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Estelle Morris, Minister for the Arts, has placed a temporary export bar on the archive of Britain's leading conservators of medieval stained glass. In doing so she has acted on the expert recommendation of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art - part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) - which awarded a starred rating to the exceptional archive, meaning that every possible effort should be made to raise enough money to keep it in the UK.

The papers comprise the records of G King & Son, Norwich-based lead glaziers established in 1924. Since that date the firm have been called in not only by such famous East Anglian churches as Long Melford (Suffolk), East Harling (Norfolk) and St Peter Mancroft (Norwich), but also many of the greatest national sites for surviving ecclesiastic stained glass, including Great Malvern Priory, Wells Cathedral and Winchester College. Dennis King, the son, also acted as a consultant to conservation workshops at York and Canterbury.

The archive is a very comprehensive and well-organised visual and documentary record of the firm's work. As such it is the most important archive for the study and conservation of stained glass in this country.

Archive

The deferral will enable purchase offers to be made at the following agreed fair market price:

The archive of G King & Son (Lead Glaziers) Ltd. of Norwich, deferred at the recommended price of £13,810 (excluding VAT), until after 5 June 2004 with the possibility of an extension until after 5 September 2004 if there is a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase.

This unique archive includes the firm's job files and account books, related collections of black and white photographs and glass negatives and over 9,000 cutline - rubbings made from a panel before it is taken apart for conservation, so that it can be reassembled accurately - of glass that have passed through the workshop

The archive is considered to be of exceptional importance both on a national scale and in relation to the individual localities and regions involved. No study of medieval stained glass in East Anglia could be written without detailed study of it. Over 180 trays of unleaded medieval glass have been taken from the closing firm for storage, all marked with a notional place of origin. The best hope of establishing the history and ensuring the successful return of this precious glass to its correct position lies in a study of the firm's own files.

Craftsmen

The unique standing of Dennis King as a master craftsman, restorer and historian of medieval stained glass is demonstrated by the volume of essays, Crown in Glory: a Celebration of Craftsmanship Studies in Stained Glass, edited by Peter Moore (Norwich, 1984). In this a wide range of architects, art historians and conservators paid tribute to his exceptional skills, historical knowledge and the value of his
records. For example the architect Bernard Fielden writes, “When I made my first quinquennial (five-yearly) inspection of York Minster, there was nobody but Dennis who had sufficient knowledge to advise me on the work necessary to conserve the windows.”

English painted and stained glass is an important part of our national heritage – and as a subject formed part of the recent, hugely successful exhibition Gothic at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, showing that there remains tremendous public appetite for this aspect of history. It is the subject of detailed catalogues by county published in the series Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Great Britain by the British Academy. This work is still in progress and the present archive is of major importance for it. No other studio has handled so much conservation work in connection with this historic stained glass as that of G. King and Son.

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