My Visit with Patrick Hogan
By Randal J. Loy
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Read Article 1: The Amazing Hand of God |
After the Choir Tour of Ireland, Wales and Oxford last year, I remained in London for four days. On Tuesday, August 8, 2006, I met with Patrick Hogan, grandson of James Hogan, who designed the magnificent Powell & Sons (Whitefriars) windows in the Chancel and the Nunc Dimittis window at the East end of the South wall.
James
Humphries Hogan, R.D.I. (1883-1948), devoted his life to Powell &
Sons, in London, England, beginning at the age of 15 in 1898, when
he was apprenticed to the firm. He trained at Westminster
School of Art, Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, and the L.C.C.
Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, where he studied
graphic design, stained glass and vessel glass techniques. He
won major prizes during his art education. Hogan was appointed
Art Director of Powell & Sons in 1928 and then Chief Designer and
Managing Director in 1933, and held those posts until his death in
1948. In 1938, he was awarded the honor "Designer for Industry
of the Royal Society of Arts", (abbreviated "R.D.I.").
He designed windows for many great English Cathedrals, including the
two windows in the great central space of Liverpool Cathedral, which
are each 100 feet tall, and windows at Hereford, Rochester, Exeter,
Carlisle and Winchester Cathedrals. Hogan designed many
windows for churches in the United States, including Saint Thomas
Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Hogan designed a
group of commemorative bowls which were presented to King George V
at his Silver Jubilee in May, 1935.
He
visited Grace and Holy Trinity in December of 1929, and met with the
committee responsible for the restoration of the Nave after the
disastrous fire of March, 1929. The committee had already
decided to retain the original dedications of the Chancel windows
destroyed in the fire, and with Hogan they discussed various
possible subjects for the new windows. A "Life of Christ"
series was finally chosen. The next day, Hogan spent the
entire morning "measuring up" the window openings in the Chancel and
the first window opening from the East end of the South wall.
Because Henry DeLancy Ashley (1856-1938), a member of the Vestry and
of the Restoration committee, had earnestly spoken to James Hogan
about wanting to commission another window for the lunette over the
Tower Door, Hogan also measured that opening. (Nothing came of
the intention Mr. Ashley expressed to James Hogan, and the lunette
over the Tower Door did not receive a stained glass insert until
1945. It was the last piece of stained glass placed in the
Nave, and one of the last windows executed by the stained glass
artist Charles J. Connick (1875-1945) of Boston.)
Before the commission was awarded to Powell & Sons, Hogan was required to submit a design for one of the windows, so that the committee could view his treatment of the stained glass medium. This came about as a result of a Powell & Sons window that had been installed in 1927 in our sister church, St. Paul's, at 40th and Main Streets. Several of the members of the committee did not care for the St. Paul's window, and were skeptical that James Hogan could produce anything better. What those committee members did not understand was the fact that the Vestry of St. Paul's had specifically requested that the Powell & Sons window be made to look as though it had been fabricated by the Jacoby Art Glass Company of St. Louis. (Why they did not simply ask Jacoby to make the window remains a mystery. Jacoby Art Glass Company was active until 1970, and it was only one year earlier, in 1926, that the Jacoby firm had produced the Madonna window in the Nave of Grace and Holy Trinity Church. However, we do know that none of the stained glass artists at Powell & Sons, including James Hogan, would stoop to design a window in what they considered to be an inferior style, and so the window had been given to a free-lance stained glass artist in London to design!) The committee also instructed Hogan that blue should be the predominant color of the windows. The required design was produced in New York City on December 17, 1929, and forwarded to the committee. The order for the seven windows was placed with Powell & Sons in London on January 2, 1930. The completed windows arrived in Kansas City in July, 1930, and their installation was completed on September 15, 1930. They were dedicated on Sunday morning, October 26, 1930. The stained glass window department of Powell & Sons firm ceased operations in 1973.
Patrick
was born in 1940, and does not remember his father, Edmond
(1910-1945). Edmond Hogan also worked for Powell & Sons from
1930 to 1936, and probably was responsible for the cartoons, or
full-sized patterns, used to fabricate the Chancel windows from the
small, to-scale designs done by James Hogan. When Edmond
returned from military service at the end of World War II, he was
immediately hospitalized with an illness, which claimed his life.
Patrick does remember his grandfather. James Hogan often took
Patrick to the Whitefriars factory in Wealdstone, on the outskirts
of London, where he watched the glassblowers at work, and sat
quietly beside his grandfather while he worked on designs for
stained glass windows. Patrick is actively involved in a
website dedicated to Whitefriars glassware, which is where I
discovered him in September of 2005, when I began my research on the
Chancel windows. We have been corresponding on his grandfather
and Whitefriars glass ever since.
