[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

LLOYD, Margaret Eleanor [1867–1912]

FODE, David G. [1968–2022]

“Punch & Judy”

Design for a Stencil / original size unknown; published at 5 5/8 inches

1905 (date of publication)

Stained glass window / 30 inches in diameter

2015 (date of execution)

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The story of this collaborative project, between two artistically talented people born almost exactly one hundred years apart, is bracketed with tragedy. In 1905, the year Margaret Lloyd’s design appeared in The International Studio, a British art periodical, a kindergarten was built on the grounds adjacent to Saint Joseph-the-Carpenter Episcopal church. Operated on a non-profit basis to bring the educational philosophy of Friedrich Fröbel to the community, the Shingle Style building may be the first work of architecture by the sixteen-year-old Anson Tennant. It included a window opening to accommodate the “Punch & Judy” window, adapted from the British artist’s design. Though documentation is lacking, it’s believed Lloyd know of our intention to adapt her “stencil” as a window. It remained a project for a hundred and ten years, however, when David Fode of Waukesha, Wisconsin brought Lloyd’s vision, literally, to light.

Researching names and dates for this entry, we encountered another layer of coïncidence: stained glass artist Fode died in November 2022 at age fifty-four, while we learned that Ms Lloyd had passed in 1912, a casualty in one of Britain’s worst train accidents. She was forty-five. The window, a lighthearted work of charm, has become a memorial to both of its creators — despite its political incorrectness.

[#1578]