News - Collections
-
Join History Curator Vicky Garrington to explore the family history behind a newly-acquired patchwork quilt used by generations of a Leith family.
We were recently visited at the Museum Collections Centre by Alexander Tulloch and his family. They had generously offered to donate a patchwork quilt used by generations of the family in Leith. Together we unfolded a large quilt made up of triangles of blue, green, red and yellow material. Heavy upholstery fabric was stitched alongside sprigged satin, all edged with a cream frill. The quilt holds many memories for Alexander and he shared some of his Leith family stories with us.
Alexander was born in 1933 and he used the quilt as a child. However, it was always referred to as ‘Grandmother’s quilt’, likely dating it to the late 19th century. This fits in well with the patterns found on the fabrics. The Tulloch family house was on Queen Charlotte Street in Leith, and the family business was John Tulloch – Butcher & Ship Store Merchant. This important ships’ chandlers was sited on the bend where Salamander Street turns into Baltic Street. An image of the shop frontage from the 1920s can be viewed at www.oldleith.org.uk The corner still exists today as partly commercial and partly residential premises, standing firm as Salamander Street changes all around it.
Ships’ chandlers existed to provision ships of all sizes with everything from meat to preserved foods and practical equipment. They were an important building block of Leith’s successful shipping industry. John Tulloch’s also served the local community as a butchers and grocers.
Alexander Tulloch didn’t follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, instead undertaking an apprenticeship at industrial and electrical engineers Bruce Peebles & Co. Ltd before becoming a scientist. He holds many iconic memories of past Leith, including watching bombs fall on Leith as a boy during the air raids of World War 2.
Alexander’s quilt is an excellent example of late 19th century home crafts. The use of upholstery fabrics is often seen in quilts of this period as the heavy fabric with a raised pile helped to trap warm air. The triangular shapes arranged into squares are also common, as it is a relatively simple pattern to produce, and the small size of the pieces allows the quilter to make the most of even the smallest remnant. The fabric used for the quilt is likely to include leftover and/ or re-used curtain, furniture upholstery and dress fabric. The colour scheme of this quilt is particularly striking, and the busy pattern makes the repairs that have been made over the years less visible.
We are grateful to Alexander Tulloch and his family for donating the quilt to Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, and for sharing stories of Leith gone-by.
-
What links an imaginary world of toy kings and queens made up by childhood friends in the early 20th century and the real life Queen Mary? Join Museum of Childhood curator Susan Gardner to explore the imaginary realm of Dollyland and the artist that provides the link to Royalty.
A dolls' house fit for a queen
Queen Mary’s dolls’ house, displayed at Windsor Castle, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024. It is described as 'the largest and most famous dolls’ house in the world, created by the finest craftspeople, artists and manufacturers of the early 20th century'. Over 700 artists were commissioned to donate a miniature artwork to the dolls’ house and one of these was Elisabeth Brockbank (1882-1949), a member of the Royal Miniature Painters Society. Recent research has revealed that some of the earliest examples of Elisabeth’s work are in the Museum of Childhood collection, unknown to the rest of the art world.
The Realm of Dollyland
Elisabeth Brockbank's artworks form one of the treasures of the Museum of Childhood – a collection of tiny items relating to the imaginary realm of Dollyland. The collection includes handwritten magazines with beautiful illustrations, watercolour paintings and pencil drawings, handmade books and timetables for an imaginary school and a photograph album – all in miniature.
Elisabeth Brockbank, Professional Artist
The Dollyland collection was donated to the Museum of Childhood in 1965 by Margaret Knight. The items were part of an elaborate pastime, created by Margaret and her friend, Marie Elisabeth Brockbank, between about 1899 and 1905. The collection reveals an imaginary world that weaves toys owned by the girls with family life, and a 'realm' that links to the girls' houses and gardens. Fascinating in their own right, the Dollyland items took on a new significance with the discovery that [Marie] Elisabeth Brockbank became a professional artist. She exhibited in many British galleries including the Royal Academy in London and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh and was elected as a member of the Royal Miniature Painters Society in 1918.
An Imaginary World
No information was recorded about the origin of Dollyland when it was donated to the museum. The pictures and articles in the magazines are signed with a variety of names which relate to the imaginary world created by Margaret and Elisabeth, although some are signed ‘M.E.B’. The discovery of Margaret Knight on the 1901 Census, which showed that the Brockbank family were her next-door neighbours, provided the breakthrough.
In 1901, Margaret Knight was 11 years old and Elisabeth Brockbank was 18. They lived in Bush Hill, Edmonton, Middlesex. Margaret’s father, Thomas, was a stock agent and Elisabeth’s father was a grocer, druggist and draper. It was a typical middle-class background. The Knight family had a general domestic servant while the Brockbanks employed a cook and housemaid.
Together, Margaret and Elisabeth invented an imaginary world called Dollyland, occupied by a group of boys and girls inspired by dolls belonging to one or both of them. The dolls can be seen in a tiny photograph album which also gives us a tantalising glimpse of Margaret and Elisabeth and some of their relatives. A miniature watercolour map of Dollyland shows the location of Dollyholme (Margaret’s house) and Glen Dolly (Elisabeth’s house) within the borders of Dollyland.
Royal Dollyland
Dollyland is ruled over by an elected king and queen, King William I of the House of Brockbank and Queen Margaret Phyllis (or Marnie) of the House of Knight. Each miniature magazine has a Court News section at the front which describes the activities of the king and queen, including their wedding and coronation. There are also handwritten notices describing the coronation robes, the Laws of the Realm of Dollyland, an Official Book of Ceremonies and a list of the Officers of the Government of Dollyland. The national colours are red, white and gold and the Royal Arms are formed of a sword and hockey stick crossed behind a crown. The Flower of Dollyland is the pink-tipped daisy – a reference to Margaret? (Daisy is often used as a nickname for Margaret.) It’s not unusual to create an imaginary world with a monarchy but it’s tempting to suggest that Margaret and Elisabeth were inspired by the preparations for the coronation of King Edward II, planned to take place in June 1901, and postponed until August due to the King’s illness.
Making home-made magazines was a popular hobby for children at this time and usually followed a standard magazine format of stories, poems, drawings and competitions. The Dollyland magazines include all of these elements but also tell the story of their imaginary characters. The Christmas editions show the children decorating the house, opening presents and eating a special Christmas meal while other activities throughout the year are revealed in the Court News sections.
The whole of Dollyland magazine Volume 7 is dedicated to Sweet & Placid, a cat belonging to one of the girls, who has died after getting into a fight, and the death of Duke, a neighbour’s dog, is remembered too. Magazine No.11 records that “two of our number have now been presented with Kodak cameras”. Perhaps these were used to take the photographs in the miniature album? It’s not clear if the magazines were circulated to a group of readers or whether anyone else helped to create them. The articles and drawings are credited with various names which may be variations of Margaret and Elisabeth’s names or may be the names of the imaginary children.
Dollyland's creators grow up
Most of the writing and drawing in the magazines seems to be the work of Elisabeth, rather than Margaret, along with several other watercolour paintings and pencil drawings of the ‘children’. In the 1901 Census she does not have a recorded occupation but perhaps she was preparing to go to art college? Ten years later, in 1911, her occupation is confirmed as ‘painter’. So far, little information about Margaret’s adult life is known, except that she and Elisabeth must have remained lifelong friends. When Elisabeth died in 1949, Margaret was one of two people who inherited her estate, and it seems she spent some of that inheritance travelling to Hong King as a missionary.
Margaret Knight lived until the age of 85. It’s wonderful that she kept the Dollyland items all that time and donated them to the Museum of Childhood. They obviously meant a great deal to her. Still in the spirit of the game, she wrote to the museum’s curator in 1965, “It is a great pleasure to know that ‘Dollyholme’ has arrived safely and that ‘King William and his court’ have received honourable and appreciative welcome!”
Elisabeth Brockbank deserves to be remembered as a talented artist and it’s fitting to highlight her work around the centenary year of Queen Mary’s dolls’ house. For us at the Museum of Childhood, it’s even more exciting to have re-discovered the story behind Elisabeth’s early work, her friendship with Margaret Knight and their joint enterprise – the Realm of Dollyland.
More from Dollyland
-
-
Leith locals and history buffs have been saddened by the relocation of engineers George Brown & Sons. Their distinctive workshops at the Shore, complete with ‘GB’ ironwork on the door, have been a local landmark for decades. But what links this important Leith business to World War 2 bomb fragments found at Leith Library/ Town Hall and recently donated to our People’s Story collection? History Curator Vicky Garrington tells more...
A local business icon
The original business that became George Brown & Sons was established on Ferry Road as a blacksmiths in the 1820s. The business soon expanded, eventually incorporating drawing offices, a pattern shop, foundry and more. Work carried out included bicycle manufacture, boat building and overhauling, and boiler production. The iconic site at the Shore enabled boats to be moored right out front, in the days when the swing bridge still swung. This enabled some life-saving technical work during World War 2 – degaussing ships.
Protecting ships in World War 2
The German military used magnetic naval mines against British shipping during the War. The mines were able to detect changes in the Earth’s magnetic field caused by the steel in large ships, pinpointing explosions to cause maximum damage. To counteract this deadly technology, Britain developed the process of ‘degaussing’, installing electric cables around the ship that could counteract the changes in magnetic readings caused by the ships. A ‘gauss’ is a unit of magnetism, hence the term ‘degaussing’. George Brown & Sons installed cables on dozens of British military ships, helping them to go undetected in their important work transporting supplies and troops.
Links between stories
So what’s the link with bomb fragments at Leith Library/ Town Hall? A recent addition to our People’s Story collection is a group of pieces of parachute, burnt rope and metal salvaged from the site of an air raid on Leith in April 1941. As the War progressed, naval mines began to be used against land targets, particularly port areas. They were dropped by parachute to enable them to land without sinking into the earth – maximum damage could be caused by a surface-level bomb – and the burnt and twisted fragments that have been donated to us are from the aftermath of a ‘parachute mine’ attack. Magnetic triggers were often replaced with timers or other detonation devices for these land-targeting bombs, but the bombs themselves were the same on land or at sea.
You can read more about the April 1941 raid on Leith and the fragments in our blog here. It’s fascinating to think that one of the most deadly devices in the German arsenal exploded at Leith Library/ Town Hall on Ferry Road, a ten minute walk from George Brown & Sons workshops where so much was being done to prevent similar destruction at sea.
We wait to see what will happen with the George Brown & Sons premises, but the Leith community will forever have ties to the company, through relatives who apprenticed there, worked there, or benefitted from the engineering work they carried out.
-
We’re continuing our series of blogs to mark Edinburgh 900. In this blog, History Curator Vicky Garrington explores the life of one of the few women to study Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh in the early 20th century via a treasured scarf from Edinburgh's iconic shop Romanes & Paterson.
A beautiful cream silk scarf with floral decoration has just been donated to the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh collection. It was bought from Romanes & Paterson on Princes Street and mailed to an address in Crieff. Its story shines a light on a formidable woman who excelled at Mathematics.
Katherine (Kate) Eliza Donaldson Brotherston was born in 1899 to parents who worked in service as a butler and children’s nurse on Dundas street. Kate’s talent for numbers led her to graduate from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Mathematics in the 1920s. Kate was one of very few female students in Mathematics during this period. She later used her skills as a teacher at Morrison’s Academy school in Crieff, eventually becoming Acting Headteacher. The photograph below shows her at the time of her appointment to that senior role.
Kate might have ordered the scarf from Romanes & Paterson for herself, or it may have been a gift. The great niece who donated it notes that it isn’t indicative of ‘Aunty Kate’s’ style. She was known for her smart woollen skirt suits, made up with material ordered from high-end stores like Jenners and Forsyths. However, her niece remembers her having a ‘bottom drawer’ of daintier pieces. A ‘bottom drawer’ was often kept with pieces for a future marriage or to be handed on to family. The silk scarf may have been bought for that purpose.
The scarf is addressed to Kate via ‘Miss Lyall’ with whom she boarded while she worked at the Academy. Although this was a very modest home set-up, Kate went on to own property and to travel extensively, including travelling to New York by ocean liner.
The silk scarf is very evocative of the 1920s period. The embroidery has an oriental flavour, in tune with the fashions of the time. The tasselled ends echo the fringing found on other scarves and dresses of the 1920s.
Romanes & Paterson sold fabric and complete accessories in their shop during this period, but they were also well set up for mail order, as this box shows. An area is clearly marked out for an address label, and the box is sturdy enough to withstand transport and delivery.
Romanes & Paterson remain an Edinburgh institution. You can find out more about their history in another of our blogs here.
Edinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
10min Article
We're continuing our series of talks to mark Edinburgh900. In this blog, History Curator Vicky Garrington explores a souvenir of the Blitz. Kept carefully for decades, it helps tell the story of Leith at War.
Cameron Horne was ten years old in April 1941 when the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) attempted to destroy Henry Robb’s shipyard at Leith Docks. The parachute mines they dropped missed their intended target, but did huge damage to a corner of Leith including the Town Hall and Library (now the Leith Library and Theatre complex). Cameron’s father was Assistant Chief Air Raid Warden for Leith, and would have been on the scene as soon as possible. Subsequently, some pieces of parachute and bomb were gifted by wardens to Cameron and other children visiting the scene. These wartime souvenirs were treasured until this year, when they were kindly gifted to Museums & Galleries Edinburgh.
The term ‘parachute mine’ was used for large bombs dropped by parachute. Initially used against shipping, by 1941 the Luftwaffe were using them against land targets. The parachute attached to the bomb slowed its descent, allowing it to remain on the surface of the ground. In this way, maximum damage could be achieved by the bomb’s explosion, which could be triggered by a timer or sensory mechanism.
The Luftwaffe attacked shipping throughout World War 2 in order to interrupt essential supply chains, but from late 1940 until the middle of 1941, they focused on docks. Ships were both berthed and constructed in the docks, so the impact of direct hits could be very disruptive. Some of the bombs dropped in the April 1941 raid on Leith did not explode, or else hit areas where damage was limited, but ‘Cameron’s bomb’ landed in a populous area and there were a number of casualties.
The bomb fragments salvaged from the site by Cameron include a section of parachute with cord attached, a portion of singed rope presumably from the inside of the bomb, and a metal fin. The parachute mines were over 2 metres long, and did not require aerodynamic fins, so this last fragment is likely to have come from a small incendiary bomb that also hit the site.
The Town Hall was severely damaged by the raid, and it was not fully repaired until the 1950s. Attempts were made to make areas damaged in the Blitz safe, and residents whose homes were hit were re-settled, but the process of rebuilding could not begin in earnest until the War ended in 1945.
Cameron was not alone in collecting souvenirs of the German raids. Children across the UK did the same. And with around 70,000 tonnes of bombs dropped on the UK during the war, there was plenty of opportunity. World War 2 for many children was a mixture of excitement, boredom and the bleak realities of casualties, blackouts, displacement and rationing. These souvenirs now stand as a reminder of British grit in the face of attack and as a memorial to those whose families were affected by the raids.
You can find out more about the bombing of Edinburgh at our Edinburgh900 lecture on the subject
A detailed explanation of the raid and its casualties can be read on Threadinburgh
More photographs of Edinburgh during World War 2 can be found on Capital CollectionsEdinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
As Edinburgh celebrates its 900th birthday, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have been looking at what it means for the Capital’s past and present to be a city of faith. The Keep the Faith project aims to grow our collection of items which tell stories of people of faith who live/ have lived in Edinburgh. We’ve also recruited a group of community curators from across faith backgrounds to inform an exhibition, Four Seasons in Faith.
In the second of our blogs introducing the Keep The Faith project’s Community Curators, we meet Aisha who is of the Muslim faith.
I am Aisha, a Sunni Muslim and the first female Trustee at Annandale Street Mosque. My family moved to Edinburgh in 1980 from Manchester and at that time, there were few facilities for Muslims. My late father, Khalid Mir, along with other 'Uncles' raised enough money and founded a mosque/community centre in Pilrig Street and EVERYTHING happened there -religious festivals, weddings, parties, social clubs, gatherings … and everyone knew everyone! Fast forward 40 years, Pilrig Street has moved to Annandale Street and there are many more mosques serving a wonderfully diverse global Muslim community.
For me, Islam gives me a 'road map' for my life so that I can be a good person. It teaches me that I can do anything and achieve everything. It teaches me to be kind, charitable, selfless and caring towards others. It gives me strength, resilience and comfort during difficult times.
I'm far from perfect in my faith and maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I get an inner peace and calmness from my faith that's hard to describe - I feel my faith makes me a better human being! I adore how my city welcomes, embraces, cherishes and celebrates me and my faith.
I'm proud to be a Muslim & I'm proud to be an Edinbronian – I am Edinburgh and Edinburgh is mine.
If you would like to find out more about Islam in Edinburgh, feel free to contact/ walk into any Mosque – all are welcome!
https://www.blackhallmosque.com/
-
Keep the Faith Project: Community Curator Ruhy
As Edinburgh celebrates its 900th birthday, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have been looking at what it means for the Capital’s past and present to be a city of faith. The Keep the Faith project aims to grow our collection of items which tell stories of people of faith who live/ have lived in Edinburgh. We’ve also recruited a group of community curators from across faith backgrounds to inform an exhibition, Four Seasons in Faith.
In the first of our blogs introducing the Keep The Faith project’s Community Curators, we meet Ruhy who is of the Bahá’í faith.
My name is Ruhy, and I am a member of the Bahá’í Faith. Although born and brought up in England, Scotland has been my home for the last 43 years. I am of Iranian heritage, and was raised within a Bahá’í family. My late husband, who was brought up in Ayrshire, was also a Bahá’í having first come across the Faith when he moved to Edinburgh at the age of 18. My children were all born in Edinburgh, and I consider Edinburgh to be my home. Baháʼu'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, teaches us that “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” This is how as Bahá’ís we aspire to be; considering all peoples to be members of one human family.
The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion originating in Persia (Iran) in the middle of the nineteenth century. Bahá’ís are followers of Baháʼu'lláh, who we believe is the latest of the Messengers sent from God to guide humanity. Our most fundamental need at this stage of our collective development as human beings living on one planet is to recognise that we are one and are interconnected and interdependent.
For His teachings, Baháʼu'lláh was imprisoned and exiled. He passed away in 1892 in the Holy Land, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Our spiritual and administrative centres are in the Holy Land (modern day Israel) as a consequence of this. The Faith has spread all over the globe.
Edinburgh has a long-standing connection with our faith as ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, Son of Baháʼu'lláh and His successor, visited our city in January 1913, as the guest of Reverend Alexander Whyte and his wife Jane. Reverend Whyte was a Free Church minister and also the Principal of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Mrs Jane Whyte first met ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1906 when she visited Him in the Holy Land whilst He was still a prisoner of the Ottomans. Once He was freed after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and then visited Britain in 1911, Mrs Whyte invited Him to Edinburgh to meet the many and varied citizens of the city and speak to them about the teachings of the faith. The Whyte residence was in Charlotte Square.
From those early beginnings the Bahá’í faith is now well-established in Edinburgh, and our Bahá’í Centre is in Albany Street. We do not have any clergy, with each Bahá’í responsible for reading from the Writings morning and evening themselves. As a Bahá’í I observe saying my daily obligatory prayer, and also an annual 19 Day Fast (sunrise to sunset) before our Bahá’í New Year (Naw-Rúz). We have many beautiful prayers and Writings revealed by the three Central Figures of our faith (the Báb, Baháʼu'lláh, and ʻAbdu'l-Bahá). Bahá’í communities meet every day for 19 days to observe the 19 Day Fast. This has three sections, starting with prayers and readings from our Writings, followed by an administrative portion where we consult on matters pertaining to the community. We then have a social section where we have refreshments and have an opportunity to meet each other. We observe 9 Holy Days a year. These are special days when we try to have time off work or school. I have had the bounty of having been able to go on a Bahá’í pilgrimage to visit our Holy Places in the Holy Land. Pilgrimage is a profoundly spiritual experience.
Being a Bahá’í is about being actively involved with community building, working with people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, faiths and beliefs in order to build flourishing, vibrant communities. We emphasise the importance of spiritual and moral education of children, junior youth (11 – 15 years), and young people. Words go hand-in-hand with acts of service decided upon by participants in neighbourhood activities themselves, having consulted locals about their needs. What we do within Edinburgh, and Scotland, along with active participants from a wide range of backgrounds, is an example of what Bahá’ís do worldwide within the same framework for action.
Everyone is welcome to come along and investigate more about the Bahá’í faith and join in gatherings open to all!
-
We’re continuing our series of blogs to mark Edinburgh 900. In this blog, History Curator Vicky Garrington reveals a new addition to the dress history collection that was sold in Edinburgh’s bustling retail centre.
These beautiful cream silk wedding shoes were worn by a member of the donor’s family for her wedding in 1927. They were sold by the company W & J Inglis of Queensferry Street, Edinburgh. They are an interesting addition to the Museums & Galleries Edinburgh dress history collection as they show how shoe styles for formal wear evolve slowly, often harking back to popular styles from previous centuries.
Style throwbacks
If we compare the 1920s wedding shoes to these 1750s shoes in our collection, there are a lot of similarities. The use of silk fabric is similar, as is the choice of a Louis heel. First popularised by Louis XIV of France in the 17th century, Louis heels are curvaceous, with a flared base that makes them comfortable to wear. They continue to be used by shoes designers today. The 1750s heels have a more exaggerated curve than the 1920s heels, making the heel sit more fully under the ball of the foot. This was a fashion that ebbed and flowed over the 17th and subsequent centuries. It gave the illusion of a small foot, which has been considered attractive across cultures and generations, but if the flare was too extreme, it caused the shoes to feel unstable. There’s no point looking glamorous if you’re going to stumble at the same time!
The 1750s shoes have latchets (cross-over pieces at the front) that are fixed with a buckle holding paste gems. The 1920s shoes have a silk rosette instead, but the shape and style of the rosette nods to the use of buckles.
Heeled shoes for women fell out of favour in the late 18th century, making way for nearly 100 years of flat slippers, but the late Victorian period saw the return of elegant heels. By the 1920s, there were many different styles of heeled shoe available, many far removed from the 18th century style. So, why do these wedding shoes hark back to a style over 200 years old?
One idea to explore is that formal-wear trends tend to move more slowly than trends in everyday wear, as traditional rules of appropriate dress often apply. Formal-wear is also more lavish and therefore expensive, so there is less appetite for a fast turn-over of fashions. For an event like a wedding, some people prefer to adopt a ‘classic’ style seen in previous generations of wedding portraiture, to avoid being immortalised in one fashion moment that could pass out of style. Painted portraiture also plays a role, with elegant women captured by artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds providing inspiration across the generations.
Wedding shopping
W & J Inglis appear in Edinburgh Post Office Directories as shoe retailers over a number of years. Their location on Queensferry Street, just off the west end of Princes Street, would have positioned them near the large department stores of Edinburgh’s main shopping street. It would have been a handy location for those browsing for all the necessary clothes and accessories for a wedding.
We are delighted to have these 1920s wedding shoes in our collection. Not only do they represent an Edinburgh retailer that is new to our collections, but they also illustrate perfectly the way fashion cycles work, with inspiration being drawn from the past to create today’s fashionable looks.
Edinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
Outfits by Princess Diana’s favourite fashion designer are coming to the Museum of Edinburgh
The Curatorial & Engagement Team at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh are working on a new display at the Museum of Edinburgh, which will feature five outfits by fashion designer Victor Edelstein. The outfits have recently been donated to the collection by Mrs Susan Miller in memory of her daughter Anna Miller, who was an assistant and muse to Edelstein.
Victor Edelstein was one of the leading fashion designers of the 1980s and created many outfits for Princess Diana, including the dress she wore to dance with John Travolta at the White House.
Fucshia pink for a dazzling evening
One of the star pieces on display in The Craft of Couture: Victor Edelstein designs for Anna Miller is a fuchsia pink evening gown with a plunging neckline, created from heavy silk satin. A velvet cocktail dress has buttons that sparkle under the lights, while a series of suits show Edelstein’s exceptional attention to detail and his innate understanding of how to make a woman look her best.
History Curator Vicky Garrington has been working with Collections Care Officer Jenny Pape to assess each garment in the collection and prepare it for display. Vicky says it’s a privilege to see Edelstein’s work up close:
Victor Edelstein was a couturier, creating bespoke garments for individual clients. This is work from the very pinnacle of the fashion world. The fabrics used are so luxurious – silk satins and velvets, tweeds and cut glass – and the attention to detail is un-matched. We can see as we start mounting each piece how its design it intended to make the wearer look their absolute best.
For museum display, each garment is carefully fitted to a mannequin. Slender mannequins are required for the Edelstein pieces, with certain features accentuated by adding padding to the figure. This supports the garments properly and gives a good indication of how they would have looked when worn.
1980s, but not as we know it
The pieces in the display definitely have a 1980s flavour – the use of hot fuchsia pink contrasted with black; a velvet dress with a cummerbund waistband – but they are not in line with the 1980s cliché of massive shoulder pads, asymmetry and lots of sparkle. Instead, they exude a restrained elegance. Vicky says:
I think visitors are going to be surprised at how wearable these 1980s creations are. The dresses especially wouldn’t look out of place at a party today. Meanwhile, the sand-coloured suit screams ‘quiet luxury’ – a very on-trend style. Each fashion decade tends to become synonymous with its extremes – the wide flares of the 70s, or the shoulder pads of the 80s – but the real picture is more nuanced, and the cleverest designers design with longevity in mind.
