LABOURS ON THE MONTH- AUGUST, THRESHING
Brief description: Stained glass rectangular panel depicting a male figure threshing grain, representing the month of August. In the right-hand corner of the border is a small depiction of the Virgin Mary reading, likely intended to represent the Zodiac sign Virgo, whose symbol is a Virgin. Designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and made by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company in 1863
Stained glass panel depicting a male figure threshing grain using a flail. The labourer is wearing a green tunic, brown trousers and sleeves and a hat. This stained-glass panel was designed by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) and was part of a complete set of twelve Labours of the Months designed and made for the drawing room of Silsden House, Keighley. Silsden House was designed by the architect Norman Shaw for Charles Hastings, a Bradford textile manufacturer. The source for the Labours was probably a medieval manuscript or almanac. Another panel from this source:March, A Woodcutter, is in the collection of the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow. Although the glass was removed before Silsden was demolished in 1903, the rest of the series is untraced. Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), who is better known for his Pre-Raphaelite paintings, also designed stained glass windows for the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (later Morris & Co.) for a short period between 1861 and 1864. The firm also used these designs on tiles and a complete set of Labours of the Month can be seen in the fireplace tiles in the Old Hall at Queens' College, Cambridge, decorated by Morris and Co. in 1862-1864.
Object type: stained glass panel
Number of objects: 1
Production date: 1863
Production period: 19th century, mid
Designer: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 - 1882)
Manufacturer: Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company
Dimensions: Height: 425 mm, Width: 275 mm
Original location: Silsden House Keighley Yorkshire England drawing room Silsden House
Acquisition: gift 2001
Acquisition source: Godlee, Nicholas
Accession number: ELYGM:2002.1
