Mabel Esplin (1874–1921)''OZ Glass''.
Quarterly publication of Ausglass, The National Body of Australian Glass Artists. April 1986. Retrieved 11 August 2012. was a stained glass artist.

Life

Esplin was born in Chorlton,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to a wealthy furniture manufacturer in 1874. He provided the financial backing for her to go to the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(LCC)

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central ...

, which she attended from about 1906 to 1910 and where she was taught by

Karl Parsons Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. Early life, 1884 – 1898 Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th a ...

, stained glass artist

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 widely recognised as a leader in the Arts and Crafts Movement and a key figure in t ...

and stained glass artist Alfred J. Drury of Lowndes and Drury."Women Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement" William Morris Gallery Exhibition and Brangwyn Gift in 1985. Retrieved 15 August 2012. Although she primarily created stained-glass works, Esplin also painted murals. Her largest commission was for All Saint's Cathedral,

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

, Sudan. Esplin was also active in the Women's Suffrage Movement.

Career

Murals

Mabel executed 3 mural panels at Christ Church in Spitalfields in the East End of London.

Stained glass

All her stained glass was made in collaboration with Lowndes and Drury at the Glass House in Fulham. Apart from work detailed below, The Stained Glass Museum have a sample of her work although they add that it may have been the work of Joan Fulleylove.

All Saints' Cathedral, Khartoum

By 1912 Esplin had finished seven stained glass windows for the Anglican All Saints' Cathedral in

."A Woman Stained Glass Artist."
''Auckland Star'', Volume XLIII, Issue 22, 25 January 1912, Page 8. Retrieved 14 August 2012. In 1911 she was to design seven lancet windows and in 1912 lancet windows for the north wall of the north transept (The Gordon Memorial Chapel) which depicted St Edmund, St Theodore and St Sebastian. She also completed in that year a three-light window for the Gordon Memorial Chapel with the theme "Hope, Faith and Charity". 1914 saw her complete a circular West window for the South Transept and a circular East window depicting "Death and Resurrection" and another three-light window in the Gordon Memorial Chapel with the theme "Fortitude, Justice and Wisdom". In one window and in an attempt to introduce local colour, the figure of Balthazar was portrayed in the costume of a Sudanese Sheikh. Due to her ill health, Mabel was unable to complete the Khartoum commission and remaining windows were carried out by Joan Fulleylove who had earlier worked as Mabel's assistant. Khartoum Cathedral was confiscated by the Sudan government in 1971 and the church's tower knocked down in October 1996. The cathedral was turned into a museum which was named the Republican Palace Museum and opened in the year 2000. The museum has left the stained glass windows intact.

English churches

Mabel managed work for two English churches, St John the Divine, Richmond, Surrey and St Anne’s, Lewes, Sussex. At St John the Divine she executed two single light windows for the Chancel in 1912, one entitled "Spes" and the other "Mater Dolorosa". She worked at St Anne's, Lewes, in 1913 where she completed a single light window in the North Nave depicting St Anne teaching the Blessed Virgin Mary to read.''Stained Glass Windows at St. Anne.''
Stained Glass Records. Retrieved 11 August 2012.

Exhibitions of her work

* 1985–1986 – William Morris Gallery: Women's Stained Glass Artists

Personal life

She was an active member of the Women's Suffrage Movement and assisted in the activities of the 1909

International Alliance of Women The International Alliance of Women (IAW; french: Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international org ...

(IWSA) Congress at

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

in London.Crawford, Elizabeth. (1999)
''Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866–1928''.
London: UCL Press. pp. 518. . Retrieved 14 August 2012. In 1916 she was to suffer a serious mental breakdown and was unable to continue her work in stained glass. She died in a nursing home at

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

in Lancashire on 30 April 1921.

Gallery of images

File:Stained Glass in the Republican Palace Museum, Khartoum, Sudan - Saint Alban.jpg, St Alban window in Khartoum. Image shown courtesy of Thomas Reuben James File:Stained Glass in the Republican Palace Museum, Khartoum, Sudan.jpg, St Theodore window in Khartoum. Image shown courtesy of Thomas Reuben James File:Stained Glass in the Republican Palace Museum, Khartoum, Sudan - Saint Edmund.jpg, St Edmund window in Khartoum Cathedral. Image shown courtesy of Thomas Reuben James

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esplin, Mabel 1874 births 1921 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists 19th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Manchester British stained glass artists and manufacturers British glass artists People from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Women glass artists