Collections

Untitled; Girl Guides 50th Jubilee

Artist: Wilson, William, OBE RSA RSW · 1905-1972Creator: Whalen, Alexander Carrick · 1935-2014

Untitled; Girl Guides 50th Jubilee

The window for which this is the original cartoon alongside its companion [RSA 2018.027] marked Whalen's very first commission for St Mark's Church,…

The window for which this is the original cartoon alongside its companion [RSA 2018.027] marked Whalen's very first commission for St Mark's Church, Raploch, Stirling, to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Girl Guides Association. Both windows which are side by side on the Church's West wall, were unveiled and dedicated on 1961-05-28.

At the time he was just 26 years of age and was working as an assistant in William Wilson's stained-glass studio on Belford Mews, having been taken on a decade earlier.

It has been suggested, but without corroboration, that the drawing may have been carried out by another of Wilson's assistants, Douglas Saunders.

1960, when this window was in course of creation, marked the year that Wilson tragically went blind, as a result of his diabetic condition.

Thus, whilst he remained in charge of his studio and still played a seminal role in dictating designs and colour schemes, from this point onwards the actual work was undertaken by his group of trusted assistants.

Carrick Whalen's father was the Leith-born sculptor Thomas Whalen RSA, a near contemporary of Wilson's and whose paths often crossed.

The window for which this is the original cartoon alongside its companion [RSA 2018.030] marked Whalen's very first commission for St Mark's Church, Raploch, Stirling, to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Girl Guides Association. Both windows which are side by side on the Church's West wall, were unveiled and dedicated on 1961-05-28.

At the time he was just 26 years of age and was working as an assistant in William Wilson's stained-glass studio on Belford Mews, having been taken on a decade earlier.

It has been suggested, but without corroboration, that the drawing may have been carried out by another of Wilson's assistants, Douglas Saunders.

1960, when this window was in course of creation, marked the year that Wilson tragically went blind, as a result of his diabetic condition.

Thus, whilst he remained in charge of his studio and still played a seminal role in dictating designs and colour schemes, from this point onwards the actual work was undertaken by his group of trusted assistants.

Carrick Whalen's father was the Leith-born sculptor Thomas Whalen RSA, a near contemporary of Wilson's and whose paths often crossed.

© Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture