John Patrick O'Shea

1868-1935

The 34 000 square feet factory of J.P. O'Shea & Co in Montreal in 1912

Hardware and Metal, 1912

Born in Montreal on May 23, 1868 from a Irish origin family, he began his working life as a glass polisher. Two of his brothers were plumbers, so he mastered easily lead shaping and welding. In 1896, he operates his business of glass import and distribution on Perrault lane near Craig street (today around St-Dominique and St-Antoine streets). In 1918, he welcomes stained glass artisan Henri Perdriau at his workshop and together they produced a very large number of works. The association lasted until 1923 after which O'Shea evolved alone.

O'Shea's stained glass windows have a traditional look. The scenes depicted are easily visualized. His usage of grisaille is always successful to create shades. The grisaille is a metal oxide deposited on glass and baked at high temperature to obtain a long lasting glaze. On the photo, the folds of fabric and the shaded part of medallions in the border uses grisaille.

The glory of St-Joseph
Perdriau & O'Shea, 1919
The crypt of the Oratory St-Joseph
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

commons.wikimedia.org - Tango7174

He died on April 8, 1935 at his residence of Outremont. Many citizens paid him honor at the funeral ceremony presided over by three priests in St. Michael's Church. He is buried in Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery.

After his death, the company continues to exist under the name J.P. O'Shea & Company Limited and it was specialized in the sale of glass sheets and restaurant equipment. It was bought by Hobbs Glass Limited (London, Ontario) in 1950, following an investigation from the Department of Justice of Canada about a price fixing arrangement among many glass jobbers in Ontario and Quebec.

Advertisement of Perdriau & O'Shea published in the Almanac Le Canada Ecclésiastique

Le Canada Ecclésiastique, 1919

J.P. O'Shea & Co produced stained glass windows for churches in Quebec and also elsewhere in Canada. Here are only a few of them.

• The crypt of the Oratory St-Joseph, Montreal
• The church St-Stanislas-de-Kostka, Montreal
• The church Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus, Pointe-au-Pic
• The church St-Coeur de Marie, Quebec
• The church Immaculée-Conception, Montreal
• The church St-François-Xavier, Riviere-du-Loup
• The church Ste-Geneviève, Montreal
• The church Knowlton United, Knowlton
• The cathedral St-François-Xavier, Saguenay
• The cathedral St-Michel, Sherbrooke
• The sanctuary Notre-Dame du Sacré-Coeur, Quebec
• The church St-Louis de France, East-Angus

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