| 词条 | Draft:John Toms |
| 释义 |
Born in Brompton Ralph, Somerset in 1812, Toms was a rural artisan, turning skill hands to stained glass work as and when required by his patrons. By training and trade, he was a plumber, glazier and house decorator with a business in the High Street in Wellington. John Toms was no aspiring artist, nor was he motivated by religious devotion. His work has been described as notably deficient in artistry and he was rarely commissioned at the instigation of any major Gothic Revival architects. Yet he came to dominate the stained glass market in West Somerset and parts of Devon for over a decade until his death in 1869 aged 56. In 1851 he submitted a window to the Great Exhibition. TechniquesToms tended only rarely to use the expensive antique glass favoured by many of his contemporaries, which gave him at least an advantage in terms of price. He differed from them too in that he had not had the benefit of serving an apprenticeship, which explains why his windows often appear crude despite his skilled draughtsmanship. Early Victorian coloured glass had a gaudy quality if left in unskilled hands and required skilled over-painting to create shading and an ability to manipulate the depth and type of shadow. Toms was self-taught and whilst he became more skilled, much of his glass shading is heavy-handed. Toms occasionally used enamel to pick out highlights, as seen in the hair of St James at Nynehead, but he used this technique less frequently than his contemporaries. Whilst he produced his own cartoon designs for his windows, his inspiration was often taken quite directly from other people’s artwork. His image of Mary Magdalene at Nynehead, Somerset was reproduced from a popular book published in 1848. Like many of his contemporaries, he re-used his designs in different churches and the Mary Magdalene design had previously been used by him for a window in West Buckland. Likewise, all three scenes in the main window at Clatworthy in Somerset had previously been used at West Buckland, Somerset. CareerWhilst stained glass became an increasingly important part of Toms’ business from the late 1840s, it was never his sole source of income. At Clatworthy he also painted the Commandments Boards for the Church. He was a multi-skilled artisan who was given the opportunity to express his enterprise and skills by the church, an opportunity he clearly grasped with both hands. From his first windows in Devon in 1842 to those he made during the 1860s, Toms showed great progression. By the 1850s he had learned how to produce large-scale designs, and his work became increasingly more delicate. Whilst his early works may have been iconographic expressions of the ecclesiastical doctrines of his patrons, by the 1850s commissioning a stained glass window had become less of a rarity. Toms’ designs thus became more mainstream and pictorial, typically depicting scenes from the life of Christ as at Clatworthy. By now he was well known in West Somerset and less dependent on those with a particular ecclesiological message. He clearly also benefited from increased church building and restoration work from the 1840s and 1850s onwards. References |
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