Glencairn Museum News | Number 7, 2020
Winfred S. Hyatt at work, designing the white peacock mosaic for Glencairn’s “Bird Room.”
Figure 1: Winfred Hyatt, Raymond Pitcairn, and Theodore Pitcairn in the south porch of Bryn Athyn Cathedral (1915).
Winfred Sumner Hyatt (1891–1959) was the preeminent stained-glass artist for Bryn Athyn Cathedral, and later Glencairn, designing and painting the majority of the windows in these monumental buildings. He also designed most of the mosaics in Glencairn. Hyatt was extremely versatile; in addition to his work designing stained-glass windows and mosaics, he also drew in a variety of media, painted in watercolors and oils, and designed a number of religious dioramas.
Born in Toronto, Canada, to a New Church (Swedenborgian Christian) minister and his wife, Hyatt came to Bryn Athyn in 1908 to attend the Academy of the New Church. He later studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia—winning two prestigious Cresson Traveling Scholarships. In 1916 Raymond Pitcairn hired Hyatt to be in charge of his stained-glass studio in Bryn Athyn, which at that time was working on windows for Bryn Athyn Cathedral.
Even before his appointment to run the stained-glass studio, Hyatt had been chosen to be a member of Bryn Athyn Cathedral’s symbolism committee. The committee, which included both clergy and laymen, was charged with selecting the subject matter for the Cathedral’s stained-glass windows and sculptures. Their goal was to convey New Church ideas using a distinctive symbolic program. Hyatt, who maintained a strong interest in the teachings of the New Church throughout his life, was well suited to the work of this committee.
Hyatt and Pitcairn took trips to New York and other American cities to study the stained-glass windows in a variety of churches. In the summer of 1914, the symbolism committee commissioned Hyatt to travel abroad and study medieval stained-glass windows in England and France. He sent photographs and sketches of windows back to Bryn Athyn, and studied their color palettes. During later trips to Europe in the 1920s, Hyatt also purchased medieval stained-glass panels and relevant books on Pitcairn’s behalf.
Hyatt spent his entire career working in Bryn Athyn—first on the Cathedral project, and later on Glencairn—right up until his death in 1959. His prodigious artistic output is readily apparent to everyone who studies these buildings.
Stained-Glass Windows
By the time Winfred Hyatt began designing stained-glass windows for Glencairn in the 1930s, he had been practicing his craft at Bryn Athyn Cathedral for almost two decades. Hyatt’s daily workspace was a studio in the garden house near Glencairn on the grounds of Cairnwood, the 1895 home designed by Carrère & Hastings for John and Gertrude Pitcairn (today this building serves as Cairnwood’s giftshop and visitor entrance). One section of the garden house had large glass windows, which afforded Hyatt natural light and stunning views of both Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn across a sweeping lawn.
Figure 2: From left to right, Rowley Murphy, Paul Froelich, John Larson, Lawrence B. Saint, Raymond Pitcairn, and Winfred Hyatt stand in front of Cairnwood’s garden house, which was used as a stained-glass studio.
Figure 3: The stained-glass studio was located in the garden house of Cairnwood, in Bryn Athyn. This building was still functioning as a glass studio for Bryn Athyn Cathedral as late as the 1960s. This photograph was taken in the late 1980s, just before the building was renovated and repurposed.
Archival materials indicate that the designing of windows often happened many years before their final placement and installation. Each one of Hyatt’s window designs underwent a meticulous process before being approved by Pitcairn. First, the two men would discuss basic ideas for its subject matter, with Pitcairn describing what he envisioned. Hyatt would then produce a sketch, or series of sketches, each of which would be carefully gone over. The next stage was a scale watercolor, and after that the full-sized cartoon. Hyatt would hand select glass colors (the glass was hand blown in the Bryn Athyn glassworks) for each portion of the window, and then the pieces would be cut. He would paint on all the details in black, and then fire the piece in a kiln. Finally, the pieces would be assembled with leading (lead came) to finish the window.
A number of Winfred Hyatt’s cartoons of stained-glass panels have survived, and are now in the collection of Glencairn Museum. For example, Glencairn’s fifth-floor chapel includes an Easter-themed window with events from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Designed by Hyatt, the window is composed of three scenes. In the bottom scene, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary meet the angel outside the tomb on Easter morning. In the middle scene, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection. The final scene, at the top, depicts the meeting between the resurrected Jesus and two disciples. A watercolor cartoon of the bottom scene—the two Marys meeting the angel—is in Glencairn’s collection; this design appears to be very close to the final piece executed in stained glass (Figures 4 and 5).
