Mary Lowndes

Mary Lowndes (1857–1929) was a British stained-glass artist who co-founded the stained glass studio and workshop Lowndes and Drury in 1897. She was an influential leader in the Arts and Crafts movement, not only for her stained glass work and successful studio-workshop, but also for opening doors for other women stained glass artists. She was an active participant in the suffragette movement, acting as Chair of the Artists' Suffrage League, and creating poster art to assist the movement.

Early life and work

She was born in 1857, the daughter of Richard Lowndes, the rector of St Mary's Church, Sturminster Newton in Dorset, and his wife Annie Harriet Kaye. She received her art training at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. When Lowndes completed her art classes, she became an assistant to prominent stained glass designer, Henry Holiday. She worked at his studio-workshop where she drew cartoons (designs) for stained glass commissions. While working for Holiday, Lowndes taught herself the techniques of stained glass. The first window she painted was a two-light window titled "Feed my sheep", completed in 1893 for St Peter's church, Hinton St Mary, Dorset.

Lowndes lived and worked in Chelsea, where she had her own studio to work on designs, but there was no workshop nearby to complete her stained glass work. She would travel to Southwark, to the Britten and Gilson studio-workshop, where she would select the coloured glass for her commissions, paint the glass and supervise the firing and glazing of the windows. Lowndes worked as a stained glass designer for James Powell & Sons from 1887 to 1892.

Suffragette movement

Lowndes became involved in the Women's suffrage movement in the 1890s. In 1899, she attended the International Congress of Women in London. She became its chair and Barbara Forbes, her companion, was the secretary.

Between 1903 and 1914, the methods used by the women's suffrage movement began to change and they began to engage in public demonstrations and other propaganda activities. Lowndes' training as an artist and stained-glass designer encouraged the use of bold shapes and a love of full, rich colours, using striking combinations of green and blue, magenta and orange.

Lowndes was also personally active in the national Suffragette movement, including her leadership of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies executive committee.

She was a member of the committee of the feminist magazine The Englishwoman's Review and contributed regularly to it. Throughout her life, Lowndes suffered from chronic asthma.

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