In March of 2006, Patrick found on the Internet an article concerning James Hogan's windows in the United States, written by Dr. Dennis Hadley (b. 1932), a retired British physicist, who is an expert on James Hogan and Whitefriars glass. He contacted Dr. Hadley, who informed Patrick that his grandfather's travel diaries were in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Patrick then advised me to contact Dr. Hadley, who provided me with James Hogan's diary entries from 1929 and 1930 that pertained to Grace and Holy Trinity.
A few weeks before the Choir departed, Patrick excitedly wrote to me and advised that the staff of the London Museum, which is the repository for most of the Powell & Sons company records, had found in their inventory listing four of the original designs for our Chancel windows! However, a few days before we left for Ireland, Patrick informed me that the London Museum staff had searched for more than a month, and had not yet been able to locate the box containing those designs.
Patrick and I did not allow that to spoil our first meeting. We met at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where we viewed several of his grandfather's designs for windows and glass tiles. Patrick was viewing these designs for the first time. I found the intricate designs of James Hogan to be fascinating: in an area of less than three square inches, he created such small, complex designs that one almost needed a magnifying glass to fully appreciate them! Then Patrick showed me a small book on his grandfather's windows at Liverpool Cathedral, a 20th Century building, and told me he had brought the book for me to place in the Cathedral Archives with my materials on James Hogan and the Powell & Sons firm.
After
we viewed the designs, we went to a satellite research facility of
the Victoria & Albert Museum, where James Hogan's travel diaries are
stored. There, I was able to read the entries concerning Grace
and Holy Trinity from 1929 and 1930 in James Hogan's own hand!
It was a very moving experience for me. Patrick photographed
those entries and they have been placed on a disc, which is now in
the Cathedral Archives.
I found Patrick to be a bright, animated individual, and enjoyed our time together very much. His long hair is totally white, and stands out around his head much like a radiant nimbus from one of his grandfather's stained glass windows. His blue eyes sparkle behind the black frames of his glasses. Patrick proudly told me of his two daughters: one is a violinist, and the other is a television producer for the BBC.
Patrick
is also a very generous person. Before we parted, he presented
me with what he called a "small" gift. It was a champagne
glass, in a pattern designed by James Hogan for the English
embassies all over the world. This pattern was never produced
for the public, and is therefore quite rare. The stem of each
glass contains an air bubble in a perfectly round sphere just below
the cup of the glass. Patrick explained that this pattern was
so difficult to produce that there was only one glassblower at the
Whitefriars factory who could make it! I was very touched by
his gift and was reluctant to accept what I knew was an extremely
valuable piece of glassware, but he insisted I take it. He
said I was the only person who had ever inquired on the life and
work of his grandfather, and told me how much he appreciated what I
had done to keep his grandfather's memory alive in the United
States.
I am certain you will remember the horrifying news that came from the British government on Thursday, August 10, 2006. They had discovered a terrorist plot to smuggle explosive liquids onboard airline flights leaving from Heathrow Airport and going to the United States, for the sole purpose of murdering innocent American citizens. We were scheduled to leave from Heathrow Airport the very next morning, at 7:50 a.m. London time. I'm certain you can imagine how distressed I was when I learned that I would not be allowed to carry this priceless goblet with me onto the airplane from Heathrow Airport!
I knew there was absolutely no way this delicately-stemmed piece of glassware would safely make the journey in the cargo hold! I actually thought of telephoning Patrick and offering to return the glass, rather than risk its destruction. Then, I formulated a plan. Patrick had carefully wrapped the glass in a soft, Styrofoam packing shroud. I then loosely wrapped that package in a shirt and a pair of jeans. I placed that in one of our loosely-packed bags, and prayed. Through the mercy of God, my fervent prayers were answered, and it arrived here safely. It is proudly displayed in my home.
This experience was so very profound, that it was difficult to reduce to ink on paper. Here was an individual who knew nothing about me when I first contacted him just two years ago, and yet when we met, it was as if we were old friends meeting again after a separation of a year! Patrick not only freely gave me all the information he had on his grandfather's life and career, and on the Powell & Sons firm, but eagerly assisted me in finding additional information specifically on the making of the Cathedral's windows. He expended a great deal of time with the staff of the London Museum to find out if they had in their collection any of the original designs for our windows. He is still asking them to search for the missing box so that the original designs may be photographed and placed in the Cathedral Archives!
Is it any wonder, the beauty and majesty of God I see, each time I look at the Chancel windows?