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Stained Glass Artists and Studios in Canada

Canada's Great Glass Houses


 The list of Canadian stained glass artists and studios for ecclesiastical and domestic use is limited but of high quality. Following is an initial list and more will be added as photographs of their glass are taken. 

FIRM/STUDIO & DATE ESTD.
LOCATION
COMMENTS
Robert McCauland Ltd. Est. 1856
Toronto
The Toronto firm of Robert McCaustland Ltd., founded in 1856 by Joseph McCausland (1828-1905), is the oldest stained glass studio in the Western Hemisphere and was the leader in the development of 19th century stained glass in Toronto. Robert McCausland (1856-1923) was the artist who made the firm's reputation in stained glass.  McCausland studio not only pursued its own course of evolution in the context of the Gothic Revival in architecture, but provided the training ground for generations of artists and craft specialists who began to set up their own studios. The McCausland firm has made two-thirds of the stained glass in Canada. It is still functioning today.​
N. T. Lyon Glass Studie, 1880s
Toronto
Nathaniel Theodore Lyon was associated with Joseph McCausland as early as 1868, and who had set up his own independent stained glass studio in the 1880s. N.T. Lyon's studio flourished until the end of the 1920s, and succumbed to the tribulations of the Great Depression in the 1930s. As the end, the Lyon studio was absorbed back into the McCausland firm.

Dominion Stained Glass Studio
This studio use extensively enamel painting.
Luxfer Prism Studios, 1928
Toronto
Edwards Glass, 1990
London, ON
William Meikle, 1900-1940
David Johnson, 1970s
Saskatchewan (Regina & Tyvan)
1970s - 1992
Christopher Wallis Studio, 1950
Grand Bend, ON
Active
Colonial Art Glass Co.
Ottawa
1921-1947
John Charles Spence (started 1857)
J. C. Spence & Sons ( est. 1880)
Montreal
1857-1890
Hobbs, Mfg, Co Ltd  Stained Glass
London - Montreal - Toronto
1904 - 1932
Luxfer Prism Co
c. 1910
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933)
Montreal
Only work in Canada ordered in 1896 by the American Presbyterian Church, now part of Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 
Delphis-Adolphe Beaulieu (1849-1928
Montreal
1872 - 1910. Became Beaulieu, David & Bouthillier.

Click on image to enlarge

Picture
Map of Canada and its provinces and territories


Ontario Sites

Picture
Lessons from Old & New Testaments, c.1908-1923. Toronto.
Picture
Memorial Window, c. 1908-1923.Toronto.

A number of window panels in St. Anne's Church, Toronto by (1) N.T. Lyon & Sons, (2), Luxfer Prism Co and (3) & Robert McCausland Ltd.

Lessons from Old & New Testaments
Bottom L to R: Angel; Christ & Children (3); St. Stephen (3); Good Samaritan; Angel of light (3).
Top L to R: Lost piece of money; Saving Peter; Lost Sheep.

Memorial Window
Bottom L to R: Sword & Wreath; (3);(3);NA;Sword & Wreath.
Top L to R: Union Jack (2); Abraham & Isaac (2); St. George; Mary; Canadian Ensign (2).

Picture
Canaidan Red Ensign, c 1920 version

Osgoode Hall, Toronto

Picture
Title: "Beavers and Star of David" - Stained Glass Panel on Ceiling, c.1844. RN: A1-9975. Location: Osgoode Hall, Toronto.

Convocational Hall, Osgoode Hall. Stained glass by Christopher Wallis (b. 1930), Christopher Wallis Studio, Grand Bend, Ontario

​Windows on law in light and glass Installed 1986-1989.

Picture
Title: English Heritage RN: A1-9284 Location: Toronto
Picture
Title: Canadian Heritage RN: A1-9308. Location: Toronto

East Block, Canadian Parliament

Picture
Title: Trillium Window, c 1870s. RN: A1-3555. Location: East Block, Canadian Parliament.
Picture
Title: Stained Glass Window, East Block, Canadian Parliament, c 1886. RN: A1-3545.

Images for educational purposes only

Picture
Title: Naturalistic Design, early 1900s RN: A1-7286. Location: Nature Science Museum, Ottawa.

