Hello Dear Readers. Just a quick post as I have come across a bit of interesting news. It seems that at long last the British art deco jewel New Filton House is presently being restored. The structure also known as "Pegasus House" was designed in 1936 by Whinney, Son and Austen Hall as offices for the Bristol Aeroplane Company.
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| New Filton House circa 1953 Image via aviationarchive.org.uk |
The rather stark yet sleek exterior was embellished with a relief of the Bristol 142 "Britain First" airplane high above a freestanding figure of Pegasus both by sculptor Denis Dunlop.
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| Bas relief of the Bristol 142 by Denis Dunlop Image: Linda Bailey via WikiCommons |
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| Sculpture of Pegasus by Denis Dunlop Image: John Honniball via Flickr |
Now dear readers, I first became aware of this structure many years ago doing research on the art deco muralist and glass artist Jan Juta. You can find a previous post about him
here. The main staircase of New Filton House possesses a multi-story stained glass window depicting the history of the Bristol company executed by none other than Juta himself. I have only ever seen small crops of the window in the past which thankfully is undergoing a complete restoration this summer by the Creative Glass Works in Bristol.
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| Image of the window featuring Pegasus Image via bristol-aeroplane.com |
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| Detail of Mercury Image via ThisIsBristol.com |
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| Detail of window Image via bristol-aeroplane.com |
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| Detail of Pegasus Image via bristol-aeroplane.com |
You see dear readers, the offices were vacated over two decades ago and the structure as well as its decor fell into disrepair becoming the realm of squatters and urban explorers. Haunting images of the decay can be found
here. It has been reported that some of the panes were damaged or otherwise broken. As noted above, my previous research caused me to stumble across a design drawing for the staircase window.
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| "Pegasus" Window design drawing by Jan Juta Image: Aestheticus Rex |
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| Detail of Juta's Design Image: Aestheticus Rex |
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| Detail of Juta's Design Image: Aestheticus Rex |
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| Detail of Juta's Design Image: Aestheticus Rex |
This is all terribly exciting to say the least. To know that something feared lost to neglect is being saved at long last is always reassuring. I have reached out to the Creative Glass Works to obtain an update on their progress. I hope to post images of the completed work and details of the restoration as they come to light. Until next time...--AR
UPDATE:
While I was cross posting around Facebook I located the page of the Creative Glass Works. It seems that the window restoration is nearly complete. I await their response but leave you with their images of the work in progress...
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| Detail of Mercury from the Pegasus Window by Jan Juta Image: Creative Glass Works |
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| Detail of restored Pegasus from the Jan Juta Window Image: Creative Glass Works |
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| Image of Creative Glass Works team at work Image: Creative Glass Works |
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