Designer and maker of stained glass windows, and pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Christopher Whitworth Whall was the son of a clergyman and grew up in Thurning, Huntingdonshire. He studied painting at the Royal Academy Schools in London under Frederick Leighton. He designed for James Powell & Sons in the 1880s but was frustrated by the lack of supervision designers had over the execution of their windows. As a result, in the later 1880s Whall took it upon himself to learn all of the processes involved in the manufacture of stained glass, setting up his own studio and working with other smaller studios.
In the field of stained glass he had a profound effect as a practitioner, teacher (at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and later the Royal College of Art, in London) and writer (his book Stained Glass Work, published in 1905, remains profoundly influential to this day). His pupils and assistants included many of the most talented and influential stained glass artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, including his daughter Veronica Whall, who continued the work of his studio as Whall & Whall Ltd.
Mapping Sculpture entry
Wikipedia entry