Works of European Artists in Canada

  GEDDES OTTAWA WINDOW  -  GREATEST STAINED WINDOW IN CANADA

The Church of St. Bartholomew in Ottawa is located across the street from Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General in Canada.

Great East Memorial Stained Glass Window, c.1919  -  Church of Saint Bartholomew, Ottawa. Founded in 1868.

Titled "The Welcoming of a Slain Warrior by Soldier Saints, Champions and Angles", was designed and made by Wilhelmina Geddes, Irish Artist, 1887-1955, a member of Dublin's collective stained glass studio, An Tur Gloine. Her only commission in North America, the window is now recognized internationally an an exceptional work of memorial art. In art circles it is known as the Geddes "Ottawa" Window. The window is regarded by experts as the finest stained glass window in Canada.

Picture
Title: Duke of Connaught's Memorial Window, Ottawa, c. 1919.. RN: A1-4751. Location: St. Bart's Church, Ottawa
Picture
Title: Main Panel of the "Ottawa" Memorial Window. RN: A1-4881.

After his return to England, The great "Ottawa" Memorial Window was commissioned in 1919 by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (Governor General of Canada, 1911-1916) in memory of Canadian members of his personal staff who fell in WW1. It was unveiled by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward V111, in Ottawa on November 9, 1919 while he was in Ottawa to lay the stone of the rebuilt Parliament Buildings.

Picture
Title: Central Panel, Ottawa Memorial Window. Order No.: A1-4791. Location: St. Bartholomew Church. Ottawa.
The "Ottawa Window" window was revealed at St. Bartholomew Church, Ottawa, in 1919 by HRH the Prince of Wales. The window was commissioned in 1916 by Queen Victori's son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, who was Canada's Governor General at the time. This world class masterpiece is also considered by many as the finest window in Canada. 

The window is a memorial depicting images of mounting men and women. Wilhelmina Geddes uses primitive colours in her Ottawa window. It is said by an observer that the colours used in this piece "give the window power and drama while strong, expressive drawing brings out the sense of action and facial expression." An article in Irish Life featured the window on the cover of its Christmas 1919 issue. Geddes completed the entire window in Miss Pursor's glass works, Upper Pembroke Street in Dublin, Ireland (Wikipedia).

Wilhelmina Geddes, the illustrious Irish glass master, spent over two years creating this brilliant memorial to the dead of the Great War. Life size legendary warriors occupy the  upper panels, symbolizing the men sent to the war. Below them, excite portrayals of mourning women - mother, sisters and lovers left behind in sorrow - fill the border with grief.  The full 2019 article on this window is the Broadview Magazine below.

Triptych - Warrior Saints


Picture

Names of Warrior Saints

Left:  St. Raphael (guardian of travellers and healer of kindness), St. Gabriel (the Angel of Resurrection); between them the slain warrior (representing the 10 Canadian members of Rideau Hall staff killed)

Centre:  St Longinus, St Sebastien, St. Martin (all Roman Soldiers martyred for their Christian faith), They march to meet the new arrival (the slain warrior). Centurian with Christ on the Cross depicted.

Right: A further trio of soldiers saints advances to greet the slain warrior: St. Edmund (9th century king of the East Angles, martyred by the Danes for refusing to renounce Christianity), Jeanne d'Arc, Louis 1X (saintly 13 century King of France).
​
Picture
Title: Right Panel, Ottawa Memorial Window. Order No.: A1-4906. Location: St. Bartholomew Church, Ottawa.

Picture
Title: Pennant of Warrior Saint depicting the Centurian with Christ on the Cross. Order No.: A1-0617. Location: St. Bartholomew Church, Ottawa.

Broadview Magazine, November 2019

"The Ottawa Window", a Masterpiece by Wilhelmina Geddes, 1919

Story "Precious Glass" first appeared in Broadview's November 2019 issue. Church of St. Bartholomew houses a stained glass masterpiece. Photos by David Clendenning. Go to: broadview.org/stained-glass-wilhelmina-geddes/

precious_glass_broadview_mag._nov._2019._photos-_david_clendenning_ottawa.pdf
File Size: 2252 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


All Saints Church, Ottawa (now a private property)


Picture
Title: Katherine Lewis SG Memorial Window, 1956-58. Order No. A1-3763. Location: Ottawa
Picture
Title: Nicholson Memorial Window. Mfg. N. T. Lyon Co, Toronto, 1921. Order No.: A1-3766. Location: Ottawa.

