Mary Lowndes 1856 – 1929
Stained glass artist, suffragette.
30 December 1856 – 1929
Education
At home delivered by governesses.
1883-1886 Studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, Bloomsbury.
Worked and studied under stained-glass artist Henry Holiday.
Some Key Achievements and Interests until WW1
1885 Made her first stained-glass work, a memorial to her grandmother, installed at Sturminster Newton church.
Secured a studio and took her first commissions in collaboration with Britten and Gibson. Became one of the first women to work professionally in stained glass in England.
1887-92 Designed for James Powell and Sons.
1897 Co-founded (with Alfred Drury, head glazier at Britten and Gibson) the stained glass studio and workshop Lowndes and Drury in Chelsea which became an important centre for stained glass artists. It eventually moved to larger premises in Fulham in 1906 and was renamed The Glass House.
1909 Helped establish and became Chair of the Artists’ Suffrage League.
Acted on the committee of the London Society for Women’s Suffrage and the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies.
Created suffrage banners and wrote a guide to creating banners.
1910-1920 Contributed to The Englishwoman.
Issues
Suffered from chronic asthma.
Connection to Bloomsbury
Female Networks
Barbara Forbes and women networked with in her art and suffrage work.
Works include
1893 Stained glass window at Hinton St Mary, Dorset.
1898 Saints Peter and Paul, Shropham, Norfolk.
Legacy
Lowndes’s name and picture is on the plinth of the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square.
Further reading
Mary Lowndes: pioneering stained glass artist and advocate of women’s rights posted by Jasmine Allen 9/11/2022
https://artuk.org /discover/stories/mary-lowndes-pioneering-stained-glass-artist-and-advocate-of-womens-rights
Lowndes, Mary. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography