Ninian Comper
John Ninian Comper | |
---|---|
Born | Aberdeen, Scotland | 10 June 1864
Died | 22 December 1960 Clapham, London, England | (aged 96)
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse | Grace Bucknall |
Children | Nicholas Comper, John-Baptiste Sebastian Comper, Adrian Comper |
Parent(s) | John Comper and Ellen (Taylor) Comper |
Practice | Bucknall & Comper |
Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects.[1]
His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the design of ecclesiastical furnishings, stained glass and vestments. He is celebrated for his use of colour, iconography and emphasis on churches as a setting for liturgy. In his later works, he developed the subtle integration of Classical and Gothic styles, an approach he described as 'unity by inclusion'.[2]
Early life
Comper was born in Aberdeen in 1864, the eldest son and fourth of the seven children of Ellen (née Taylor) and John Comper, Rector of St John's, Aberdeen (and later St Margaret of Scotland) in the Scottish Episcopal Church.[3][4] The Comper family were of Norman origin and settled as yeoman farmers in Pulborough, Sussex at the Norman Conquest; nevertheless, Comper's father upheld a romantic notion that the family were descended from noble Huguenots.[1]
Comper's father moved from Sussex to Scotland as a young man in search of work as a schoolmaster with a view to becoming a priest. His lack of a university degree prevented him from taking holy orders in the Church of England, so he was ordained as a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church.[1] John Comper became a significant figure within the Scottish Church, remembered for his ministry in the slums of Aberdeen and as an important figure in the northern High Church movement.[5]
Comper was educated at Kingston College, Aberdeen, Glenalmond School in Perthshire and studied drawing for a year at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford before moving to London to serve articles with Charles Eamer Kempe, and in 1883 to George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner. Fellow Scot William Bucknall took him into his London partnership in 1888.[6]
Personal life
Bucknall and Comper remained in partnership until 1905.[7] Ninian married Grace Bucknall in 1890. They had six children. The eldest, John-Baptiste Sebastian Comper (1891-1979), became an architect, designing many churches for the
Career
After a number of restorations and embellishments of existing buildings, Comper's first completed commission for an entirely new church was
Comper is noted for continuing the tradition of designing altars in a medieval fashion, known as the 'English altar', which was first re-introduced by
After the
Comper's only work in the United States was the Leslie Lindsey Chapel of Boston's Emmanuel Episcopal Church, comprising the decorative scheme for the chapel designed by Allen & Collins. Comper designed the altar, screen, pulpit, lectern, statuary, furnishings and the stained glass windows.[28] The chapel commemorates Leslie Lindsey and Stewart Mason, her husband of ten days, who were married at Emmanuel Church and perished when the Lusitania was torpedoed in 1915.[29]
Comper was
References
- ^ a b c Symondson & Bucknall 2006, p. ?.
- ^ Symondson 1998a, p. ?.
- ^ Buckley 1994, p. ?.
- ^ Symondson 1988b, p. ?.
- ^ "John Comper". Scottish Episcopal Church. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Bucknall & Comper". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Sir Ninian Comper". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Sebastian Comper". Historic Churches of Buckinghamshire. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "High Wycombe - St Augustine's". Historic England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Bucknall, Stephen Arthur. "Sir Ninian Comper in Norwood". The Norwood Society. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Cyprian, Clarence Gate (Grade II*) (1237476)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "Huddersfield Parish Church - Building history". Church of England. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade I) (1371787)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "St Michael and All Angels". Scottish Churches Trust. 24 September 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Abbey Church of St Gregory The Great (Grade I) (1058633)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "St Stephen House and Attached Cloisters (Grade II) (1229802)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "St Matthew Westminster". Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Comper, Ninian. "A Dim Religious Light: The Atmosphere of a Church". Institute for Sacred Architecture. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ "ST MARTINS CHAPEL, OLD HERITAGE, HERITAGE CRAFTS SCHOOL". Historic England. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ Historic England. "Comper Foundation Stage School (Grade II) (1047076)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Giles (Grade I) (1120134)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Pevsner & Wilson 2002, p. 797.
- ^ Hartwell, Hyde & Pevsner 2004, p. 592.
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary-in-the-Baum, St Mary's Gate, Rochdale (Grade I) (1025294)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ "Cardiff Welsh National War Memorial; National Memorial For The First World War (great War), Cathays Park (32845)". Coflein. RCAHMW.
- ^ Hammond 1960, p. 78.
- ^ Pevsner 1952, p. 329.
- ^ "Design for the Leslie Lindsey Memorial Chapel, Emmanuel Church, Boston, Massachusetts". RIBApix. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- ^ "History of Lindsey Chapel". Emmanuel Boston.org. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Warwick, Alan (January 1961). "Sir Ninian Comper". www.norwoodsociety.co.uk. The Norwood Society. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ West Norwood Cemetery registers. Cremations, 29 December 1960
- ^ "Obituary, Sir Ninian Comper". The Times. 23 December 1960.
Sources
- Buckley, Leonard (1994). Sir Ninian Comper, 1864–1960 and Howard Martin Otto (Otho) Travers, 1886–1948: A Belated Tribute. Ecclesiological Society.
- Hammond, Peter (1960). Liturgy and Architecture. London.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; OCLC 1023247427.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1952). London Except the Cities of London and Westminster. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
- —; Lloyd, David W. (1967). Hampshire and The Isle of Wight. ISBN 978-0-300-09606-4.
- —; Wilson, Bill (2002). Norfolk 2: North-West and South. ISBN 0-300-09657-7.
- Symondson, Anthony (1998a). "Unity by Inclusion: Sir Ninian Comper and the Planning of a Modern Church". In Roland Jeffrey (ed.). The Twentieth Century Church. London. ISBN 0-9529755-2-1.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - — (1988b). The Life and Work of Sir Ninian Comper 1864–1960: Catalogue for the Exhibition at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 20 January Until 27 February 1988. Royal Institute of British Architects.
- —; Bucknall, Stephen Arthur (2006). Sir Ninian Comper: An Introduction to His Life and Work, With Complete Gazetteer. Spire Books & the Ecclesiological Society. ISBN 978-1-904965-11-4.
External links
- Shawn Tribe. "Sir J. Ninian Comper and the Sisters of Bethany". Retrieved 22 July 2013.