J&R Lamb Studios, America's oldest continuously-run decorative arts company, is famous as 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 ...

maker, preceding the studios of both

John LaFarge 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 C. Tiffany.Lamb Studios Archive
- Library of Congress

History

The J&R Lamb Studios was established in 1857 by brothers Joseph (1833–1898) and Richard Lamb (1836–1909) in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Their parents, Joseph Lamb (1806-1840) and Elizabeth Clark (1809-1838) were married on October 1, 1832, in Orpington, Kent, England. Elizabeth Clark Lamb died on April 7, 1838, during a difficult childbirth in which the infant was stillborn. The young brothers left

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

, England, at some point in 1840 to come to the United States with their father, a landscape architect, who had been engaged to work on

Niblo's Garden Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway and Crosby Street, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the ''Sans Souci'' and was later the property of ...

, an exhibition hall and open-air theater.Seeley, Barea Lamb
"Lamb Studios History"''Encyclopedia of New Jersey''
Rutgers University Press, 2004. Cf
pp. 452-453
/ref> During the voyage, their father died, and a sympathetic Scottish couple, Peter Rennie (1805-1870) and Agnes Rennie (1809-1894), who were also making the journey to America, took on the responsibility of caring for these two young boys and became their foster parents. The boys grew up in the Rennie home at Dobbs Ferry, New York. As a young man in the early 1850s, Joseph was active in literary and poetic circles in New York City and was a member of the Irving Literary Union, founded in New York City in 1852 in honor of the great author, Washington Irving (1783-1859). Joseph was enthusiastic about the Gothic Revival movement. That enthusiasm may have come about as the result of exposure to the efforts and literature of the

New York Ecclesiological Society New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. For a time, Joseph Lamb considered entering the ministry or becoming a church musician. However, as his talent lay elsewhere, he decided it was better "to make the art of the church his life's work." Originally, the company also did mosaic, murals, monuments, and other work for churches, temples, residences, government and academic institutions. The firm was chosen by the United States government as one of four studios to represent American achievements in stained glass at the Paris International Exposition of 1900. They won two prizes for their window entitled ''Religion Enthroned'' designed by Frederick Stymetz Lamb (1862–1928), the third of Joseph's sons. Frederick's brother, Charles Rollinson Lamb (1860-1942), a renowned

City Beautiful The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...

theorist and architect, shaped the studio's aesthetic and intellectual character and business. Frederick became its head of design and supervised the firm's team of skilled craftsman. In the early 1920s Frederick and his wife Nellie moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

where he supervised local civic projects and frequently exhibited his landscapes in oil to great acclaim at the art colonies in Berkeley and

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

. An online facsimile of the entire text of Vol. 1 is posted on the Traditional Fine Arts Organization website () Ella Condie Lamb, the wife of

Charles Rollinson Lamb Charles Rollinson Lamb (1860 – February 22, 1942) was an American architect and sculptor. Born and raised in New York City, he studied under William Sartain at the Art Students' League. He was a member of his father's firm, the J&R Lamb ...

, was a well known artist and stained glass designer, also winning a medal in the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago in 1893 for her oil work, "The Advent Angel". Studio owner and family member, Karl Barre Lamb (1890–1969), was president of the Stained Glass Association of America 1954–1955 and an elected fellow. Lamb descendants ran the studios until his death. Under Karl B. Lamb's leadership, the studios relocated to

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

after the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. In 1970, Lamb Studios artist Donald Samick bought the firm. With the death of the stained glass artist

Katharine Lamb Tait Katharine Lamb Tait (3 June 1895 – 11 August 1981) was an American stained glass and mosaics designer, painter, muralist, and illustrator. She was the head designer at J&R Lamb Studios for more than four decades, and created notable commissions ...

(1895–1981), the daughter of Charles Rollinson Lamb, the Lamb family was no longer involved with the studio. The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

is the repository for the Lamb Studios Archive.

