Painter and stained-glass designer, of Dublin, for a full biography and study of whom, see John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996).(1) Sarah Purser, a painter by training, had a keen interest in the development of all the visual arts in Ireland. She established and, until 1927, owned the stained glass studio, An Tur Gloine (The Glass Tower), at 24 Upper Pembroke Street, which opened on 1 January 1903 under the direction of ALFRED ERNEST CHILDALFRED ERNEST CHILD . Although she was later at pains to stress that she was not a stained glass artist herself, in the early days of the studio she designed and at least partially painted a number of windows. However the division of labour did not accord with her Arts and Crafts philosophy, and, as she enrolled new recruits to her team of glassmakers, she gradually withdrew from design work. In 1927, when Purser had finally been repaid out of the profits of the studio the entire amount she had spent on establishing it, An Tur Gloine became a co-operative, with Purser as a shareholder. The co-operative was dissolved in 1944, a year after Purser's death.
See WORKS for windows designed by Purser.
References
(1) For her stained glass, see pp. 93-107, 'A practical patriot and her tower of glass'. See also Nicola Gordon Bowe, 'Early Twentieth-Century Irish stained glass in context' in Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 11-27.
16 work entries listed in chronological order for PURSER, SARAH HENRIETTA *
Window, 'St John the Evangelist, Madonna & Child, Cormac, King and Bishop, Coronation of the Virgin', painted by A.E. Child, Michael Healy & Catherine O'Brien.
Refs:
Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 74; John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996), 246
Windows, 'St Ita' (1904), painted by Catherine O'Brien; The Passion' (1908) and 'Nativity' (1912), both painted by A.E. Child; panel in porch, 'St Brendan', painted by SP herself.
Refs:
Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 57; John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996), 244-5,252-3
Chapel windows, 'St Michael' and 'St Elizabeth', both painted by Catherine O'Brien.
Refs:
Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 54; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 279; John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996), 248
Window by An Túr Gloine, 'Cormac of Cashel', painted by A.E. Child. Cartoon by SP.
Refs:
Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 46; John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996), 251; Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 619.
Windows, 'Scenes from the lives of SS Patrick, Columba and Brigid' (1909), painted by Catherine O'Brien; 'Scenes from the lives of SS Fainchea and Enda' (1908), painted by Barden
Refs:
Bowe, Caron & Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass(1988), 66; John O'Grady, The Life and Work of Sarah Purser(1996), 252