Horse and Rider

This large panel depicts a man in a plumed helmet, riding along a road bordered by the stone pillars of a classical ruin. Stylistic elements, particularly the rendering of the small dog in the lower left, identify it as Flemish work from the first quarter of the 16th century. The panel was damaged and repaired at some point early in its history. Stopgaps, new fragments of glass added to fill in broken areas, appear on the ground around the horse’s hooves, near the rider’s head, and on his body. Both the green hooded tunic and purple drapery over the rider’s legs are stopgaps, skillfully introduced into the original design. The panel was installed in the front staircase window facing the courtyard at Cranbrook House.

George Gough Booth purchased this panel from the firm of Thomas and Drake Inc., co-operated by the dealer, Roy Grosvenor Thomas, and Wilfred Drake, a glass restorer. George Grosvenor Thomas, Roy’s father, had been a notable glass collector and dealer. For two generations, the Thomases were the best-known dealers in stained glass in Europe and America. The most significant public and private collections of stained glass formed at this period all contained numerous works sold by George Grosvenor Thomas or his son.

Mariam Hale
2023-2025 Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
January 2024

Reference: Groll, M. "Thomas and Drake and the Transatlantic Trade in Stained Glass 1900-1950." PhD thesis, University of York, 2016.