Figure 4: Watercolor cartoon of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary meeting the angel outside the tomb on Easter morning (Matthew 28:1-7). (07.WC.429)
Figure 5: The final version in stained glass in Glencairn’s chapel (see Figure 4).
In Glencairn’s Upper Hall, on the south side of the building, is a stained-glass window commissioned by Pitcairn and designed by Hyatt. Raymond Pitcairn was politically active throughout his adult life, believing, in accordance with New Church beliefs, that civic participation in public life was included in the biblical command to love one’s neighbor. This window depicts the Capitol building, the seat of the United States Congress (center); the White House, the executive mansion (left); and the Supreme Court building (right), all located in Washington, D.C. Beneath these buildings is a quotation from one of Emanuel Swedenborg’s theological works, The Doctrine of Charity, in which he describes why justice and morality are essential for a successful society: “There shall be justice among them” (Charity 130).
The window likely went through the same design process as any other, with Pitcairn welcoming Hyatt’s creativity and input. A scale watercolor of this window, very close to the finished design, has been preserved. A careful comparison of the finished window with the scale design reveals that subtle changes (often related to color) occurred in the final stages of production (Figures 6 and 7).
Figure 6: A watercolor design for a stained-glass window. (07.WC.154)
Figure 7: The final version in stained glass in Glencairn’s Upper Hall (see Figure 6).
Mosaic
After perfecting the technique for making pot-metal stained glass, the Bryn Athyn glassworks went on to develop formulas for making glass mosaic in a multitude of different shades. Originally mosaics were intended for Bryn Athyn Cathedral, but this plan was never realized. Eventually mosaics were installed in Glencairn instead; Winfred Hyatt and Robert Glenn, a nephew of Raymond Pitcairn, were the two principal designers. (See “A Heavenly Light: The Bryn Athyn Glass Factory and Studio,” Glencairn Museum News 10, 2015.)
The focal point of Glencairn’s Great Hall is a monumental archway decorated with colorful glass mosaic (Figure 8). The design, made by Hyatt, depicts the official seal of the Academy of the New Church (Pitcairn’s alma mater, located just across the street from Glencairn). The seal was originally developed in 1878, and is composed of four medallions surmounted by a crowned lion with keys beneath his paws. (At Glencairn the lion mosaic is located above the third-floor balcony doorway.) Over time each of the four schools of the Academy of the New Church came to adopt one of the medallions as their own distinct symbol: Theological School (upper left—a priest’s mitre); Bryn Athyn College (lower left—a temple with the Latin inscription Nunc licet, i.e. “Now it is permitted”); girls secondary school (upper right—an eagle brooding over her chicks); and boys secondary school (lower right—Michael and the dragon from the Book of Revelation, 12:7).
Figure 8: A monumental archway in Glencairn’s Great Hall decorated with colorful glass mosaic, depicting the official seal of the Academy of the New Church.
A scale drawing of the Academy seal’s temple medallion, executed by Hyatt (Figure 9), indicates the individual mosaic tesserae intended to make up the full-scale version. This drawing is one of several that have survived that were made during the design of this medallion—an indication of how time-consuming the process must have been. Beside the drawing are six instructions in pencil detailing proposed changes: “larger cupola,” “higher dome,” “broader steps,” etc. These notes were presumably the result of a consultation with Pitcairn, indicating what he would like to see in the next version of the design.
Figure 9: A scale drawing of the Academy seal’s temple medallion. (07.WC.62)
Figure 10: The final version in glass mosaic in Glencairn’s Great Hall (see Figure 9).
On the first floor of Glencairn is an area known as the “Bird Room,” which contains a variety of mosaic birds on the partitioned ceiling (Figure 11). Hyatt designed all of these birds, and also the large mosaic of a white peacock. Set into a recessed arch, the peacock provides the backdrop for an ancient Egyptian libation bowl. Hyatt requested permission from Pitcairn to design this mosaic after regularly observing the Pitcairn family’s white peacock on the lawn of Cairnwood, just outside his studio in the garden house. Raymond Pitcairn and his wife, Mildred, shared an interest in birds and birdwatching, and they also enjoyed thinking about birds as symbols, or “correspondences,” of various spiritual ideas, as described in the theological writings Emanuel Swedenborg. Several of Hyatt’s partial designs for the white peacock—oil paintings—have survived on wallboard, and are now in Glencairn’s collection (Figure 12). Every one of the mosaic tesserae was painted with the intended color and shade.
