Stained Glass Window of Prodigal Son Narrative by Benjamin Sellers

Benjamin Sellers (1860–1930) was a

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

artisan in the Northeastern US. He was a practitioner of the opalescent style of stained glass popularized by

John La Farge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge is best known for ...

and

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

in the late 19th century. Sellers moved from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England to the US in 1882. He worked at the

Tiffany Glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...

manufacture in

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. After 1892, Sellers started his own studio, Benjamin Sellers & Sons, which provided a wide variety of ecclesiastical and domestic stained glass. Advertisements for Benjamin Sellers & Sons frequently mention custom memorial windows and interior decorations. Sellers' work gained widespread praise among his contemporaries and he was frequently commissioned by wealthy parishes to design custom windows. His work can be found in the

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Manhattan) The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church is a Greek Orthodox church on Manhattan's Upper West Side at West End Avenue and West 91st Street. History The church was built by Heins & LaFarge in (1893–94) as the Fourth Presbyterian Church. The ...

First Presbyterian Church of Newtown The First Presbyterian Church of Newtown is a historic Presbyterian church in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The church complex is composed of the main church, a parish hall, and a manse. The current complex at 54th Avenu ...

, Sayville Congregational Church, Second Congregational Church of Winstead, and First Memorial Presbyterian Church of

Dover, New Jersey Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on the Rockaway River, Dover is about west of New York City and about west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 18,157,

among others. One of his most notable creations is the depiction of the

Parable of the Prodigal Son The Parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the Two Brothers, Lost Son, Loving Father, or of the Forgiving Father) is one of the parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, appearing in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus shares the parable with ...

story on the exterior facade of

The Bowery Mission The Bowery Mission is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides hot meals, overnight shelter, and faith-based residential programs for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Its purpose statement reads: "The Bowery Mission exists to promote the flour ...

. After Sellers retired the work was carried on by his son until the firm closed in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellers, Benjamin 1860 births 1930 deaths English stained glass artists and manufacturers British glass artists American stained glass artists and manufacturers English emigrants to the United States 19th-century British male artists Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists