Corpus of Percy Bacon

Little is known about Percy Bacon's professional work before he set up his firm in 1892, but it is likely he was working for other firms as a freelance artist. In his late teens, and after his father had died, his family moved to 65 Charlotte Street, London. A number of established stained glass firms had premises in this area of the west end (this could have been the reason for moving to the area, Percy now effectively the "man of the house" and main breadwinner); A. O. Hemming in Marylebone, Burlison & Grylls in Oxford Street, and a little further afield at Whitefriars, James Powell & Sons. Bacon was exhibiting work at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition as early as 1888,¹ and some examples of work carried out for A. O. Hemming in 1891 have come to light.¹ However, there are more than ten years missing from Bacon's biography, a gap that is hard to fill without solid evidence. The fact that the name of Bacon appears only six times in James Powell's order books between 1886 and 1892, suggests Percy Bacon was not engaged as a full time employee, but on a per commission basis. This does beg the question who else he was working for to be able to make a living, and accumulate sufficient funds to begin his own enterprise. Burlison and Grylls is a good contender, their premises being close by his home, and their 15th century style of painting would have appealed to Bacon. Indeed, the work of Burlison and Grylls can sometimes be mistaken for Percy Bacon's, and vice versa, suggesting that there is a substantial body of work by Bacon, unsigned and unattributed. The entry for Yarcombe in Powell's order book for England reads: "Yarcombe, 1891, Bacon, Reredos, 5040/168".³ Unfortunately it provides no more information. Did Bacon carry out the whole design for the reredos, or just the triptych, and did he actually execute the painting work himself?

Oak reredos with painted panels, probably by Percy Bacon.

Reredos by James Powell & Sons.1891.

Posted 09 February 2025.

St John the Baptist was restored in 1891, and as part of that restoration James Powell & Sons was commissioned to provide a carved oak reredos. Although definitive evidence has yet to come to light, the central triptych panels are likely to have been designed and painted by Percy Bacon, working as a freelance artist.⁴ The central panel depicts the crucifixion with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John in their usual positions. To the left a panel shows three women who are likely to represent Mary Magdalene (kneeling), Mary of Cleopas, and Salome. To the right a panel show three men, the one to the far right clearly meant to represent the centurion who witnessed Jesus's death, though he is shown rather whimsically as a medieval knight in golden armour. The other two are harder to identify, but the figure in the middle is dressed as a priest. The kneeling figure to the right may be Simon of Cyrene. The work is clearly heavily influenced by Martin Schongauer.

Reredos centre panel.

Reredos centre panel.

Reredos right panel.

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1. Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues available here.
2. Gorringes Auctioneer's Catalogue, Lot 1013: Percy Bacon of Hemming & Co Studies of angels holding armorials (signed).
3. James Powell & Sons Orders (England).