufacturers	An Túr Gloine Barton, Kinder and Alderson Burlison and Grylls Harry Clarke Clayton and Bell Walter Francis Clokey Daniel Cottier John Hardman & Co. Heaton, Butler and Bayne Hincks and Burnell Lavers, Barraud and Westlake Morris & Co. James Powell and Sons Shrigley and Hunt William Wailes William Warrington

Examples

Images

Terminology

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