Maurice Richard Josey (30 October 1870 — 6 May 1938) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

artist.

Life and work

Josey was born at 1 Langton Cottages, Melbourne Square,

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1870, son of the renowned mezzotint engraver

Richard Josey Richard Josey (4 October 1840 – 6 February 1906) was a prominent mezzotint engraver in Victorian London. Life Josey was born at Reading, and received his education at the local Reading Blue Coat School. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed to T ...

and Elizabeth Croxon. The third of fourteen children, Josey was raised and lived in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

, London. As a youth, he played football for St Jude's Institute, which later merged to become

Queens Park Rangers FC Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Roa ...

. He grew up in an artistic atmosphere, his father Richard Josey (1840–1906), a printmaker, took commissions from various artists of the day and many paintings came into the Josey household including Whistler's Mother when he was 8. By the age of 11, Maurice, along with his brothers John and Thomas, was a student of fine art. He and Tom worked under their father as mezzotint engravers, and though Maurice became a very capable artist in water colours and oils it was through the medium of mosaic that he made his name and career. In 1893 Josey married Emily Jane Hatton (c.1864-1961), daughter of John Joseph Hatton, coal merchant, boat builder and former

Worshipful Master In Craft Freemasonry, sometimes known as Blue Lodge Freemasonry, every Masonic lodge elects or appoints Masonic lodge officers to execute the necessary functions of the lodge's life and work. The precise list of such offices may vary between the j ...

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

. The Joseys had 2 sons and 5 daughters. His most notable work was the mosaics at The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria in Droitwich,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

. The designs, conceived by the artist

Gabriel Pippet Gabriel Pippet (1880 in Solihull – 1962) was an English artist. As well as being was an artist, he was known as an illustrator and a wood carver. Pippet's work was influenced by Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and medieval man ...

, were begun in 1921 and executed by Josey, taking 12 years to complete. Eight and a half tons of quarter-inch glass was imported from

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

for the purpose. Josey was assisted in the task by a boy, Fred Oates, who grew to manhood during the completion of the mosaics. Josey studied the Roman style mosaics at

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

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prior to undertaking the Droitwich commission. The mosaics are remarkable in that they cover almost the entirety of the church. Berrow's Worcester Journal featured an article on the as yet incomplete mosaics in a 1930 supplement, stating that the church would become the only one in the world with an interior completely decorated in this manner. Josey died a few years after completing his work at Droitwich and was buried in London. After his death, a further commission was undertaken to decorate a small side chapel at Droitwich by Thomas Algernon Josey, Maurice's younger brother. Josey's mosaic work can be seen in both

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...

and at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

, London, where he completed the faces in the mosaics, working under Sir William Richmond R.A. Josey also did mosaics at Billingham, at the Fitzrovia Chapel which was the old Middlesex Hospital ChapelPhoto of Middlesex Hospital Chapel mosaics by Maurice R. Josey
/ref> and Baptistry and at a churches in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

and

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 ...

and also in a convent near Saltash,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

References

External links

The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria Mosaics, Droitwich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Josey, Maurice 1870 births 1938 deaths People from Brixton People from Shepherd's Bush English engravers Droitwich Spa Mosaic artists