Margaret Traherne

Margaret Traherne (23 November 1919 — 30 June 2006)[1] was an Essex-born artist active in the twentieth century.[2] She was regarded as a leading artist of her generation.[3] Noted for her stained glass designs, she also worked in sculpture as well as embroidered textiles and mixed media, examples of which are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum.[4][5]

Margaret Traherne
Born
Hazel Wilkes

(1919-11-23)23 November 1919
Westcliff-on-Sea, England
Died30 June 2006(2006-06-30) (aged 86)
Brighton, England
Known forStained glass windows
A stained glass window designed by Traherne in 1978 for Chailey Church. It is located in the North Chancel.
Stained glass window design by Margaret Traherne.

Early life

Born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, Traherne moved with her family to Long Island, New York in 1925, aged six.[1] She later attended Southend High School after returning from eight years spent in New York.[6]

Education

Traherne attended Croydon School of Art from 1936, where she studied under Ruskin Spear. It was here that she met her future husband, David Thomas, and the pair married in 1943.[3] Traherne joined the Kingston School of Art during the Second World War, before joining the Design School at the Royal College of Art in 1945.[1] In 1953-54 she spent a year of experimentation at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in the stained glass department run John Baker and Tom Fairs.[1][3]

Stained glass windows

Margaret Traherne's designs for stained glass appear across England, including the examples below,

  • Fire Window, Manchester Cathedral (1966). The window was reconstructed using glass from Germany after it was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1996.[7]
  • Chapel of Reconciliation and The Lady Chapel, Liverpool Cathedral[8]
  • Bapistry windows, St Peter's Church, Nottingham (1976)[9][10]
  • Chapel of Unity, Coventry Cathedral[11]
  • North chancel window, St Peter's Church, Chailey, East Sussex (1978)[12]
  • St Cuthberts, Rye Park. Traherne wrote of this design, "I found St. Cuthbert a sympathetic character and one that people today will relate to. I hope that my feeling will come through the design."[13]
  • Michelham Priory of Upper Dicker, Hailsham in Sussex features Traherne's earliest known glass design, a depiction of the Virgin and Child (1956).[14]
  • St Kenelm window, St Peter's, Wootton Wawen (1958)[15]
  • St Margaret Mary Church, Park Gate, Hampshire (1966)[16]

Works in public collections

A range of works by Margaret Traherne are held in public British collections, including the following,

Title Year Medium Gallery no. Gallery Location
Cope 1950s wool with appliquéd embroidery, padded, silk thread CIRC.302-1961 Victoria and Albert Museum London
Fret 1956 jacquard-woven fabric CIRC.680-1956 Victoria and Albert Museum London
Fret 1956 jacquard-woven fabric CIRC.680A-1956 Victoria and Albert Museum London
Fret 1956 jacquard-woven fabric CIRC.680B-1956 Victoria and Albert Museum London
Light Box 1974 glass & acrylic plastic AH01527/75 Abbot Hall Art Gallery Cumbria, England
Light Box 1974 glass & acrylic plastic AH01528/75 Abbot Hall Art Gallery Cumbria, England
Light Box - glass & perspex L.F461.1976.0.0 New Walk Museum & Art Gallery Leicestershire, England
Poppy head on a blue ground 1980 watercolour P.15-1981 Victoria and Albert Museum London
Standing Stones c.1959 moulded concrete 008 Loughborough University Leicestershire, England
Yellow Nude Collage 1974 gouache & cut paper collage P.16-1981 Victoria and Albert Museum London

References
  1. Harrod, Tanya (18 July 2006). "Obituaries - Margaret Traherne: Artist and designer best known for her stained glass at the new Coventry and Liverpool cathedrals". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  2. "Traherne, Margaret 1919-2006". Artist Biographies. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  3. Brown, Sarah (9 August 2006). "Margaret Traherne: Artist and painter, she was renowned for her stained glass windows". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. "Sculpture: Margaret Traherne - Standing Stones". Loughborough University Campus Map. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. "Margaret Traherne". Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  6. "Margaret Traherne: Versatile artist whose work ranged from paintings and embroideries to stained-glass windows for Coventry Cathedral". The Times. 25 July 2006. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  7. "In pictures: Manchester Cathedral". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  8. "Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool: the Lady Chapel coloured by rose-tinted windows by Margaret Traherne". RIBApix. Royal Institute of British Architects. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  9. "Church of St. Peter with St. James". Historic England. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. "Nottingham St Peter - Glass - 17,18 The Baptistry Windows". Southwell & Nottingham Church History Project. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. "Cathedral of St Michael". Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. "Chailey – St Peter - 5. (North chancel, second lancet)". Sussex Parish Churches. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  13. "The Main New Window (1996)". St Cuthbert’s Church. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  14. "Virgin and Child". The Stained Glass Museum. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  15. "Wootton Wawen". Great English Churches. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2019. The blocked western doorway. The stained glass is of 1958 by Margaret Traherne and celebrates the legend of St Kenelm.
  16. "Park Gate – St Margaret Mary". Taking Stock. Catholic Trust for England and Wales and English Heritage. 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
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