Pippet family of Solihull

The Pippet family of Solihull was a multigenerational artistic family associated with the British Gothic Revival and with the Catholic decorative arts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based in the Solihull area and connected with Warwickshire and Birmingham, members of the family produced designs and artwork for churches, cathedrals, convents, seminaries, chapels, and other religious institutions. Their work included painted interior schemes, murals, sanctuary decoration, ecclesiastical metalwork, stained glass, embroidery, mosaic, and opus sectile. The family’s principal professional connection was with John Hardman & Co and its associated design practice. Hardman’s was one of the leading British manufacturers of ecclesiastical metalwork and stained glass and was closely linked to the architectural and decorative ideas of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. The Pippets worked within this Puginian tradition, translating Gothic Revival principles into coordinated decorative programs for Catholic buildings. Joseph Aloysius Pippet, the central early figure, entered Hardman’s as an apprentice around 1853 and became a dependable designer and coordinator of design work. He also worked closely with John Hardman Powell, Pugin’s apprentice and son-in-law. Joseph Pippet’s recorded commissions included the interior decoration of All Saints’ Church in Barton-upon-Irwell, wall paintings for Shrewsbury Roman Catholic Cathedral, decoration at St Peter’s Church in Hascombe, and work associated with Holy Trinity Church in Winchester, Salford Cathedral, and the Church of the Sacred Heart in Caterham. Some of his Shrewsbury paintings were obscured during twentieth-century alterations and became visible again through restoration work undertaken from 2019 onward. His artistic career was supported administratively by his wife, Juliet Elizabeth Mary Canning, who handled accounts and correspondence, and artistically by a family environment in which embroidery and religious art were practiced by several members. The next generation extended the family’s relationship with Hardman and Co. Elphege Joseph Pippet and Oswald Cody Pippet, with contributions from their younger brother Wilfred, worked for the firm and later operated as independent subcontractors. Their commissions covered a wide geographical range and included chancel, sanctuary, chapel, shrine, seminary, convent, and cathedral decoration. Examples are associated with Ilkeston, Hull, Chorley, Chesterfield, York, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Ushaw, Nottingham, Hammersmith, Bristol, Richmond, Cotton, and Teignmouth. These projects demonstrate the family’s role in the production of integrated Catholic interiors rather than in the creation of a conventional consumer-facing brand. Gabriel Joseph Pippet, born in 1880, became particularly associated with mosaic and opus sectile. His most noted work is at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Droitwich. He also designed Stations of the Cross for Corpus Christi Church in Baltimore, United States, over a period extending from 1896 to 1914, and taught art at Achimota College in the Gold Coast, now Ghana. The family’s legacy has continued to receive conservation attention: two previously lost murals attributed to Gabriel Pippet were restored in 2024 at the Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga. The Pippet family is therefore best understood as a historical artistic and design practice rooted in Catholic ecclesiastical commissions, rather than as a legally constituted commercial brand. Its importance lies in the continuity of family participation in the Gothic Revival, the family’s association with Hardman’s, and the survival and restoration of its decorative work in religious buildings.

The Pippet family developed as a multigenerational network of Catholic artists and designers working in Warwickshire, Birmingham, and the wider British ecclesiastical-art world. Their professional identity was shaped by the Gothic Revival and by the Catholic revival in Britain, particularly the demand for coordinated decorative schemes in newly built, restored, or redecorated churches and convents. Joseph Aloysius Pippet was born in Somerset in 1840. He received part of his education at Downside Catholic school before his family moved to Leamington, where his father became land agent to the Throckmorton family. Joseph entered John Hardman and Co as an apprentice around 1853. He subsequently became an important designer and coordinator within the company’s design practice. Hardman’s was strongly connected to the work of A. W. N. Pugin and to the continuation of Puginian Gothic principles in stained glass, metalwork, and church decoration. Joseph’s close professional relationship with John Hardman Powell, Pugin’s apprentice and son-in-law, placed him within this influential design circle. Joseph’s work extended beyond the production environment of Hardman and Co. He designed the interior decoration for All Saints’ Church at Barton-upon-Irwell and produced wall paintings for Shrewsbury Roman Catholic Cathedral. Later restoration has brought renewed attention to the Shrewsbury paintings, which had been concealed by twentieth-century refurbishment. In the 1860s he decorated St Peter’s Church at Hascombe. Other churches associated with his work include Holy Trinity in Winchester, Salford Cathedral, and the Church of the Sacred Heart in Caterham, Surrey. Joseph married Juliet Elizabeth Mary Canning of Handsworth, Birmingham, in 1865. They had sixteen children. Juliet played a practical role in the operation of Joseph’s work, managing accounts and corresponding about wages and personal matters with John Hardman Powell. She was also an accomplished embroiderer, and embroidery was practiced by some of their daughters. Four of the seven daughters entered religious life, including one who became abbess at Teignmouth. This combination of artistic, administrative, and religious connections helped define the family’s distinctive place in Catholic cultural networks. Joseph died of pneumonia at his Solihull home in September 1903. A solemn requiem was held at St Augustine of England Church in Solihull, the family’s church, where family members contributed artistic work. He was buried at Baddesley Clinton. The family’s activities continued through Joseph’s sons. Elphege Joseph Pippet, born in 1868, and Oswald Cody Pippet, born in 1869, worked for Hardman and Co. Their younger brother Wilfred also participated in the firm’s work. Elphege and Oswald later became independent subcontractors while continuing to design commissions for Hardman well into the 1930s. Their surviving or documented projects include decorative work at Our Lady in Ilkeston, St Anthony’s Convent in Hull, St Mary’s in Chorley, the Church of the Annunciation in Chesterfield, the York Oratory, St Gregory’s Convent in Cheltenham, St Catherine’s in Birmingham, St Cuthbert’s College at Ushaw, Nottingham Cathedral, Nazareth House in Hammersmith, a convent oratory in Bristol, St Joseph’s in Richmond, St Wilfrid’s in Cotton, St Scholastica’s Abbey in Teignmouth, and St Barnabas’ Cathedral in Nottingham. Gabriel Joseph Pippet, born in 1880, represented another important branch of the family’s artistic development. He became known for mosaic and opus sectile, with the Church of the Sacred Heart in Droitwich regarded as a major example of his work. His activities were international: he designed Stations of the Cross for Corpus Christi Church in Baltimore between 1896 and 1914. He also taught art at Achimota College in the Gold Coast, now Ghana. In 2024, conservation work at the Oxford Oratory restored two murals previously considered lost, extending modern recognition of his contribution. The family’s historical significance lies not in a single incorporated enterprise but in the continuity of family-based artistic practice across generations. Their work illustrates how Catholic patronage, Gothic Revival design, manufacturing firms such as Hardman and Co, and specialist subcontracting combined to produce the decorative interiors of British religious buildings.

