E. Gertrude Thomson

Emily Gertrude Thomson (1850–1929) was a British artist and illustrator.

She was the daughter of Alexander Thomson (1815–1895), a professor of Greek and Hebrew. She studied at Manchester School of Art and became a member of the Royal Miniature Society. In 1878 she was approached by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) to illustrate some of his books, including Three Sunsets and Other Poems: she also designed the cover for The Nursery "Alice", and became a friend of Dodgson and wrote a short biographical memoir of him. After studying at the Manchester School of Art she attended the studio of Frederic Shields and they became lifelong friends. Emily also studied for some time at Messrs. Wedgwood’s works at Etruria in Staffordshire painting on china.

She exhibited in Manchester, Liverpool, Brussels and Canada, Manchester Art Gallery and the V&A own her works.

At various points of her career she painted portraits, illustrated books and designed stained glass.

Emily’s stained glass windows can be seen at St. John the Divine, Brooklands, Cheshire, and Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Cheltenham.

The Britomart Windows at Cheltenham Ladies’ College are based upon six pictures taken from Edmund Spenser’s allegory of the The Faerie Queene. They were produced by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. Emily designed four of the windows including the Lady Knight and Frederic Shields designed two – the first and the fifth.

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