Stained Glass of Percy Bacon & Brothers

Waddesdon, St Michael's & All Angels

Buckinghamshire

Posted 27 June 2023.

Ruth Sharville on her website devoted to the works of George Fellowes Prynne suggests he worked at St Michael's around 1906, but with the exception of the east window, the exact nature of the work undertaken is uncertain. The Builder article of 25th August 1906 simply states that the work was executed by Percy Bacon & Brothers under the supervision of Prynne.¹

This tall three-light window with simple Y-tracery is filled with Percy Bacon and Brothers glass in his classical style. The central subject is Christ in Majesty surrounded by saints and prophets. To Christ's right; the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, and to his left St Joseph and St Mary Magdalene. Beneath Christ the standing figure of the Archangel Michael in classic pose with sword and shield, the slain dragon at his feet symbolising the defeat of evil. To Michael's right stand Moses and Isaiah, and to his left St Peter and St Paul. The words in the scrolls above the saints' heads are from the Te Deum.

At the top of the lights angels are depicted kneeling in prayer and the central figure of Gabriel holding a white lily. All are surrounded by a rainbow. In the tracery two more angels hold scrolls with the first line of the Te Deum, "Te Deum laudamus: te Dominum confitemur".

If there is a dedication on the window it is obscured by the reredos. A signature might also be obscured.

Thanks to Andrew Abbott for making his photograph available via Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons license used for this entry.

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1. The Builder, 25th August 1906.