Picture
Title: Russell-Woods Window. Died at Battle of Somme, 1916, 1st Batt. Coldstream Guards. Order No: A1-3767. Location: Ottawa.
Picture
Title: Rev. A. W. MacKay window, c.1919. Mfg. Colonial Art Glass, Ottawa. Order No.: A1-3768. Location: Ottawa.

Picture
Title: Edric H. Read Window, 16th Sad RFC, 1917. Mfg Colonial Art Glass Co. Order No.: A1-3772. Location: Ottawa
Picture
Title: James Codvieel & J. Carrington Window, c.1920. Mfg Colonial Art Glass, Ottawa. Order No.: A1-3774. Location: Ottawa.

Picture
Title: Robert Laird Borden Window, PM of Canada 1911-1920. Mfg Hobbs Glass, 1939. Order No.: A1-3777. Location: Ottawa.
Picture
Title: Main Window, All Saints Church. Order No.: A1-3780. Location: Ottawa

Picture
Title: Bates SG in Sanctuary. From left #1. Order No.: A1-3781. Location: All Saints Church, Ottawa Location:
Picture
Title: James Christie Window, 1881-1893. Sanctuary #2. Order No.: A1-3782. Location: All Saints, Ottawa

Picture
Title: D. Charles Window. Sanctuary #3. Mfg J. C. Spence & Sons, Montreal. Order No.: A1-3783. Location: All Saints, Ottawa
Picture
MacDonnell Window, Sanctuary #5. Order No. A1-3788. Location: All Saints, Ottawa.

Picture
Bronze Memorial Plaque amongst many displayed on the walls in the main church hall

Eastern Ontario Sites

Architectural Details and Studio Signatures

Photo-History Book on The Church of the Sacred Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Wolfe Island, Ontario, 2018. Photos by David Clendenning, Ottawa.

Picture
Over the summers of 2017 and 2018, David Clendenning collaborated with the Sacred Heart of Mary Church on Wolfe Island (just off Kingston, Ontario) to produce a wonderful photo book on the history of this 20th century Roman Catholic church. The history of this  island settlement church (1820-2018) began with its first wooden church built in 1852, followed by a second stone church constructed in 1872. In 1916-17, a new and much larger stone church with its soaring Gothic architecture and splendid stained glass windows was built, designed by Power & Son, Architects in Kingston.

"Through the providence of parishioners and clergy a century ago, 29 {full sized} stained glass windows grace Sacred Heart of Mary Church today". Biblical scenes and the lives of the saints are depicted in their multi-coloured panes.

"Many have pondered the cost of construction and the colourful ornate stained glass windows during such a complex economic time in Canadian history. How could island families, including still more immigrants, with many mouths to feed, then dealing with the wars and the Depression pay for such extravagance? But somehow the fundraising, family donations, bequests, pew rents, Sunday offering and special collections paid off the debt by 1946".


Book viewed for educational purposed only

​
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.

Picture
Title: Painted Stained Glass, c1917. Sacred Heart of Mary Church, Wolfe Island, ON. RN: A1-7680.
PictureTitle: Signature of N.T. Lyon Glass studio (1880s-1930) in bottom right of the panel.
 The art and craft of stained glass window manufacturing in Canada came into its own in the 1850s

Most of the stained glass in the Sacred Heart of Mary Church on Wolfe Island were actually made in Canada.

Nineteen of the 29 windows in the church are signed  by the Toronto studio "N.T. Lyon Co.", in the lower right-hand cornor. These windows are not dated. The variation in styles among those signatures could suggest that the windows were not all produced at the same time.


Most elaborate stained glass windows often included architectural details simulating the carved canopies over statuary. Canopy styles were visual trademarks for their designers, as each stained glass studio had its own. Lyon canopies in gothic style, for example, included fleshy leaves of a type not seen in McCausland work. In turn, Luxfer also had its own style, different from either McCausland or Lyon.

Typically, the stained glass windows in churches like Sacred Heart of May Church have been installed as a memorial. Sadly, many parish histories provide far more information on the donors and donnas of their stained glass than on the studios which designed, assemblies and installed them. The origins of windows where the studio name are missing or concealed are easily recognizable through stylistic comparison with those that are signed. 


