Ethel Rhind (1 December 1877 – 6 March 1952) was an Irish
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
mosaic
A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
artist, who was associated with
An Túr Gloine
An Túr Gloine (; Irish for "The Glass Tower") was a cooperative studio for stained glass and '' opus sectile'' artists from 1903 until 1944, based in Dublin, Ireland.
History
An Túr Gloine was conceived of in late 1901 and established Januar ...
.
Life and education
Rhind was born on 1 December 1877 in Arrah, Bihar, India. Her father was Robert Hunter Rhind, a civil engineer born in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, who was working in the Indian civil service. Her mother, Hannah Rhind (née Tate), was from
Whiteabbey
Whiteabbey () is a townland (of 406 acres) in Newtownabbey, north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
The original village of Whiteabbey stood at the foot of the Three Mile Water, on the shore of Belfast Lough. In 1958, it and six othe ...
,
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...
, and was a relative of the Gore-Booth family of
Lissadell House
Lissadell House is a neo-classical Greek revivalist style country house in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland.
The house was built between 1830 and 1835 for Sir Robert Gore-Booth, 4th Baronet (1784–1835) by London architect Francis G ...
,
County Sligo
County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...
.
Rhind was educated at
Londonderry High School, and later the
Belfast School of Art where she earned an art teacher's certificate in 1900.
In 1902, she was awarded a scholarship to study mosaic under Miss Holloway at the
Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. Rhind was an early student of
Alfred E. Child
Alfred Ernest Child (1875–1939) was an English stained glass artist, a lecturer in the National College of Art and Design, Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and was associated with An Túr Gloine.
Life and education
Alfred Ernest Child was ...
, who taught stained glass craft. Her student work was exhibited at the
Irish International Exhibition in 1907.
She entered
Sarah Purser
Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her portraiture. She was the first woman to become a full member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. She also founded and financially supported An T� ...
's
An Túr Gloine
An Túr Gloine (; Irish for "The Glass Tower") was a cooperative studio for stained glass and '' opus sectile'' artists from 1903 until 1944, based in Dublin, Ireland.
History
An Túr Gloine was conceived of in late 1901 and established Januar ...
in 1907–1908 to work on stained glass and ''
opus sectile
''Opus sectile'' is a form of '' pietra dura'' popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and gla ...
''. Rhind died 6 March 1952 in a nursing home in
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
.
Artistic work

Some of her earliest work is in the window ''Harmony and Fortitude'' in Lissadell church for the Gore-Booths which was created in 1907. In 1908 she won first prize at the
Royal Dublin Society
The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...
for her window in the Old Court chapel,
Strangford
Strangford (from Old Norse ''Strangr fjörðr'', meaning "strong sea-inlet") is a small village at the mouth of Strangford Lough, on the Lecale peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 475 at the 2001 census.
On th ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...
.
Most of her work was for Church of Ireland churches, though she also designed for the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
church, York Road,
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
, The Honan chapel,
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
, and her ''St Carthage'' series. During this time, she lived with her sister Sophia, who was a secretary with the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
, in Dublin. When
Wilhelmina Geddes
Wilhelmina Geddes HRUA (25 May 1887 – 10 August 1955) was an Irish stained glass artist who was an important figure within the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and also the twentieth-century British stained glass revival. Notable works include wi ...
left An Túr Gloine due to ill health, Rhind completed her designs. Rhind also worked closely with
Catherine O'Brien.
From 1917, she was a member of the Guild of Craft Workers.
Her work in the ''opus sectile'' medium was seen as very progressive and her most significant contribution to the reputation of An Túr Gloine.
Some of her most noted works in were the stations of the cross made in St Enda's church,
Spiddal
Spiddal, also known as Spiddle (Irish language, Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road (Ireland), R336 road. It is o ...
,
County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
(1916–28), the stations made in
Loughrea
Loughrea ( ; ), is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains and Lough Rea, the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the urban sk ...
cathedral (1929–33), and her 1921 war memorial ''Archangel Michael'' on the exterior wall of
All Saints Church, Grangegorman, Dublin.
Her work incorporated stone, glass, and shell, rather than the more traditional tiny tiles or tesserae.
The 1912 tapestry, ''Smuainteach'', was designed by Rhind and woven by the Dún Emer Guild in Dundrum, which is in the collections of the
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland () is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has three branches in Dublin, the arch ...
. Her designs for both stained glass and ''opus sectile'' were featured at the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland in 1910, 1917, and 1921.
Two of her pieces of stained glass are in the United States, one in the Sacred Heart Convent chapel in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
, and the second in
Brophy College Chapel
Brophy College Chapel is a chapel at Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
History and architecture
The building was constructed in 1928 along wi ...
, Arizona. Rhind retired from the studio in 1939.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhind, Ethel
1877 births
1952 deaths
Irish women artists
Irish stained glass artists and manufacturers
Alumni of the National College of Art and Design
Irish expatriates in British India