Victor Edelstein
Victor Edelstein (born 1946) created couture gowns and day outfits for Princess Diana as well as many other Royal and Society figures. This work earned him a reputation as ‘The Master of the English thoroughbred look’.
Edelstein was born in North London. He spent his early career working for various fashion designers and brands before establishing his own label in 1978. After four years, Edelstein decided to focus solely on haute couture as opposed to ready-to-wear fashion. He also designed for the theatre and ballet.
Victor Edelstein closed his fashion house in 1993 and now works as an artist.
Anna Miller
Anna Miller was born in Edinburgh. After working for the department store Jenners, she relocated to London to work for Vogue. She met Victor Edelstein and became his assistant and muse. She later returned to Edinburgh and worked as an artist.
The term ‘muse’ comes from the ancient Greek inspirational goddesses of literature, art and science. In more recent times, a muse is thought of as a source of artistic inspiration. In fashion circles, you might think of Madonna as the muse of Jean Paul Gaultier, or Harry Styles as the muse of Alessandro Michele of Gucci. Anna Miller assisted Victor Edelstein with his couture business, but she also served as inspiration for his designs. Looking at the wonderful creations he designed for her, she was definitely a worthy muse.
The Craft of Couture: Victor Edelstein designs for Anna Miller
28/11/2024 – 01/06/2024
See the exhibition page for more information
Please note that this is a small display. Community workshops and events will be held during the display’s run – please keep an eye on the website for details.
-
We’re continuing our series of blogs to mark Edinburgh 900 . In this blog, Nico Tyack, Collections Information Officer at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh, explores the world of European commerce in the 1600s.
Progress in transport, the internet and a global economy has put most of us directly in touch with events and news from around the world. We can access news stories (true or false) as it happens, and often think that in the past, people lived more isolated lives, cut off from a wider world.
Looking through our museum stores recently I encountered an object in the collections which made me realise just how wrong we are to think this. This tiny item is a coin balance from the early 1600s and it tells a story of a web of international trade, money exchange and movement of news and ideas just as connected as today. It also reveals a sinister warning of famine, plague and war to come.
Meet the coin balance
Stored inside a simple wooden box, the coin balance is a handy kit that would have done an important job for a 17th century merchant. The balance itself is a set of scales made of steel and bronze. Two arms hang from a horizontal arm, on which is set a pointer. When the pans are equally balanced, the pointer lines up beautifully into a steel frame.
The box has a number of square holes for brass weights. Inside the lid is a cover which slides off to reveal 8 more spaces for weights. All the weights have the same design stamped on one side; a shield with the coat of arms of the Dutch province of Zeeland (now the southwestern-most region of the modern country of the Netherlands) and the initials I. D. C. The other side is a copy of the design of a specific gold coin in circulation at the time. The date "1607" is marked on the box in black ink, but the set was in use for many years after, and new weights were added as new coins were minted.
How did it work?
Unlike today, trade in the 1600s was not limited to the currency of the country you happened to be in; traders could buy with, and exchange, coins from other currencies. What mattered the most was the weight of the gold that made the coin.
By knowing the weight for any coin was correct, a trader knew they were being paid the right amount. Much like old style kitchen scales, the coin weights were made to match the exact weight of the coin they represented. The stamped design of the corresponding coin allowed the trader to easily find the weight he needed.
The weights in this particular set weighed coins in circulation around western Europe in the early 1600s. Some were much older, and had been in use for a long time already (such as one coin with the head of King Edward VI on it; this English king had died way back in 1553), while some were more recent (such as a coin of James VI of Scotland from 1611). They can tell us that the owner was accepting these coins as he travelled around Europe.
The coin weights we have been able to identify are from England, Scotland, France, Spain, one is possibly from Sweden, another may be Hungarian, and one is from the Spanish Netherlands; an area now part of Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg under contested control of Spain for much of early 1600s.
The name of many coins is written in ink above each of the slots for the weights. Sadly, many are very hard to make out today. But we can still make out some of the nicknames of the coins of the time; ‘pistolet’, a 2 escudos coin from Spain, and an ‘Albertin’, a coin from the Spanish Netherlands from 1606. Other coins are named by the monarch depicted; ‘Jacobus 6’ for the James VI.
Who owned it?
The simple answer is ; we do not know! From the coat of arms of Zeeland on each weight, we can assume it belonged to a Dutch merchant. We can imagine him travelling around, and can see him in the streets of Edinburgh. We know he traded in Scottish money; one of the weights is for a Scottish coin likely minted in Edinburgh. Who did he meet when he was in town? Did he have a network of Scottish agents? What did he talk about in the taverns of the Old Town? Would we have seen him around the Mercat Cross and Lawnmarket? Are the initials I.D.C. on the weights a clue to his name?
A Connected Europe
The coin weights give us a snapshot of western Europe in the early 1600s. When the date 1607 was marked on the box, most countries represented in the weights were enjoying a time of relative peace. France had just come out of a half century of civil and religious wars, the crowns of Scotland and England had just been united with the succession of James VI of Scotland as King James I of England. Spain and the Netherlands were about to call a 12 year truce, both reduced by a violent struggle that had exhausted both.
This was a good time to be a trader in north-west Europe. Business was booming, and the inclusion of what may be coins from Sweden and Hungary show the extent of the networks of the owner of the balance. Merchants worked in multiple currencies, but as they went about their business, they were exchanging so much more than just money and goods. As they travelled around Europe, they brought with them news from abroad, new ideas, new books and texts. For the expanding merchant and educated classes, this was a time of exciting change, technological and social progress fuelled by an economy which was truly global (within the context of the time).
Europe at war
The coin balance has one last, darker secret to share. Shortly after the names of each coin had been so carefully marked on the box, the countries of Europe were plunged into the bloody, devastating Thirty Years’ War. Many countries the owner had traded in were now at war with each other. Truces had ended, old wounds had opened and millions died, mainly through famine and plague brought on bad harvest, war and a collapsing economy. Our merchant may have found himself locked out of some of his previous markets, a citizen of an enemy state. Did his business suffer? What happened to him?
When the clouds finally parted in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, they revealed a very different Europe. The population was decimated, and the wars and their resolution had redrawn the political map. Spain was forced to recognise the independence of the Dutch Republic, the grip of the once supreme Habsburg Empire had all but vanished, and Europe had a new super power in the form of the all-powerful and absolutist Louis XIV. In Britain, the old order had been swept away with a decade of civil war. The execution of Charles I and abolition of the monarchy was only a few months away. In this new era, we are left wondering if the little brass weights in our merchant’s scales box still had relevance and use?
Edinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
-
In this blog, Miranda Heggie updates us on the project she’s been leading on to diversify our collections and stories that relate to faith in Edinburgh. Lots has been happening, with new people getting involved and objects arriving at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh.
As Edinburgh celebrates its 900th birthday, we’ve been looking at what it means for the Capital’s past and present to be a city of faith. For the past few months I’ve been working on the Keep the Faith project which aims to grow our collection of items which tell stories of people of faith who live/ have lived in Edinburgh.
We’ve recruited a group of community curators from across faith backgrounds to inform an exhibition which will open later this year, and to work with their own, and other, faith communities to widen the history documented in our collections. Our curators come from Muslim, Jewish, Baha’i and Pagan backgrounds, and we have further links with Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Episcopalian and Catholic Christians who we’ll be working with too. Our first meeting at the Museum Collections Centre brought the community curators, museum staff and our existing faith collections together for lively discussions and planning. We came away energised by the possibilities of the project.
Meanwhile, I’ve been working on adding new objects to our faith collections. I’ve acquired a hand knitted woollen hat from the ecumenical Christian charity Mission to Seafarers and a cross made from corn which came from a recently closed Church of Scotland church. This not only represents Christian worship at harvest time, but the Harvest festival’s more Pagan roots. We’ve also been in conversation with people who are happy to donate tickets from Edinburgh which have been used for Muslim and Roman Catholic pilgrimages, hand-painted murals that depict the journeys of Bhat Sikhs to, and in, Edinburgh and recently-handcrafted items which are used in ancient Pagan rites. These additions are already making our faith collections more diverse and better representative of life in Edinburgh. So, watch this space – we can’t wait to share more about how this dynamic project develops to tell a wider story of Edinburgh’s faith communities.
You can read the first Keep the Faith project blog here
-
Join History Curator Vicky Garrington to explore the stories behind a Mary Quant blouse recently donated to the dress history collection at Museums & Galleries Edinburgh.
