Edward Holmes Jewitt (1849–1929) was a
Pre-Raphaelite
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...
artist working in
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
and other media. He was one of the two chief designers, along with
Carl Almquist, for the
Lancaster firm of
Shrigley and Hunt, producers of stained-glass windows and church-fittings. In recent years his work has begun to be studied and admired, though claims that he was a genius have not gone uncontested.
Ancestry and youth
Edward Jewitt's grandfather,
Arthur Jewitt, authored books on the subjects of local history, perspective and geometry. One of his uncles,
Llewellynn, was a wood-engraver, art historian, journalist and antiquary; another,
Orlando
Orlando commonly refers to:
* Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States
Orlando may also refer to:
People
* Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name
* Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
, was also a wood-engraver, specialising in the illustration of works on
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
. A third brother, Henry, was an employee of Orlando, and Henry's son Edward was thus brought up in a family of working artists well-versed in church history and church architecture. Jewitt was born and brought up in
Headington
Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
, and after the age of eight in London. Nothing is known of his formal education or initial employment, but in September 1877 he was taken on as a stained-glass designer by Arthur William Hunt of the
Lancaster firm of
Shrigley and Hunt.
Career
The firm already had a chief designer in the young
Carl Almquist, but Jewitt was given equal status with him. Hunt, Almquist and Jewitt worked as a close team, using
Aesthetic
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...
techniques derived, in Almquist's case, from
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter.
Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...
via
Henry Holiday, and in Jewitt's case from Burne-Jones and
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...
. For the first few years they usually worked separately; later they worked out a system by which Jewitt either supervised or himself painted a watercolour from which Almquist could produce a more detailed
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
. The qualities Jewitt brought to the partnership included a sensitivity to the qualities of the stained-glass raw materials, a thorough knowledge of
iconography
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
, and a psychological realism in drawing biblical figures. Together, Almquist and Jewitt developed a house style of subtle colours (becoming richer in later years) and delicate drawing which defined Shrigley and Hunt until well into the 20th century. Jewitt designed many windows for locations in the
Home Counties, the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
, and above all the
north-west of England, and there are scattered examples elsewhere. There are also examples of painted tiles, murals,
reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
es and patternwork by him, and on at least one occasion he restored medieval wall-paintings.
Personal life
Jewitt married Edith Maria Pike in
Lancaster Priory
Lancaster Priory, formally the Priory Church of St Mary, is the Church of England parish church of the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is located near Lancaster Castle and since 1953 has been designated a Grade I listed building ...
in 1878. Their children included Austin Jewitt, who worked for Shrigley and Hunt on design projects from 1900 to 1902; Edward's nephew, the sculptor Clement William Jewitt, also executed one commission for the firm.
Edward Jewitt at first lived in Lancaster, before moving first to
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whit ...
and then to the coastal village of
Hest Bank, five miles north of Lancaster, from where he used to walk to work every day, much to the annoyance of his employer who would have preferred him to spend more of the day at his desk. He was still working for the firm at the time of his death, in 1929.
List of works
Footnotes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewitt, Edward Holmes
1849 births
1929 deaths
19th-century English male artists
20th-century English male artists
English stained glass artists and manufacturers
Jewitt family
People from Headington
Pre-Raphaelite stained glass artists