Picture
Title: Brebeuf-Jogues, Canadian Stained Glass, c.1917, N.T.Lyon, Toronto. RN: A1-7711. Location: Sacred Heart of Mary Church, Wolfe Island, Ontario
Picture
Title: Religious Panel, Canadian Stained Glass, c.1917, N.T. Lyon, Toronto. RN: A1-7779. Location: Sacred Heart of Mary Church, Wolfe Island, Ontario.

Click on images to enlarge

Saint Ablan's Loyalist Church, Adophoustown, Ontario

Picture
Title: Stained Glass, c1883. RN: A1-1520 Location: St. Alban's Church
Picture
Title: Stained Glass by Edwards Glass, London, Ontario. RN: A1-1449. Location: St. Alban's Loyalist Church.


Picture
Title: Stained Glass Windows in Alter. Order No.: A1-2255. Location: Kingston, Ontario.

Quebec Sites

Montreal

Picture
Title: Stained Glass Window. RN: A1-4075. Location: St James, Montreal
Picture
Title: WW 1 Memorial Window. RN: A1-9030. Country: St James, Montreal.

Modern


Picture
Title:Still Life, glass, lead. Marius Plamdondon, 1958 RN: A1-1708. Location: MMFA, Montreal.
Picture
Title: Flower Arrangement, glass, c 1900s RN: A1-1785. Location: Forget House, Montreal.

British Columbia Sites

Picture
Title: Stained Glass of Mountain Scene, SS Moyie, Steam wheeler, c. 1898. RN: A1-5368. Location: Nelson, BC.

Stained Glass in the English Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec City (c.1800-1804), Palladian architecture.

Picture
Title: Stained Glass, #1 Order No.: A1-3967. Location: English Church, Quebec City.
Picture
Title: Stained Glass, #2. Order No.: A1-3968. Location: English Church, Quebec City.

Picture
Title: Stained Glass, #3. Order No.: A1-3970. Location: Quebec City.
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Stained Glass, #4. Order No.: A1-3971. Location: Quebec City.

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Stained Glass central panel of alter. Order No.: A1-3975. Location: English Church, Quebec.
Picture
Title: Stained Glass #6, by J.C Spence & Sons. Order No.: A1-3976. Location: English Church, Quebec.

Picture
Stained-glass, #8. By Heaton, Butler & Bayne, (1852-1953), London, Eng. Order No.: A1-3981. Location: English Church, Quebec.
Picture
_DSC3982 Stained Glass #9.. By Heaton, Butler & Bayne (1852-1953). Order No.: A1-3982. location: English Church, Quebec. London, Eng., denoise copy

Picture
Title: Murray Bay Protestant Church, founded in 1866. Order No.: A1-4119. Location: La Malbaie.
Picture
_DSC4077 Title:Tiffany Glass Window, c. 1915. Order No.: A1-4077. Location: Murray Bay Protestant Church, La Malbaie-Murray Bay Community.

Murray Bay Protestant Church, La Malbaie  -  The Tiffany Stained Glass
The Church's famous Tiffany stained-glass is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Samuel Beach Jones (1842-1910), a physician from New York City and a summer resident of Murray Bay.  The satined-glass made by Louis C. Tiffany was installed in 1915, thanks to Rose Tiffany, owner of the La Rose on the Boulevard des Falaises (on road to the Fairmont Manoir Richleau Hotel) . This is one of only three sites in Canada having Tiffany stained-glass.

La Malbaie region of Charlevoix was once the vacation province of wealthy American families and international celebs like Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and the king of Siam. A young William Howard Taft visited here is 1892 and remarked on its wonderful air quality, and made it his destination for the rest of his life. The French-Canadian villages known collectively as Murray Bay were the nexus of the "Newport of the North" and enjoyed a lively heyday from the 1870s into the 1950s. 

Nova Scotia Sites

PictureTitle: Deportation of the Acadians. RN: A1-9663, Location: Grand Pre Memorial Church, NS.
History Etched in Glass
The installation of the stained-glass window in 1985 fulfilled the Acadian community's dream of having a window grace the front of the the Memorial Church in Grand Pre to commemorate the deportation of their ancestors in 1755.. Designed by artist Terry Smith-Lamonthe of Louisiana Cadien descent.














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