Take a look at this stunning blouse. Made of semi-synthetic satin material, it drapes beautifully and shimmers in the light. The heavy draping of the collar brings drama, while the full-length zip down the back gives it a slinky feel. It was made by the Mary Quant Ginger Group label and bought in Edinburgh in 1965.
British fashion designer Mary Quant was an icon of the Swinging Sixties. She popularised black and white dressing, blunt-cut bob hairstyles and the daisy motif. She also claimed to be the inventor of the mini skirt, while acknowledging the influence of the fashionable girls she saw on the streets of London. Quant produced designer fashion, but in 1963 she introduced the Ginger Group label, which offered more affordable ready-to-wear styles through stores around Britain.
This Ginger Group blouse was sold by Goldbergs department store in Tollcross, Edinburgh. Goldbergs’ five storey mid-century showstopper of a store dominated the High Riggs area of Tollcross from its opening in the early 1960s until its demise in 1990. It is remembered by many in Edinburgh for its ahead-of-the-times features such as escalators, roof-top dining and an aviary with exotic birds. Goldbergs was demolished after it closed in the face of increasing retail competition in the city from the likes of the St James Centre, and flats now stand in its place.
The donor of the blouse remembers buying it at Goldbergs on a shopping trip with friends while a student. She and her friends enjoyed visiting the store in person, although it also did a fine trade in mail order shopping. The blouse was worn for over 20 years until the late 1980s, which just goes to show that good design never grows old. We’re delighted to have the blouse in our collection to represent an important fashion designer and an icon of Edinburgh department store shopping.
You can find out more about Goldbergs and other Edinburgh shops on Our Town Stories here
-
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Forth Road Bridge, Susie Cavill from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh joined a lively musical session with the Capital Carers Singing Group. Based at South Queensferry, Capital Careres is a dementia-friendly gathering facilitated by Rosie Moorhead and a team of musicians and volunteers. The singing group shared memories from the opening of the Road Bridge, looked at objects from our museum handling collection, explored growing up in Queensferry and found insights into how music can play a powerful role in connection and wellbeing.
The Forth Road Bridge opened on the 4th of September 1964. With its protective motto “Guid Passage” cheering travellers on, it is a significant part of Scotland’s landscape and of engineering history. Spanning 1006 metres between its two towers and stretching an impressive 2.5km in total, at the time of completion it was the longest suspension bridge outside of America. Its design nods to the suspension engineering of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, whilst having its own distinctive character.
For anyone in confusion about which bridge is which, here is a quick primer:
The Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge was designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker. It is the distinctive red cantilever railway bridge that flows across the Firth of Forth in red steel waves. This beauty was completed in 1890, has been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is often unofficially referred to as the Forth Rail Bridge.
The Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge is the suspension bridge which celebrates its 60th birthday on the 4th of September 2024. The design is reminiscent of the Golden Gate Bridge, but it has its own cool Scots elegance. It opened in 1964 and connects Edinburgh from South Queensferry to Fife, across the Firth of Forth at North Queensferry.
The Queensferry Crossing
The Queensferry Crossing is a three tower, cable-stayed bridge built in 2017 alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge. It connects the M90 motorway across the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh, at South Queensferry and Fife, at North Queensferry.
The impact of the Forth Road Bridge on a generation
The Capital Carers South Queensferry Singing Group is a community initiative established in 2016. They have a well-established Singing Group for carers who are caring for someone living with dementia in South Queensferry and surrounding districts. It is also part of the South Queensferry Dementia Friendly Initiative. Led by Rosie Moorhead and Sue McPhail, the group meet twice a month to sing songs that resonate with their lives, from traditional Scottish Songs to popular hits that the group enjoy. The sessions also provide time for tea, conversation, companionship and creating a supportive atmosphere. There's space to relax, move to the music, relieve stress and above all else, smile.
To some members of this engaging musical group, The Forth Road Bridge isn’t just a structure they see when they walk around town - it’s part of their life stories. It’s impossible to not to see the bridges when you walk around South Queensferry. They rise from the Firth of Forth, larger than life, and together are an impressive presence that dominates the landscape. They serve as powerful symbols of human achievement, change and adventure, bridging one land with another. Anything is possible when a bridge can take you onward!
Music and Meaning
Whilst the Road Bridge is a powerful symbol of progress, its connection to personal histories and anniversary makes it a wonderful talking point for a traditional reminiscence session. The group’s guitarist, Isabel, found us a piece of music to listen to that, whilst inspired by the neighbouring Forth Rail Bridge, sparked curiosity and emotion. Listening to it got the group thinking of their own memories of the building and opening of the Road Bridge during their youth. The song is by Robin Laing and you can listen to it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p27WWe55vRM
Within moments of the song beginning we were all singing along, the words provided by Linda on the screen. The song tells a story of tough graft and of hardworking men of different communities coming together to build the “bridge between the darkness and the dawn.” It’s a fitting tribute to the people who built the seemingly impossible structures that still take your breath away when you stand looking out toward them. The sentiments are relevant to all the bridges, including the Road Bridge.
The song by Robin Laing, though written in 1994, provided a tangible connection to a moment that was lost in time - an older bridge, with the perils and victories inherent in the building. It also links to the newer bridge, one that the group in their youths had watched rise up proudly on the horizon. It will forever be part of their lives. It’s grown up with them. They’ve grown up with it.
During the session, the group played more songs, took a look at some artifacts in our Museums & Galleries Edinburgh handling box and laughed along with each other as they revealed their memories like little bits of treasure from the steel grey sea.
The protective effects of music as we age
The National Alliance for Museums, Health and Wellbeing and the British Association for Music Therapy support music-led initiatives with music therapists. This is because of the positive impact this work can have on Dementia, Neurodiversity, Active Ageing, Addiction Recovery and Mental Health. All of these areas can also be impacted by museum and heritage activities. Joining music and history together seems like a recipe for positive experiences. After our first successful session, we're working together with Capital Carers to develop more sessions and look forward to sharing more stories and experiences in future blogs.
You can view more images of the Forth Road Bridge in our new Capital Collections exhibition
-
We're celebrating the launch of Edinburgh 900 in Museums & Galleries Edinburgh and across the city with an exploration of an Edinburgh icon: Greyfriars Bobby. Bobby is an enduring symbol of doggy devotion and his haunts are a must-see for visitors to Scotland's capital. A terrier who lived in 19th century Edinburgh and guarded his master’s grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard for 14 years until his own death, Bobby keeps gaining new generations of fans who flock to his statue on Candlemaker Row, visit his grave at the Kirkyard and come to the Museum of Edinburgh to see his collar and other star objects.
Read on to find out more about the Bobby objects Museums & Galleries Edinburgh hold, including some you might not expect.
1. Bobby's collar
Bobby lived from 1855 to 1872. After his master, John Gray, died in 1858, Bobby took up a vigil by his grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby abandoned his post each day to have dinner at John Traill’s coffee house nearby. He was picked up here in 1867 after being discovered without a licence. Un-licensed dogs were rounded up and often destroyed. Bobby’s graveside vigil had already made him famous by this point, and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh paid for his licensed collar to keep him safe. Bobby’s collar is on display at the Museum of Edinburgh.
2. Film poster for The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby
This poster is for the 2005 film The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, which brought the Bobby story to a whole new audience. The original Bobby is believed to have been a Skye terrier or perhaps a Dandy Dinmont, but in this film, he appears as a West Highland terrier, the choice supposedly being made so that the dog stood out against the Edinburgh backdrop more clearly. The poster is held in our museum store.
3. Waggle-headed Bobby from the Commonwealth Games
This fibreglass version of the Bobby statue erected at Candlemaker Row was used in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A pole inside the body lets Bobby look around at the crowds. Bobby’s nose is shiny to match the statue, which visitors sometimes rub for luck. Poor Bobby – his nose is best left alone so that future generations can enjoy his statue. The ‘puppet’ Bobby is currently in our museum store.
4. Bobby water fountain drinking cup
The Bobby statue on Candlemaker Row was funded by animal advocate Baroness Burdett Coutts. Unveiled in 1873, it originally featured a water fountain with hanging cups. Dogs and humans used the handy water supply until it was shut off for health and safety reasons and the cup came to be displayed at the Museum of Edinburgh.
