Stained Glass of Percy Bacon

World War I memorial window: Ss George, Michael & Patrick.
Image © Andy Scott. CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

World War I memorial window: Ss George, Michael & Patrick

Posted 07 September 2024.

There is a single window attributed to the studio of Percy Bacon in St Mary Magdalen RC Church. Robert Eberhard gives this to Bacon,¹ but no firm corroboration of the provenance of the glass has yet been found for this project. However, the figures are stylistically attributable to the studio's output; the facial features of St Michael, for example, having similarities to other known Bacon windows (see the figure of David in St Pega, Peakirk, Cambridgeshire). Also St Michael holds a flaming sword, a common Bacon motif. The glass is unusually simple for a Bacon Studios work, lacking the elaboration usually associated with its output. Also the colouration is remarkably bold.

The window is a memorial to the men of the congregation of St Mary Magdalen who lost their lives in World War One.² It depicts the standing figures of St George, St Michael and St Patrick. In the large tracery lights the arms of England and Ireland. Beneath Michael the words, "Quis ut Deus" ("Who [is] like God?"). The simple dedication reads:

The dedication ceremony took place on 22nd November 1925 and was led by the RC Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Francis Bourne.^{2 3} Engraved on a brass plate below the window is the following inscription:- "The above window was erected to the glory of God, and in sacred memory of the following men of this congregation, who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914 to 1918...".

The window is unsigned.

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1. Church Stained Glass Records, as recorded by Robert Eberhard.
2. See Imperial Warm Museum website for more details.
3. Report of dedication ceremony; Richmond Herald, 28 November 1925, p3.