Arthur Louis Moore was born in 1849 in Brixton and died in 1939. He was apprenticed in 1868 to J.T. Lyon, glass painter, in Fitzroy Square and in 1871 set up in partnership with S. Gibbs as 'Gibbs & Moore, artists in stained glass and mural decorations'. The firm had premises at Great Russell Street, then Southampton Row, where it remained until 1924. In around 1879 the firm was renamed A.L. Moore & Co. and in 1896 Moore's son, Charles Eustace Moore (1880-c.1965) joined the firm. In 1924 the firm's studio, named St Augustine's House, was moved to Upper Bedford Place; it was severely damaged by enemy action during the Second World War, and from 1946 until c.1955 when he closed the firm C.E. Moore had premises at Regent's Park Terrace. A.L Moore & Son supplied stained and painted glass to churches and other clients mainly in London and the Home Counties, but they had numerous customers elsewhere in Britain and abroad. They also advertised as mural painters and as ecclesiastical art decorators.
The original records of the firm comprise a single register of stained glass and other commissions covering the period c.1900-1946, and a small amount of printed material. Much of the collection is research material compiled by A.L. Moore's grandson Oliver Moore. It includes a detailed gazetteer and photographs of known surviving windows by the firm, together with research correspondence, and other biographical and historical information compliled mainly between c.1980 and 2004.
Donated by Oliver Moore in June 2004.
This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Study Rooms by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here:
Access to some of the material may be restricted. These are noted in the catalogue where relevant.
Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here:
This manuscript volume lists commissions for stained glass and for memorials in brass, oak, alabaster and mosaic. It is arranged alphabetically by county, with commissions outside England listed at the end (N.B. some counties appear twice in different places in the book). Each entry give the name of the town or village, the year of the commission, an order number and a very brief description - generally just the number of lights in the window. Each entry also gives references to a photographic record which does not survive.
This card, with original envelope, has on the reverse a pen and ink sketch by A.L. Moore of a picnic party on the River Lea. Annotations on the envelope are by Oliver Moore.
Two damaged copies of a trade card for A.L. Moore & Sons.
Brochure, advertising the firm's move to Upper Bedford Place. Illustrated with photographs of stained glass windows, memorials and other church furnishings.
The files and their contents are arranged alphabetically by county, using the county names current during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Within each county the entries are alphabetical by town or village name.
Gazetteer entitled 'Stained glass windows designed and executed by Arthur Louis Moore & Charles Eustace Moore', compiled by Oliver Moore. Records work by the firm from 1874 to the 1950s. Typescript with some annotations in pen. Each entry records whether the window appears in the 'order book' (i.e. AAD/2004/10/1), or other sources of information; the window's location in the building; its subject and any texts or legends; its signature; and the reference number of any photographic slides (i.e. AAD/2004/10/5). A few illustrations are included in the files. Introductory and explanatory notes are included in file ref. AAD/2004/10/4/1 and an index of place names is available, file ref. AAD/2004/10/3/9.
File of typescript notes with some photographs and photocopies, compiled by Oliver Moore. Includes notes on the arrangement of the gazetteer; biographies/memoirs of A.L. and C.E. Moore by Oliver Moore; information from directories and other sources on the firm's premises; information on how stained glass is made; hints on recording stained glass windows.
Three pages of manuscript by C.E. Moore, written for his nephew, Oliver Moore, explaining the process of stained glass manufacture. A photocopy is included in AAD/2004/10/4/1.
Arranged alphabetically, mainly by placename.
Research papers, mainly correspondence with churches about Moore windows. Some church guidebooks and other printed and illustrative material is included.
Notes, photocopies of source material and correspondence relating to a large A.L. Moore commission at St Paul's School in Hammersmith.
Comprises extracts from printed directories, the 1871 Census and other records.
The slides are arranged by county; they are stored in their original boxes with single-letter references.
Colour photographs (35mm slides) of Moore windows and monuments, taken by Oliver Moore. The individual slides are labelled with descriptions and a reference number (a box letter plus a running number).