5. Engraving of Bobby gifted to the man who fed him
This engraving of Bobby by Gourlay Steel shows the devoted dog undertaking his vigil for his master. It was given as a gift from the artist to John Traill and can be seen at the Museum of Edinburgh
6. Bobby's dinner dish
During his graveside vigil, Bobby was fed by the Traill family who ran Traill’s Coffee House at 5 & 6 Greyfriars Place. He was served his dinner in his own dish, which was donated to the Museum of Edinburgh by the Traill family.
Aspects of the Greyfriars Bobby story may have been debated over time, but overall it tells us a lot about changing Victorian attitudes towards animals and the enduring power of stories of love and devotion.
You can see some of the locations associated with the story of Greyfriars Bobby on Our Town Stories
-
Edinburgh teen Eve Williamson has been visiting our venues and latest exhibitions. In her new blog, she shares her experience of a visit to the Scott and Nelson Monuments.
During my free week in June, I decided to take a trip to some of the museums and attractions around the Edinburgh city centre. After heading to loads of museums and exhibits earlier in the week, on Thursday I travelled to Princes Street to check out the Scott Monument and then on to the Nelson Monument. I pass the Scott Monument pretty much every day but until now, I had never walked up it. I’ve also not been up Calton Hill, let alone the Nelson Monument (an entirely underrated attraction, by the way). Though the grey skies and Edinburgh weather threatened the perfect views, I was prepared to trudge up MANY steps to see more of the city. With that in mind, I began my tour of the Scott Monument.
The Scott Monument
The Scott Monument is, as my tour guide told me, a 61 metre high monument built to commemorate famous Scottish author Sir Walter Scott (as seen in the Writers’ Museum). After his death in 1836, a competition was opened up for architects to design a monument as iconic as the man himself and by 1840, the construction of George Meikle Kemp’s vision had begun. And what a vision it was. As I walked around the monument, I was struck by the number of tiny details. The sandstone, although darkened by soot, had intricate carvings on it no matter where you looked. Inside, there were stunning stained glass windows and panels detailing the various works of Scott. It was amazing.
Scott was a prolific writer who was best known for creating some of the first historical fiction novels, which were entertaining and educational and occasionally fabricated. Among the names of his books lining the walls were Waverley, the namesake of the nearby train station, and Rob Roy, a tale of a dashing man stealing from the rich and giving to the poor who was portrayed in a 1995 adaptation by Liam Neeson (though, as the guide helpfully told me, it must be noted the real man stole from the rich and gave to…himself).
My tour took me up three levels, also known as 221 steps, also known as approximately 48metres. It was quite a walk, however the city views from the top were even more breathtaking than hiking up the dizzying spiral staircases. Seriously, they were amazing. Despite the skies being less blue than I’d have hoped, the cityscapes more than made up for it. I got to see iconic sites I see regularly like Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh Castle, St Giles and more from quite literally a new perspective. As well as this, when we got to the top, the tour guide was super helpful and more than happy to answer questions and I learnt more about some of the stuff I mentioned earlier. I could’ve stayed up there forever though sadly I had to return to the ground, with my next destination in mind.
The Nelson Monument
The Nelson Monument was built in the early 19th century to honour the life and death of the famous navy officer, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson. Later, in 1853, a time ball was installed which is lined up with the One O’Clock Gun from the castle to send signals to the port at Leith and it is operated manually to this day. The monument sits at the top of Calton Hill, where I headed after my trip to the Scott Monument. I, despite my free bus pass, decided to walk there (which was perhaps a mistake after having just walked up and down 442 steps in total). When I arrived at the monument, I skipped the downstairs exhibit at first and climbed up the 143 steps towards the viewing gallery. The walls occasionally had messages telling me that I was nearly at the platform which served as much appreciated motivation to keep going. And I’m glad I did! I’m legitimately very surprised that the monument isn’t more famous for its views; they were absolutely stunning.
After spending a good 20 minutes or so just staring out at the city, I headed downstairs to check out the exhibit on Charles Piazzi Smyth, a 19th century astronomer and author. Remember the time ball I mentioned earlier? That was him. The One O’Clock Gun was his as well. Considering those contributions to Edinburgh, I was surprised I hadn’t heard of him and it was really interesting reading about his life, especially as a bit of a space nerd myself. My favourite part was learning about his photography and stereography as I was able to see what Smyth’s nearly 200 year old photographs looked like.
Overall Experience
Overall, my time seeing the monuments was fantastic. The Scott Monument is so iconic for a reason; the statues and architecture are stunning and intricate, the tour guide was lovely and the views were amazing. The Nelson Monument is so underrated, it’s such a pretty spot, a good walk and I loved seeing the city from above. Whilst I walked so much that my legs were quite literally shaking as I waited for my bus home, I would recommend visiting these monuments to anyone who wants to find out more about Edinburgh.
-
Edinburgh teen Eve Williamson has been visiting our venues and latest exhibitions. In her latest blog, she shares her experience of the Museum of Childhood.
During my free week in June, I decided to take a trip to some of the museums and attractions around the Edinburgh city centre. After spending the previous day in the City Art Centre and Writer’s Museum, I headed back into town to check out various attractions on the Royal Mile, including the Museum of Childhood. I was excited to check it out - the displays were chock full of old artefacts and, as history often focuses on specific events and skips over children’s everyday lives, I was looking forward to learning more about a topic I hadn’t explored all that much. With that in mind, I entered the museum and travelled through its various exhibits.
The Museum
The Museum of Childhood was opened in 1955 and was the first in the entire world to be dedicated to the history of childhood. In it, you walk through five galleries (though the second was closed for maintenance on my visit), each exploring different things related to childhood. The museum is, in my opinion, much larger than it feels on the outside and you can spend a good 45 minutes to an hour exploring. It is chock full of cute details, like children’s drawings on the window glass, and you can tell it has a lot of love put into it. I found it super interesting to see the evolution of society as a whole through the evolution of childhood; it’s a fascinating lens through which to view the history of Scotland. The main thing that stood out to me was how despite how different the world has been throughout the last 200 years or so, some experiences and games they played over a hundred years before I was born had me thinking “Oh I remember doing that!” and “Wow, that’s nostalgic!”. The exhibits felt accessible to everyone of all ages.
Changing Childhood
The first gallery was called ‘Changing Childhood’. It served as a visual summary of the past 200 years or so of childhood, with you seeing games and clothes and historical information about how children lived their lives. It establishes some of the key themes of the museum. The highlights of this section for me was learning more about how society came to value childhood as they viewed it as something to be cherished and protected and stopped seeing kids as just miniature adults that can do jobs for smaller people. I also liked the section on the much celebrated - and dreaded - computer. It would be remiss not to mention how aesthetically pleasing this gallery was; the exhibit flowed so well and the design choices were super cool and cleverly made, which really elevated the experience for me.
Dolls and Soft Toys
The second gallery, ‘Toys’, was shut during my visit for maintenance, so I headed off to the third exhibit of ‘Dolls and Soft Toys’. Though I am admittedly slightly afraid of old dolls (probably watched too many horror films), I still found a lot of enjoyment in it, especially when I got to the dolls I could recognise from my childhood and had a nice dose of nostalgia. I sent a photo of the exhibit to my friend who likes old dolls and owns a few herself and she absolutely loved it.
Games and Hobbies
After that, I headed to ‘Games and Hobbies’, which was probably my favourite exhibit. As I went to the Museum of Childhood at 2pm on a Tuesday before school holidays started, there weren’t many children there and yet all the interactive toys and games in that exhibit were very much getting played with. I heard people talking about toys they loved in a variety of languages and accents, saw a family of American adults play ‘Chutes and Ladders’ (I say snakes) and saw countless people excitedly pointing at different exhibits. As we grow older, it’s easy to forget how fun playing silly little games can be, so seeing adults from all over the world share their excitement and joy over childhood games, even the Victorian versions, was a lot of fun.
Children's Clothes
Finally, I went to the ‘Children’s Clothes’ gallery. The dim lighting and decoration of the gallery to make it look like an old street made it so fun and enjoyable. It was so immersive that I forgot to take any pictures (well done, Eve) and had to run back and grab one at the end. It was a great ending to a really well laid out museum and the items of clothing preserved there were amazing to see.
Overall Experience
Overall, as it probably comes across reading this, I really loved this museum. Beyond being aesthetically pleasing and very well arranged, I learnt loads about an area of history I hadn’t thought all that much about. Childhood is a major part of all of our lives and our experience of it is shaped by and shapes the world around us; just because we’re older doesn’t mean its history doesn’t matter to us anymore. As I spent more time there, I enjoyed catching glimpses of excitement on the faces of guests and hearing people from all over our planet discussing how happy seeing childhood celebrated made them feel. At the end of my trip, I went to the guidebook and flicked through pages upon pages of visitors from all around the world writing about how lovely their journey was. It made me realise how despite all of our childhoods being unique, the experience of childhood itself is universal and one that should be celebrated.
