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Stained Glass
Object/Artifact
One of eight large stained glass windows in the former sanctuary space of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art’s North Church building in Eastport, Maine. The North Church building was built in 1819 for the Free Will Baptist Society, organized three years before, and known as the North Baptist Church. In 1881 the building was raised upwards and a ground level vestry space added beneath. Thirty-five years later, in 1916, during the 100th anniversary of the organization of the church, the eight stained glass windows in the sanctuary space were installed including this one. The windows had been created by the Boston studio glass firm of Spence, Bell & Company. Several other much simpler stained glass windows were installed in the church balcony as well as in the 11 foot high front doors. Little is known about Spence, Bell & Company other than they were considered very good and they did work throughout the northeast. The new sanctuary windows in the North Church were memorial windows meant to honor individuals or groups by those providing the funds to cover the cost of the windows. This window reads near the bottom, “In Loving Remembrance, Alexander W. Beckett, Emma S. Beckett.” The sanctuary windows are not overly religious in appearance, but all have religious elements. Leslie Smith, a retired Episcopal priest, provided an interpretation of the elements within this stained glass window: “Many more lilies form the border of central lozenge, which is centered by a Scroll, the Word of God. The upper arc has at center an Open Bible, symbolic of Protestant emphasis on Scripture as the heart of Christian Faith, i.e. Sola Scriptura. The Bible is surmounted by a Crown, meaning the primacy of Scripture or indicating heavenly reward.” These stained glass windows were nearly lost as soon after 2000, the building became abandoned after the congregation had dwindled and the building badly deteriorated. In 2014, the building was gifted to the Tides Institute by the then successor church owners to insure the building’s preservation.
