Mary Lowndes

Mary Lowndes
Lowndes & Drury, She hath done what she could, 1901, St Peter's Church, Henfield, West Sussex.
Born	1856 Dorset, England
Died	1929 Buxted, East Sussex, England
Education	Slade School of Fine Art

Mary Lowndes (1856–1929) was a British stained-glass artist who co-founded Lowndes and Drury, the partnership that built The Glass House studio, Fulham. She was also a poster artist, in particular connected with her active participation in the suffragette movement. Lowndes was a leading light in the Arts and Crafts movement and chair of the Artists' Suffrage League (ASL).

Lowndes was born in 1856 to a Dorset clergyman.

She died in 1929 and was buried in Buxted, East Sussex, England.

Lowndes studied art in London at the Slade School of Fine Art. After school she designed stained glass works, arranged for her own commissions, and had the works made by James Powell and Sons. Until he started his own studio, Lowndes did some work with Powell's head stained glass designer Henry Holiday. She then began work in Southwark as a stained glass artist for Britton and Gilson, a firm which developed Norman Glass, a slab glass that was used by Christopher Whall and his followers.

In 1897, with the then foreman of the firm, Alfred J. Drury, she founded Lowndes & Drury. In 1906 they founded the Glass House in Lettice Street, Fulham. The building at 9, 10, 11 and 12 Lettice Street was established as a stained-glass studio for works commissioned by Lowndes and Drury and for use by independent artists. It was a purpose-built stained-glass studio and workshop designed by Christopher Whall and Alfred Drury.

Lowndes designed, coloured and created Art Nouveau stained-glass works. She groomed many female stained-glass designers and artists, such as Wilhelmina Geddes who was a lesbian like Lowndes. The Glass House attracted many artists, like Geddes, Whall, Robert Anning Bell and more. The artists could leverage the skills of other artists at the studio and yet obtain their own commissions. Lowndes' partner, Alfred Drury, particularly focused on the creation of stained-glass pieces. Together they commissioned for design, painting and creation projects.