Mary Jane Newill (1860–1947) was an English painter, embroiderer, teacher, book illustrator and stained glass designer associated with the

Arts and Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

. As a stained glass artist, she was a disciple of stained glass designer,

Selwyn Image Selwyn Image (17 February 1849, Bodiam, Sussex – 21 August 1930, London) was a British artist, designer, writer and poet associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. He designed stained glass windows, furniture and embroidery, and illustra ...

. Newill was a member of the Birmingham Group, an informal group of artists and craftsment that worked in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Biography

Mary Jane Newill was born in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

in 1860. She studied at the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

in the 1880s and 1890s. Fellow students included Charles March Gere,

Sidney Meteyard Sidney Harold Meteyard Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, RBSA (2 November 1868 – 4 April 1947) was an England, English Art education, art teacher, painting, painter and stained-glass designer. A member of the Birmingham Group (artists), Birmi ...

, and Henry Payne. Awarded a John Skirrow Wright scholarship in 1880, Newell continued her studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She returned to Birmingham and was hired to teach embroidery and design at the

in 1892, a position she occupied until 1919. In 1893, Newill's ''Babes in the Woods'' stained glass panel cartoon was displayed at the annual

Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...

in London, only the second stained glass design by a female artist to be exhibited, and the first by a woman who later became a successful commercial artist. The drawing was later used by

Christopher Whall Christopher Whitworth Whall (1849 – 23 December 1924) was a British stained-glass artist who worked from the 1880s and on into the 20th century. He is recognised as a leader in the Arts and Crafts movement and a key figure in the moder ...

as an illustration in his influential manual, ''Stained Glass Work'' (1905). Newill's drawings are similar to her mentor,

's work. "Although her subsequent stained glass work developed in interesting and original ways, it always retained echoes of

Image An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or Three-dimensional space, three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be di ...

's graphic simplification in the drawing." Newill had her own studio in central

by 1906, at a time when there were few women working in the profession. She was a designer for the

Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts (1898–1966) was a company of modern artists and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, but which also embraced other major design motifs. Founded by Walter Gilbert, the guild worked ...

and a member of the Birmingham Group and of the

. Most of Newill’s stained glass work was commissioned and purchased for private residences. Two public examples of her work are a window in the lady chapel of St. Mary and St. Ambrose Church in Edgbaston, and a window in the Wrockwardine Church in Shropshire. Embroidery by Newill and her students was displayed at the

International Exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

of 1906 in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand. Some of her embroidery projects were commissioned for churches. Examples of her needlework are held in the collections of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

and of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Image gallery

Image:Newill - Nursery Songs and Rhymes.jpg, Illustration from ''Nursery Songs and Rhymes'' (1895) Image:Study_of_Trees_by_Mary_J._Newill.jpg, Illustration from ''The Yellow Book 9'' (1896) Image:The Nightingale, Frontispiece, by Mary J. Newill.jpg, Frontispiece, ''The Nightingale'' (1898) Image:Newill - Christmas Songs and Easter Carols.jpg, Frontispiece, ''Christmas Songs and Easter Carols'' (1903) Image:Mary_J_Newill_Sleep_after_Toile_2.jpg, Illustration from Stained Glass Work "Sleep after Toile 2" (1905)

References

External links

Stained glass window at Wrockwardine Church
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newill, Mary J 1860 births 1947 deaths English landscape painters English stained glass artists and manufacturers English illustrators English women painters Artists from Shropshire 19th-century English women artists 20th-century English women artists 19th-century women textile artists 19th-century British textile artists British embroiderers 20th-century British textile artists 20th-century British women textile artists