Next time you are wandering through the circle in front of the Tennis Tea
you may notice something new, or should I say something very old, an iron
sculpture presented by the Buck Hill Art Association.
This handmade ten foot tall wrought and cast-iron panel dates back to the
late 1800’s / early 1900’s and has ties to Buck Hill and our Quaker roots.
The panel was made by master craftsmen whose names have been lost to
time. More than 250 hammered and cast elements in addition to over 100
handmade screws and bolts came together in this monumental artwork.
This dramatic iron sculpture evokes images of the finest European stained-
glass windows less the stained-glass.
It’s believed the panels were created for a prominent Philadelphia main line
estate. Only three of these panels are known to exist. The other two found
their place as important architectural elements in the Nantucket museum
and artist enclave, “Greater Light”, now managed by the Nantucket
Historical Association. The Monaghan sisters, who saved two panels from
the scrap man in the spring of 1929 founded the Nantucket artist colony that
same year.
The name, Greater Light was the sister’s twist on the Quaker idea of the
“Inner Light,” the internal personal connection between each individual and
God. The sisters saw their endless passion for art as their “Greater Light”.
They believed it was fate that they would discover the panels, as the central
starburst pattern spoke to them as an illustration of the “Inner Light” in
everyone.
The sisters, Hanna and Gertrude were devoted to each other, their Quaker
faith and a lifelong passion for art in all its forms. They were the children of
James and Anna Monaghan, a devout Quaker family from Philadelphia with
strong ties to the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore University,
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia School of Design,
Swarthmore Friends Meeting and lineage back to the controversial figure
Oliver Cromwell himself.
The Monaghan family called Buck Hill cottage #77 their home from the
earliest days of Buck Hill through Hanna’s passing in 1972.