Editor's note: Please check the up-to-date opening hours for the Museum of Childhood before planning your trip. We look forward to seeing you.
-
Edinburgh teen Eve Williamson has been visiting our venues and latest exhibitions. In her first blog, she shares her experience of the City Art Centre and a visit to the exhibition ‘The Quiet Path’ with a friend. You can find a link to exhibition events at the end of the blog.
During a free week in June, I decided to take a trip to some of the museums and attractions around the Edinburgh city centre. Despite being born here, I grew up outside of Edinburgh so missed out on loads of opportunities to engage with my city. Since I’ve always enjoyed history and loved learning about Scotland’s past in school, the Adam Bruce Thomson exhibit AKA ‘The Quiet Path’ sounded right up my alley. His paintings of not only Edinburgh but also his experiences, such as during WWI, seemed like a good opportunity to learn more about his life and the world he grew up in whilst also getting to see some beautiful artwork. So, with that in mind, I set off to the City Art Centre and met up with Anna - my friend who knows much more about art than I do - to find out more.
Adam Bruce Thomson
Adam Bruce Thomson OBE, RSA, PRSW was born in 1885 and died in 1976 at 91 and he is - in my opinion - incredibly underrated. He was clearly a remarkable artist, not just in terms of talent, but in his dedication to his craft and his contributions to other budding artists through his mentorship at the College. During his lifetime, Thomson studied art, lived through two world wars, taught at Edinburgh College for decades, and created a family. The interesting thing about Thomson’s artwork is that through his creations, he ends up telling us a lot about his life and experiences. As you begin looking through his artwork, you see creations he made in his 20s as he sampled techniques and started his journey as an artist. These paintings then take a turn as World War One blends into quicker and more rough pieces and his use of materials switches before becoming more domestic once again as he settled down in Edinburgh and began to rebuild.
Personally, my favourite era of Thomson’s work was his series of paintings of Edinburgh cityscapes, painted in the 1930s. It produced some of his most acclaimed works and, in my opinion, for good reason. His paintings are beautiful, in part due to Edinburgh’s lovely vistas, but also the way he painted them. The oil painting ‘North Bridge and Salisbury Crags, Edinburgh, from the North West’ was highlighted in the exhibit and was a particular favourite of mine.
The Techniques
When walking around the exhibition, Thomson’s talent was fairly obvious to me. Despite my limited knowledge of art, it was beyond cool to see such a variety of techniques and strategies on display. At every painting we arrived at, my friend excitedly turned to me and explained how whatever he’d done was achieved and how skilfully he’d done it. As someone who creates tons of art, her perspective was super interesting for me to hear so I thought I’d ask Anna to say something here so you could hear it from someone more eloquent than I (and from someone who has more than a crumb of artistic experience):
"Being interested in the more artistic and historical aspects of the exhibition, I found myself most interested in the broad and varied use of technique prevalent in the artworks. Due to the visible brush strokes and thick paint application, it was clear which techniques Thomson used and how I could relate those with my own experiences with paint. As well as this, the reflection of detail in his works were symbolically and literally representative of the time they were painted, for example, rough and dramatic ink and prints for the scenes of war, and softly blended relaxing compositions of family and calm painted in the years after. As a result, there was a strong and powerful sense of emotion captured within the exhibit, and I felt as a whole it was an amazing experience and worth visiting."
The experience
Overall, I had a really great time at the exhibit (not just because I got cake from Mimi’s next door just afterwards) and I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. One thing that doesn’t get across in discussions of history or art techniques was how nice the interior design of the building was or how great we found the layout of the exhibit itself. Everything flowed really nicely and considering it was free admission, if you have 45 minutes or so to spare and you’re in town, I highly recommend checking it out! My friend and I loved it so much that we - alongside hundreds of people from all over the world - left a little note in the guidebook before we left.
Find out more about events associated with The Quiet Path here.
-
Edinburgh teen Eve Williamson has been visiting our venues and latest exhibitions. In her next blog, she shares her experience of the Writer’s Museum on the Royal Mile.
During a free week in June, I decided to take a trip to some of the museums and attractions around the Edinburgh city centre. I love English, history and learning more about Edinburgh so I was super excited to visit the Writers’ Museum. Because I lived outside of Scotland for a few years, it meant that I didn’t learn lots about classic Scottish writers everyone knows. Unlike many of my friends, I have never had to learn nor recite a Burns poem, so the museum felt like a good place to catch up on stuff I have missed. I’ve actually been there before and could remember loving it, so after visiting the City Art Centre with my friend, I headed off to see it again.
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was born in 1759 and died aged 37 in 1796. He was raised to be a farmer but grew up to be one of the most important Scottish writers of all time. If you live in Scotland, it’s impossible to not have heard of him, partially because his iconic poetry is taught to us in schools as well as the fact that on the evening of 25 January, Scots across the country - and across the world - gather to eat a Burns Night meal. Even when I lived abroad, my family still sourced haggis, neeps and tatties on his birthday and sometimes we even met up with other Scots to celebrate it.
However, despite having heard a lot about Burns, I still learnt loads from the Writer’s Museum. For example, I didn’t know how Scottish poetry was experiencing a ‘Golden Age’ due to a poet called Allan Ramsay and another called Robert Fergusson, who was so important to Burns that he paid to give him a gravestone after finding out he was buried in an unmarked grave. It was cool to see Burns’s inspiration and find out more about the context he was writing in. In terms of the museum itself, there was a huge collection of artefacts related to Burns. You could see old manuscripts, objects he owned, his work itself and, wildest of all, a plaster cast of his skull.
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott was born in 1771 and died aged 61 in 1832. I discuss him a bit more in my blog about the Scott Monument, a 61m tall memorial designed in a competition to commemorate Scott that began its construction in 1840. Scott pioneered the genre of historical fiction writing, reimagining real people and events through a fictional lens, including his novels ‘Rob Roy’, ‘Waverley’ and ‘Ivanhoe’. As a writer, he was not only prolific - writing 25 novels and several poems - but successful, and his works ignited a passion for Scottish culture and history, so much so that the King wore a kilt after it had been banned due to Jacobite rebellions. Though some of his writing on Scotland and history was perhaps overly romanticised and unrealistic, it cannot be denied that it had a huge cultural impact on not only Scotland, but on the rest of the world.
One thing I did not know about Sir Walter Scott was his childhood struggles with illness - most likely polio - which temporarily rendered his right leg useless. You could see this in the various objects he owned, from his walking cane to a child's rocking horse with two differently placed foot holds. It was an aspect of Scott’s life I had not heard about and it was interesting to see how his needs would’ve been accommodated hundreds of years ago. My personal favourite artefact was his pipe just because of how intricate the design was.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 and died aged 44 in 1894. He wrote several all-time classics, including ‘Treasure Island’, ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ and ‘Kidnapped’. His novels continue to be heavily discussed to this day. Stevenson travelled all around the world before eventually settling down in Samoa, where he died from a stroke. Despite his adventures abroad, it was interesting to see how he continued to write about Edinburgh, something I did not know about him. My personal favourite exhibit about Stevenson was the one about his times in Samoa and the positive reputation he gained with the local people.
Overall experience
I had a really great time at the Writers’ Museum. I went in expecting to have a good time but not learn too much, especially because I’d been there before, but when you take the time to really dig into every exhibit you’ll see just how much there is to learn from the various artefacts on display. I also loved how the building itself was incredibly beautiful, both internally and externally, and how the engraved quotes on its surrounding courtyard continue the celebration of Scottish literature even when you’ve left the museum. I had a great time, and I can’t wait to go back and learn even more when I have a spare hour in town.
-
In this blog, Keep the Faith project officer Miranda Heggie explores the origins of this exciting project to document Edinburgh's diverse faith communities. She tells us about some of her recent visits to places of worship and asks for your help in completing a survey on faith in the city (click the link below to have your say).
Keep the Faith is a new project recently launched by Museums & Galleries Edinburgh with the aim of expanding our faith collections to make them more representative of religious life across the city. It was born out of a previous project carried out by the Museums and Galleries team which began back in 2019. ‘Auld Reekie Retold’ was the biggest collections project ever undertaken by Museums and Galleries Edinburgh, where staff recorded nearly one hundred and forty thousand objects. It was during this process that Gemma Henderson, Social History Curator, noticed a distinct gap in our faith collections.
