Povey Brothers Studio

Povey Brothers Studio, also known as Povey Brothers Art Glass Works or Povey Bros. Glass Co., was an American producer of stained glass windows based in Portland, Oregon. The studio was active from 1888 to 1928. As the largest and best known art glass company in Oregon, it produced windows for homes, churches, and commercial buildings throughout the West. When the firm was founded in 1888, it was the only creative window firm in Portland, then a city of 42,000 residents.

Povey Brothers was known as the "Tiffany of the Northwest" and many of the company's windows still exist in historic buildings throughout the region, including those on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The windows were considered to have extraordinary quality and beauty, and the firm's work was virtually unequaled in the Pacific Northwest. The heyday of Povey Brothers coincided with the growing economic affluence of the region, and the brothers' work was much sought after by the new rich to decorate the large houses they were building. Of this sort of installation, art glass expert Michael McCary said, "People who put in that kind of glass were kind of showing off." The Great Depression and changes in house styles eventually caused demand for the brothers' work to decline, however. Today Povey Brothers windows are a mark of pride in many landmark buildings in Portland.

The company was founded by David Lincoln Povey, the son of English-born stained glass window maker Joseph Povey, who immigrated to the United States in 1848 and subsequently worked in stained glass in Philadelphia, New York City, and Newark, New Jersey. The family, who had been in the stained glass trade for generations, eventually settled in St. Louis, Missouri. David Povey was born in 1865. He studied art at Cooper Union in New York and traveled in Europe for further study before moving to Portland. David formed the glass company in 1888 with his brother John, shortly after working on a commission for First Presbyterian Church. The company incorporated in 1893. John was the main craftsman and did the glazing and leading, while David did the design and art work. Their brother George Povey later joined the company as its accountant and business manager, and two Povey sisters also worked for the company. All three of the brothers worked in various glass studios on the East Coast before establishing their Portland shop. At the height of their business, the brothers employed 25 workers, including several Povey family members. David died in 1924 and his sons David and Darrel took over the business. In 1925, they hired Albert Gerlach, formerly of Giannini & Hilgart in Chicago and trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, to assist in the business. The Povey Brothers sold the company to W. P. Fuller in 1930, and Gerlach remained at the company until 1950.

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