The two stained glass windows shown here this morning are hidden wonders residing in the side wall of an old Victorian mansion on a quiet street downtown, about half way between the complex where I used to work and my oncologist's office. They provided me with contentment during my working days in the core of the city, and I still enjoy looking at them when I venture downtown, as I did a day or two ago.
Discovering the authentic Arts and Crafts windows for the first time was a serendipity experience. Pottering back to the office one day while held in the maw of a thorny technological problem, I glimpsed in passing what I thought was a bit of stained glass above and beyond a high cedar gate on Cooper Street. Unknown gates (and what lies behind them of course) always beckon irresistably, and I decided I had to investigate what lay beyond this one, then and there.
When I trotted through the gate, turned and looked up, there on a rosy old clay brick wall high above me were these two masterpieces. The first window shown here addresses a theme beloved of pre-Raphaelite painters, notably Victorian master John William Waterhouse and has a small insert in the lower right corner quoting from a poem by the seventeenth century poet, Robert Herrick, "Gather Ye Rosebuds". Both photos contain roses in the classic Charles Rennie Mackintosh motif, and the window in the second photo has a minute almost invisible lotus in each corner.
When I returned to the office later, my thorny problem had resolved itself entirely, a testament to the power of art and liminal moments to heal and resolve little issues in mundane life, and while I no longer remember the shape of my problem that day, these windows will be with me forever.
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
Robert Herrick
Discovering the authentic Arts and Crafts windows for the first time was a serendipity experience. Pottering back to the office one day while held in the maw of a thorny technological problem, I glimpsed in passing what I thought was a bit of stained glass above and beyond a high cedar gate on Cooper Street. Unknown gates (and what lies behind them of course) always beckon irresistably, and I decided I had to investigate what lay beyond this one, then and there.
When I trotted through the gate, turned and looked up, there on a rosy old clay brick wall high above me were these two masterpieces. The first window shown here addresses a theme beloved of pre-Raphaelite painters, notably Victorian master John William Waterhouse and has a small insert in the lower right corner quoting from a poem by the seventeenth century poet, Robert Herrick, "Gather Ye Rosebuds". Both photos contain roses in the classic Charles Rennie Mackintosh motif, and the window in the second photo has a minute almost invisible lotus in each corner.
When I returned to the office later, my thorny problem had resolved itself entirely, a testament to the power of art and liminal moments to heal and resolve little issues in mundane life, and while I no longer remember the shape of my problem that day, these windows will be with me forever.
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.
Robert Herrick
10 comments:
My first time here; enjoyed the images too - especially the leaves sticking out of the tree; it makes you look at it over and over again
Hello Cate,
I have been enjoying your beautiful woodland pictures and writings so much.
I wanted to tell you how intrigued I was to see your writing, "Gather ye Rosebuds - The Lotus and the Rose" because I have been thinking all this past week of Lotus and Rose. This was triggered by a small personal incident that caused me to remember a time when T.S.Eliot's "Four Quartets" was very important to me, and the charming, to me, fact that the person who introduced it to me thought that in these lines,
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
"lotos rose" was a noun, rather than a noun and verb. And I have never been entirely certain whether he was right or wrong, or if it mattered.
And I have been thinking what lovely words they are, lotus and rose, and how, if I could go back in time, I could have named a daughter "Lotus Rose. "
Thank you for the peace and beauty you give each morning.
Singne
(in Lotusland!)
You remind me that I need to spend some time in contemplation of art and beauty - Thorny problems press --- Thank you for the reminder
Love the photos!! The Gather Ye Rosebuds window is said to have been done by Alexander Gascoyne in 1906. I'd love to have seen it myself.
Thank you for putting this on the web.
Hello Cate
Please can you tell me where the "Gather Ye Rosebuds" window is to be found as it was made by my great great grandfather Alexander Gascoyne from Nottingham, England. We are trying to locate as many of his windows as possible.
Thankyou
Lynn, the window is in the side wall of a lovely old brick house on Cooper Street in downtown Ottawa (Ontario, Canada), just off Bank Street. There are smaller stained glass panels with corresponding motifs in the front windows.
Thank you so much for the quick reply. I'm going to have a look on google earth and see if I can find it. Any other information would be very much appreciated. Thanks again for your help.
Lynn
I shall see if I can hunt up a house number for you - could always go back and take a few more images.
Lynn, the house is just to the east of the small apartment block at 340 Cooper Street in downtown Ottawa. E-mail me, and I shall provide a photo of it. The window I wrote about is just behind the fence on the left wall.
Thank you for getting back with more information and for very kindly offering to take another photo. I managed to find the house on google earth and after a bit of detective work found a site called 'Photos of Lost Ottawa' where there is a photo of the house at 330 Cooper Street, taken in 1942 and it mentions the window. I think there may have been several of these windows made as I also found one up for auction in Monterey, California in 2010.
When we started looking for Alexander's windows we had no idea how far the search would take us.
To date we have located more than 50, mainly here in England but also in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA and this one in Canada which wouldn't have been possible without your help.
Many thanks once again and happy new year.
Lynn
p.s. I couldn't get through on your email link.
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