Virgin & Child glass panel, by John Hutton

An image of Studio Glass. Virgin & Child glass panel. Engraved glass panel. Hutton, John Campbell (British, 1906-1978). Rectangular clear glass panel with wheel-engraved design of Madonna and Child, the figures three-quarter length and full-frontal, the mother seated, the child’s knees drawn up onto her lap and her arms enclosing him. The features are quite stylised, but with form to the bodies. The heads are surrounded by spiky halos and the whole image framed by an inverted ‘V’ shaped line, representing a veil. The panel is framed in dark wood, with an integral metal stand. Hutton developed his own techniques to give his engravings the graininess and shading of chalk drawings rather than the clear and restrained lines of traditional glass etchings. First, he sketched in chalk on black paper (see PD.14-1982). Then, placing the sketch behind the panel, he engraved the outline using a dentist's drill adapted with a small grinding wheel and completed the image with a series of much larger stone wheels powered by an electric motor, controlling the dust with a moistened sponge. Parts of the design might be polished with felt and emery paper to reduce opacity or to enhance form. Sometimes the outlines would be masked off and sand blasted before the engraving. Clear glass panel engraved with wheels, height, frame, 71.3 cm, width, 41.5 cm, height, visible glass, 62 cm, width 32 cm, circa 1958. Notes: A similar but larger and full length panel is in the V & A collection. Production Notes: John Hutton (1906-1978) was born New Zealand and came to England in 1936, working mainly as a muralist. During wartime army service he met Basil Spence and Stephen Sykes, and later worked with them on the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral. Hutton designed and engraved sixty larger-than-life figures for the 21.5 metre-high glass Great West Wall; it took 10 years to complete the project, for which this panel may be a study. Other major glass engraving commissions followed, including Guildford Cath

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Studio Glass. Virgin & Child glass panel. Engraved glass panel. Hutton, John Campbell (British, 1906-1978). Rectangular clear glass panel with wheel-engraved design of Madonna and Child, the figures three-quarter length and full-frontal, the mother seated, the child’s knees drawn up onto her lap and her arms enclosing him. The features are quite stylised, but with form to the bodies. The heads are surrounded by spiky halos and the whole image framed by an inverted ‘V’ shaped line, representing a veil. The panel is framed in dark wood, with an integral metal stand. Hutton developed his own techniques to give his engravings the graininess and shading of chalk drawings rather than the clear and restrained lines of traditional glass etchings. First, he sketched in chalk on black paper (see PD.14-1982). Then, placing the sketch behind the panel, he engraved the outline using a dentist's drill adapted with a small grinding wheel and completed the image with a series of much larger stone wheels powered by an electric motor, controlling the dust with a moistened sponge. Parts of the design might be polished with felt and emery paper to reduce opacity or to enhance form. Sometimes the outlines would be masked off and sand blasted before the engraving. Clear glass panel engraved with wheels, height, frame, 71.3 cm, width, 41.5 cm, height, visible glass, 62 cm, width 32 cm, circa 1958. Notes: A similar but larger and full length panel is in the V & A collection. Production Notes: John Hutton (1906-1978) was born New Zealand and came to England in 1936, working mainly as a muralist. During wartime army service he met Basil Spence and Stephen Sykes, and later worked with them on the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral. Hutton designed and engraved sixty larger-than-life figures for the 21.5 metre-high glass Great West Wall; it took 10 years to complete the project, for which this panel may be a study. Other major glass engraving commissions followed, including Guildford Cath

Image data

Accession Number: C.2-2018
© Reproduced by permission of the Hutton estate. Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/19.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Andrew Norman
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 769 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 366.35kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 19/1

Key words

20th Century _WF_Copyright art glass Baby Jesus British School Christ Christ child Christianity Christmas clear glass Contemporary contemporary craft Coventry Cathedral engraved engraving Fitz_AA frame framed glass glass panel halo infant Christ Jesus John Hutton Madonna Madonna and child panel religion religious studio glass Virgin and Child Virgin Mary wheel engraved wheel engraving Xmas

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Virgin & Child glass panel, by John Hutton"
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