Figure 11: The “Bird Room” on Glencairn’s first floor.
Figure 12: Partial design for the white peacock mosaic; an oil painting on wallboard. (07.WC.449b)
Nativity Dioramas
In the 1920s the Pitcairns commissioned Hyatt to make a three-part Nativity diorama for use in their home during the Christmas season (at that time they lived in Cairnwood). A letter written by Raymond Pitcairn to Hyatt in the early stages of the project indicates a strong desire that historical accuracy be taken into account, with Pitcairn writing, “I should like to go carefully over the arrangement” (January 15, 1924). Hyatt designed and modeled all of the figures, which were then cast in plaster, painted, and clothed. The biblical narrative is depicted from left to right: the first scene is the Annunciation to the Shepherds; the second portrays the Nativity itself; and the third shows the wise men gazing at the Star of Bethlehem. In addition to the figures and animals, Hyatt also designed the settings for each scene.
Figure 13: Raymond Pitcairn was still living at Cairnwood with his wife and children when he commissioned Winfred Hyatt to design and build the family’s three-part Nativity scene. It moved with the Pitcairn family to Glencairn after the building was completed in 1939.
Figure 14: The wise men gazing up at the Star of Bethlehem. Part of a three-part Nativity scene, it continues to be shown annually at Glencairn during the Christmas season (see Figure 13).
The Nativity scenes, first used at Cairnwood, moved with the Pitcairn family to Glencairn after the building was completed in 1939. They were brought out each year and placed in the apse of the Upper Hall during the holiday season, a tradition that continues to the present day (Figure 13).
In the 1950s the Pitcairns commissioned a similar set of scenes for President and Mrs. Eisenhower. Winfred Hyatt again made the animals and settings, but this time Hanna Fischer Binder, an artist from Bucks County, carved the figures from wood. Members of the Glencairn staff traveled to the White House to install the Nativity in the East Room next to the Christmas tree (Figure 15).
Figure 15: The East Room of the White House at Christmas time (1955). In 1954 Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn commissioned Winfred Hyatt to make a Nativity scene for President and Mrs. Eisenhower. The scene was displayed in the East Room of the White House that same year. Two more scenes were added in 1957, when all three were displayed together next to the Christmas tree. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service (Abbie Rowe).
In addition to the dioramas made for Glencairn and the Eisenhower White House, Hyatt was also commissioned to make Nativity scenes for Harold Pitcairn, Raymond’s brother, and for Bryn Athyn Cathedral. Hyatt also made a series of Easter scenes in the 1920s for Raymond and Mildred. These scenes portray three events from the Easter story: The Last Supper; the visit of the two Marys to the tomb on Easter Sunday; and the appearance of the resurrected Christ to seven of His disciples on the Sea of Galilee.
Figure 16: The Last Supper. One of the Easter scenes designed by Winfred Hyatt for the Pitcairn family in the 1920s.
Figure 17: The resurrected Jesus appears to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee. One of the Easter scenes designed by Winfred Hyatt for the Pitcairn family in the 1920s.
Figure 18: Lachlan Pitcairn, who lived at Cairnwood and Glencairn while he was growing up, served in the Navy during World War II. This portrait, painted by Winfred Hyatt in 1944, is on exhibit in Glencairn's Bird Room.
Given the multitude of his artistic projects involving both Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn—spanning more than five decades—it is fortunate that Hyatt also somehow found the time to paint portraits of local people, and even still lifes, many of which are now treasured possessions. The Pitcairns admired Hyatt’s portraits, and commissioned him paint each of their sons in their WWII uniforms (Figure 18). These paintings were based on photographs taken when they were on leave from deployment in the 1940s.
It is impossible to step into either Glencairn or Bryn Athyn Cathedral without encountering the work of Winfred Hyatt. His stained-glass and mosaic designs fill the windows, ceilings, and walls of these two remarkable buildings. And his artistic skills turn up in areas one might not expect. The three-arched porch that lends grace and beauty to the west door of Bryn Athyn Cathedral was proposed by Hyatt when Pitcairn was dissatisfied with the initial design of a single door.
In 1961 Charles J. Kintner, who knew Hyatt well, wrote these words in a memorial tribute in New Church Life: “As we sit in the cathedral in Bryn Athyn, we are all affected by the beauty of form and color of the stained glass windows, conveying to each of us something of the message the artist intended. These portrayals, and the message, are foremost, as they should be; but we can also be glad that we had in Winfred Hyatt the artist capable of executing this work with such understanding and affection” (290–291).
(KHG)
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