Clement Heaton

Clement Heaton (1861-1940) was the son of the founder of the well-known London firm of Heaton, Butler & Bayne, who made stained glass windows. Initially he set to work with his father as stained-glass artist, but in 1886 he left the firm after disagreement with his father’s partners. When travelling through Switzerland in Val-de-Travers in the Jura, he met the daughter of a watchmaker, whom he married. In 1888 they settled in nearby Neuchâtel. Here he applied himself to working with enamel and making hand-painted wallpaper. In 1895 he collaborated with the painter Paul Robert (1851-1923) on the decoration of the walls around the monumental staircase of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Neuchâtel. Paul Robert did the wall paintings and Heaton took care of the decorative elements around it. After his name was thus established, he received many commissions from Swiss churches. In 1914 his workshop burned down, and he decided to emigrate to America. He provided many churches with windows there also. He wrote a number of books, among others about the windows of Chartres Cathedral. In 1924 he gave a lecture at Princeton University, where his materials and notes are now housed in the special collections of the library.