• 2024

  Two Gabriel Pippet murals restored in Oxford

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Two previously lost murals at the Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga were restored by Cliveden Conservation.

• 2019

  Shrewsbury paintings begin to re-emerge during restoration

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Restoration work at Shrewsbury Roman Catholic Cathedral revealed wall paintings by Joseph that had been hidden during earlier refurbishment.

• 1930

  Pippet designs continue through Hardman subcontracting

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Elphege and Oswald continued to design ecclesiastical commissions for Hardman and Co into the 1930s.

• 1903

  Death of Joseph Aloysius Pippet

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph died of pneumonia at his home in Solihull and was commemorated with a requiem at St Augustine of England Church.

• 1880

  Birth of Gabriel Joseph Pippet

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Gabriel Joseph Pippet was born and later became noted for mosaic and opus sectile.

• 1869

  Birth of Oswald Cody Pippet

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Oswald Cody Pippet was born and subsequently became a designer associated with Hardman and its subcontracting network.

• 1868

  Birth of Elphege Joseph Pippet

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Elphege Joseph Pippet was born and later joined the family’s work for Hardman and Co.

• 1865

  Joseph marries Juliet Elizabeth Mary Canning

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  The marriage linked Joseph to a Birmingham family and began a large family household in which artistic and administrative work developed together.

• 1853

  Joseph begins apprenticeship at John Hardman and Co

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph entered Hardman’s as an apprentice and later became a designer and coordinator within its design practice.

• 1840

  Birth of Joseph Aloysius Pippet

  [1]Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org

  Joseph Aloysius Pippet was born in Somerset and later moved with his family to the Leamington area.

A historically important Catholic ecclesiastical design tradition within the British Gothic Revival, closely associated with John Hardman & Co and the Puginian decorative style.

• Ecclesiastical interior design

  Catholic church decorative schemes

  The family designed integrated decorative programs for Catholic churches, cathedrals, convents, seminaries, and chapels. These schemes could include painted walls and ceilings, sanctuaries, chancels, shrines, altars, and coordinated ornament in a Gothic Revival idiom. Documented work spans numerous British religious buildings and reflects the family’s close association with John Hardman and Co.

• Decorative art

  Mosaic and opus sectile

  Gabriel Joseph Pippet specialized in mosaic and opus sectile, using small pieces or cut materials to create durable religious imagery and architectural decoration. His best-known documented work is associated with the Church of the Sacred Heart in Droitwich, while his practice also extended to international ecclesiastical commissions.

• Religious artwork · 1896

  Stations of the Cross

  Gabriel Joseph Pippet designed a set of Stations of the Cross for Corpus Christi Church in Baltimore, United States. The commission, documented as extending from 1896 to 1914, demonstrates the international reach of the family’s Catholic decorative practice.

• Religious textile art

  Ecclesiastical embroidery and textiles

  Juliet Pippet was described as an exceptional embroiderer, and embroidery was also practiced by some of her daughters. The family’s textile activities formed part of the wider Catholic decorative culture surrounding church interiors, although specific surviving commissions are not fully identified in the available material.

1. 1Pippet family of Solihullen.wikipedia.org