Sculptor and stained glass designer. John Richard Clayton was from a peripatetic family, originating in the north of England, and began his career making sculptural models. He also worked as a book illustrator and designed stained glass from the early 1850s. He spent a few months at the Royal Academy Schools in 1849, where he met Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other young Pre-Raphaelite artists. Through the architect George Gilbert Scott he met Alfred Bell, who was one of Scott's pupils. He began working with Bell, and the firm Clayton & Bell went on to become one of the most prolific stained glass manufacturers and church decorators in England. He continued to work independently as a sculptor and draughtsman, and designed the mosaics for Scott's Albert Memorial in 1872. The wealth derived from the success of Clayton & Bell allowed him to develop his own art collections. He was also influential as an advisor and had many friends among leading churchmen.
