Glass of the Maharajahs - Corning Museum of Glass

Design for stained glass
window depicting the
Irish saints Dolough
and Columba, pencil
and watercolor. Harry
Clarke, 1924.
The archive of the Cummings Stained Glass
Studios was the largest donation to the Library
this year. It is the gift of Bill and Judy Cummings,
the most recent owners and managers
of the studio. While this comprehensive collection
stands out by virtue of its size (it occupies
1,000 cubic feet), it also offers a priceless
record of 0th-century stained glass as told
through a studio that was in operation from
19 8 to 006. It contains thousands of items,
from original drawings and cartoons to photographs
and slides. Vendor and client files
provide details on the processes involved in
making stained glass, from commission to installation.
Based for much of its existence in
the San Francisco Bay area, the studio made
many of its pieces for buildings located in the
western United States. In more recent years,
Mr. and Mrs. Cummings worked in North
Adams, Massachusetts, and restoration became
part of the studio’s services. We are indebted
to them for this most generous gift, which will
enrich our collection and the experience of researchers
who come to Corning to use it.
Thanks to the kindness of Mrs. Alice Wilson,
the size of her late husband’s archive grew this
year. Kenneth M. Wilson published extensively
4
on American glass, and he was an honorary
Fellow of our Museum. He spent 10 years of
his career as curator, assistant director, and
chief curator in Corning. We are pleased to add
another group of his research materials to the
Library’s resources.
Ruth Summers, the former owner of the
Kurland/Summers Gallery of contemporary
glass in Los Angeles, gave us the gallery’s correspondence,
a collection of artists’ slides, and
other items. This gift adds to the collection of
artists’ notebooks that she donated in 001.
Ms. Summers operated the gallery from 198
until it closed in 199 . Some of the artists she
represented were Jane Bruce, Dan Dailey, Richard
Marquis, Klaus Moje, Joel Philip Myers,
Mark Peiser, Colin Reid, and Ann Wolff. This
archive adds considerably to our resources on
contemporary glass.
Among the art works we acquired in 006
is an original design by the Irish stained glass
artist and illustrator Harry Clarke (1889–
19 1). It offers two drawings that are housed
in the same frame. One is intricately detailed
in pencil, while the other is a rich watercolor.
They depict the Irish saints Dolough and Columba.
The pencil drawing is signed by Clarke