29 by 13in. (73.7 by 33cm)

Title: STAINED GLASS DOOR PANEL, 1938
Note: This stained glass door panel was commissioned from the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Studios by Mr Laurence Cassidy, Dublin on 12 November, 1938, and was erected by 23 December, 1938. 1 Prior to the formal commission, Mr R. C. Keefe, architect of Robinson and Keefe Architects, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin initially approached the Clarke Studios on the client's behalf. Laurence Cassidy lived in 'Laurleen,' Galloping Green, Bray Road, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin.2 His frequent visits to Bewley's Oriental Café in Grafton Street, Dublin, resulted in Harry Clarke's stained glass windows for the 'Four single light decorative windows depicting the Corinthian, Doric, Ionic and Composite Orders of Architecture (1928), providing the inspiration for the panel of his hall door at his home.3 Correspondence between Mr R. C. Keefe and Richard King (1907-74) who was Principal Designer from 1931-40 and Manager of the Clarke Studios from 1935-40, makes clear that 'the design' would be 'on the lines of the Bewley panels.'4 It is possible that this may be the first stained glass door panel where the design and decoration were influenced by the Clarke windows in Bewley's, Dublin.The stained glass door panel or leadlight took some time to make due to the 'aciding away of the coloured flash from all the glass' and cost £14.0.0.5 A colour sketch for the panel TCD MS 11182-605, executed in pencil, watercolour, gouache and ink on tracing paper shows some changes between this sketch and the finished door panel. On the right side of this sketch are the words 'Try initial C in centre.' The handwriting is that of Richard King. As Manager and Principal Designer at the Clarke Studios, he occasionally made notes on his own drawings, but also on those by other artists. The finished door panel naturally displays more of the influence of the Clarke windows in Bewley's than the colour sketch. Nicola Gordon Bowe describing Clarke's Bewley windows states the following: 'The black leafy tendrils disguising the leads- a device already seen in the decorative lunettes above The Eve of St Agnes window - are interspersed with exotic birds, butterflies, flowers and marine creatures acided against a lightly painted clear background as though suspended in a parchment solution. The black lacy borders punctuated with small beads of colour are echoed in the two decorative windows overlooking Swan Alley.'6 Some (although not necessarily all) of the elements noted here are also applicable to the door panel. The large C in the centre of the panel signifies the name Cassidy. The panel which is beautiful, shows the design, decoration and wonderful colour sense of the Clarke Studio artists. Ruth Sheehy MLitt, Department of the History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin. 1. Stained Glass Orders Book, 1926-50, Clarke MSS, TCD MS 6060, Letter and Statement of Account from Richard King to Messrs Robinson & Keefe, Architects, 8, Merrion Square Dublin, 31 January, 1939, Clarke MSS, TCD MS 6010 (1937-39).2. Letter from William Dowling to Mr L. Cassidy, Esq., 'Laurleen,' Galloping Green, Bray Road, Stillorgan,1 September, 1949, Clarke MSS, TCD MS 6017 (1949).3. Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke, The Life & Work, (Dublin: The History Press Ireland, 2012), 315.4. Letter from Richard King to R.C. Keefe, Architect, 8 Merrion Square, Dublin, 11 October, 1938, Clarke MSS, TCD MS 6010, (1937-39).5. Letters from Richard King to R.C. Keefe, Architect, 8, Merrion Square, Dublin, 8 & 27 October, 1938, and Statement of Account from Richard King to Messrs Robinson & Keefe, Architects, 8, Merrion Square, Dublin, 31 January, 1939, Clarke MSS, TCD MS 6010 (1937-39).6. Nicola Gordon Bowe, Harry Clarke The Life & Work, op. cit., 271.Information and correspondence from the Harry Clarke MSS TCD MS 6060, 6010 and 6017 and colour sketch TCD MS11182-605 in Manuscripts and Archives, Trinity College Library are kindly cited and reproduced courtesy of the Board of Trinity College Dublin.We are grateful to Ken and Muriel Ryan of The Abbey Stained Glass Studios, for their kind assistance and advice concerning this piece.

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