Studio location history

''Cf
Lamb Studios Archive: Background
Library of Congress'' * New York City (1857–1934) *

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,

(1934–1970) *

Northvale, New Jersey Northvale is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,640,Philmont, New York Philmont is a village (New York), village in Columbia County, New York, Columbia County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,379 at the 2010 census. The village is located in the northeastern part of the town of Claverac ...

(1980–1997) *

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As ...

(2002–2007) *

Midland Park, New Jersey Midland Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,128, *Caroline Felthousen Dudley Pratt Memorial Window, Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Missouri, 1903 * Main Protestant Chapel at Camp Lejuene (stained glass) 10 stained glass windows designed by artist Katharine Lamb Tait and installed in 1948 *

Church of the Ascension (New York) The Church of the Ascension is an Episcopal church in the Diocese of New York, located at 36–38 Fifth Avenue and West 10th Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan New York City. It was built in 1840–41, the first churc ...

(choir stalls) * Church of the Saviour (Syracuse) (altar) *

Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library The Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library is a historic library building located in Watertown in Jefferson County, New York. The library was built in 1903 through 1904, and completed on November 10, 1904. The library opened on January 4, 1905. It wa ...

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the ...

. Charles Rollinson Lamb, artist-architect; interior decoration by J&R Lamb Studios. * Hugo B. Froehlich Memorial Art Education Window, donated in 1927 by the Manual Training Teachers of Newark to the

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Af ...

. Designed by Katharine Lamb Tait. * Plymouth Congregational Church (later

Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims Plymouth Church is an historic church located at 57 Orange Street between Henry and Hicks Streets in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City; the Church House has the address 75 Hicks Street. The church was built in 1849–50 ...

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza, Cadman Plaza West on the ...

, New York. * St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

- Installed in 1961-1962 stained glass windows with depictions of the Saints designed by Katharine Lamb Tait of J&R Lamb Studios, Tenafly, NJ. *

Stanford Memorial Church Stanford Memorial Church (also referred to informally as MemChu) is located on the Main Quad at the center of the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California, United States. It was built during the American RenaissanceGregg, p. 34 by ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Stained glass designed by Frederick Stymetz Lamb. * Tuskegee University Chapel,

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...

. The chapel windows, known as the "Singing Windows," designed by J&R Lamb of New York and installed in the 1932 chapel renovation, portrayed eleven beloved Negro spirituals. *Andrae Memorial Window, St. Mary's-in-Tuxedo Episcopal Church,

Tuxedo Park, New York Tuxedo Park is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 623 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area as well as the la ...

Stone

Sage Chapel Sage Chapel is the non-denominational chapel on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York State which serves as the burial ground for many contributors to Cornell's history, including the founders of the university: Ezra Cornell and A ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(mosaic) * Chapel of the Holy Spirit, St. Mary's-in-Tuxedo Episcopal Church, Tuxedo Park, New York. Designed by George de Ris of J&R Lamb. * The monument to Rev. John Boyd; first ordained Presbyterian minister in the Americas in 1685. The monument is located in the

Old Scots Burying Ground The Old Scots Burying Ground is a historic cemetery located on Gordon's Corner Road in the Wickatunk section of Marlboro Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 15, 2001, for ...

. Designed and constructed by J&R Lamb of New York for the

Synod of the Northeast Synod of the Northeast is an upper judicatory of the Presbyterian Church (USA) based in East Syracuse, New York. The synod Presbyterian polity#The synod, oversees twenty-two presbyteries in six New England states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mas ...

. The monument was constructed with three different sourced granite stone (Ireland, Scotland, and Vermont) in 1898. The burial ground is located in

Marlboro Township, New Jersey Marlboro Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a ...

References

External links

J&R Lamb Studios website

Lamb Studios Archive

, Washington, D.C. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, JandR, Studios American stained glass artists and manufacturers 1857 establishments in New York (state)

History

Studio location history

Stone

References

Further reading

External links