Most faith-based items in the museums’ archives were decades, if not centuries old, and represented only historic Christianity. While this is of course a key part of our city’s story it is not the only one! We’ve myriad religions and faith communities active in Edinburgh, each with its own unique history and vibrant contemporary practices and community offerings, and we want to ensure that this is represented in our city’s museum collections.
A grant was sought, and obtained, from Museums Galleries Scotland to carry out this work over a twelve-month period, employing a full time Project Officer for that duration. Miranda Heggie took up that role at the end of April 2024, after having worked for various faith, arts and heritage organisations in Edinburgh including the Diocese of Edinburgh within the Scottish Episcopal Church and Edinburgh International Festival. She also runs the Just Festival – a small Fringe-based festival focused on social justice and interfaith dialogue – is an Assembly Trustee with the church of Scotland and works as a freelance arts and music journalist.
As she comes up to the end of her second month in the role, Miranda says:
“It is such a huge privilege to be working with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh on the Keep the Faith project. When I saw the post advertised I knew I had to apply! It combined so many of my passions and interests - faith, diversity of communities, arts and heritage and Edinburgh’s rich history. I’m delighted to be in this post, and to be able to uncover some of the fascinating stories of Edinburgh’s faith communities. We’ve partnered with Edinburgh Interfaith Association, who are being fantastic in helping us form links with various religious centres in the city, and this past week I’ve spent time with the Baha’i and Tibetan Buddhist communities.
I had previously been aware of the Baha’i faith and the Bahai beliefs that Moses, Muhammed and Jesus are all true messengers of God, who came before the Baha’i prophet Baháʼu'lláh. I also knew that Baha’i was a relatively young faith, although I hadn’t realised quite how young it is, nor that the prophet Abdu'l-Bahá – the son of Baháʼu'lláh, and who Baháʼu'lláh passed on the faith’s development to – had spent time in Edinburgh as recently as 1913 and stayed in what’s now known as the Georgian House, on Charlotte Square. I was very kindly shown around the house by Ruhy, a member of the Baha’i Assembly here in Edinburgh, who’s also a volunteer there. In 1913, the house was occupied by a couple named Jane and Alexander Whyte. Alexander was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, and Jane too played an active role in that ministry, as well as pursuing her own spiritual affairs. Jane had met Abdu'l-Bahá in Palestine, and shortly after invited him to Edinburgh and to stay at her and Alexander’s home. During his stay he gave a talk on the teachings of the Baha’i faith at Freemason’s Hall on George Street, which was so popular hundreds of people had to stand outside. He also attended a performance of Handel’s Messiah at St Giles’ High Kirk, which he claimed to be one of the highlights of his trip.
That evening, I joined the Baha’i community for a Devotional session at their meeting house on Albany Street. These devotional meetings can take many forms. This one, centred around the theme of ‘kindness’, saw the assembled company of twelve or so people share readings, songs and stories related to that theme, and I was particularly struck by the poetry and beauty of the writings of Baha’ulla and Abdu’l-Baha, which I had never come across before.
The following evening, I travelled down to Leith to meet with Ani Rinchen Kandro, a life ordained nun in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Ani runs the Kagyu Samye Dzong Edinburgh, a Tibetan Buddhist Centre for World Peace and Health. The temple building, Ani tells me, was previously a ‘temple to mammon’ – i.e. a bank. The centre on Bernard Street, by the shore, was once home to the Leith Banking Company which opened in 1793, and whose account holders included Edinburgh author Sir Walter Scott. After meeting in an Edinburgh town house, Ani received a blessing from His Holiness Karmapa, the head of the Kagyu Lineage, to seek a new, permanent home for Tibetan Buddhists in Edinburgh. The very next day – which happened to be her birthday! – Ani came across the former bank premise and realised it would be the perfect property to establish the Kagyu Samye Dzong. The shrine room is beautifully painted in bold, bright primary colours, with statues of the Buddha, offerings, prayer wheels and various musical instruments including bowls, drums, and a marvellous pair of telescopic bronze horns. A central cupula lets natural light bathe the room. Ani pulled back a gold curtain to let me see what was behind, and to my surprise it was a huge Chubb iron door, giving access to the vaults – the only reminder that the room was a banking hall in its former life.
I joined for guided meditation which takes place in the Shrine Room, along with four others, a mix of regulars and newbies like me. I must say I found the meditation challenging, though deeply rewarding. Trying to still your thoughts for the best part of an hour is harder than it sounds, especially when it’s something you’re not used to; though as Ani says ‘it’s simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy’. It turns out sitting in lotus for the best part of an hour is not something I’m used to either and I was definitely feeling it in my hip flexors on the tram home!
Both these experiences, different though they were, were deeply special and embodied practices which, certainly for me, brought me closer to my own consciousness, to other people and to God. I can’t wait to see how this project unfolds as we develop exciting ways to tell these communities’ stories, capture a piece of their legacy and play a part in their future.”What do you think we should collect to represent faith communities in Edinburgh? Tell us by filling out this survey before 21 July:
-
The week of 3rd June 2024 is Volunteers Week, a time we come together to recognise and celebrate the enormous contribution our army of volunteers make to our museums, galleries and collections. In this blog, Collections Volunteer Alasdair explores some of the Museum Collections Centre's 17th century items.
As a Volunteer Collections Assistant, I literally get hands on with history. Over the last few months, I have been lucky enough to work with the incredible collection in of 17th century objects in Museums and Galleries Edinburgh’s care. These objects can provide a glimpse into the past: from a writer running out of ink on their quill midway through a word, to the marks on a sword blade showing use in the past.
At the cutting edge
Recently I have worked with a series of swords and sword parts from the 17th century. Warfare was a particularly brutal business in this period. Battles were predominantly fought with musket, pike, and artillery, however when in close quarters, swords and other side arms were used. The swords in the collection are called Mortuary Hilts, one was reportedly used during the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. The name is often attributed to the decoration, which often but not always shows a stylised head. This design apparently depicts the severed head of Charles I after his execution in 1649. However, this is unlikely as the design was used by all sides - it was Oliver Cromwell’s sword type of choice - even prior to Charles’ death! It is likely that the name comes from after the conflict when many swords were painted black and incorporated in church funerary displays.
Of the four hilts, three are made of brass, while one is steel. The brass hilts may be indicative of the class of their previous owners, or indeed, an unscrupulous merchant; brass is not a good material for a sword guard due to its brittle nature when struck.
History on a page
The collection also boasts a series of documents and letters of the period. The documents are historically important and contain a who’s who of the 17th century. The names include Oliver Cromwell, James VII and John Graham of Claverhouse (also known as Bloody Clavers or Bonnie Dundee) to name a few.
One letter, written by George Monck on the 5th of November 1659, to the clerks of the Burgh of Culross. In the letter he warns the town not to associate or correspond with Charles Stuart (Charles II) or his associates, to preserve the parliament led Commonwealth. He also authorised the officials to suppress assemblies and send agitators to the nearest garrison. He then demanded that the clerks send him word on how far they would comply with his desires a week later. This may have been an attempt by Monck to shore up his political position. Within a few short weeks he was instrumental in the restoration of the monarchy, by ordering towns like Culross to not communicate with the exiled monarch he made sure that he was at the centre of negotiations when it came to reinstating Charles II.
-
Teddy Lane is one of the oldest teddy bears in the Museum of Childhood collection. Join curator Susan as she delves into the story behind this beloved bear.
Steiff teddy bears
Teddy Lane was donated to the Museum of Childhood collection in 1966 and has been on display for many years. He was made by the world-famous German manufacturer of teddy bears, Steiff, in about 1907. Steiff was a family business, headed by Margarete Steiff, an expert seamstress who was wheelchair-bound from childhood following her illness with polio.
Steiff had been making soft toys since 1880 but developed teddy bears from the early 1900s. In 1903 a New York department store, George Borgfeldt and Co., bought 3,000 Steiff bears at the Leipzig Fair and business began to boom for the company. From 1905 Steiff bears were protected by their trademark Knopf im Ohr (button in ear). The metal button might just be seen in Teddy Lane’s left ear in the image below. Steiff bears were so popular that the factory had to expand three times by 1908, when it was making about 975,000 teddy bears a year. You can read more about Margarete Steiff in another of our blogs by our curator, Lyn.
Teddy Lane, made by Steiff about 1907
A generous present
Teddy Lane was given to Rosa Lane as a Christmas present when she was three or four years old, in 1907 or 1908. She lived in Largs, on the east coast of Scotland, with her parents, her sister, Edith, and brother, Frederick. Her father, William Lane, was employed as House Steward (or butler) by Mrs Clark of Curling Hall and the teddy bear was a gift from her.
Sixty years later, Rosa could still remember the excitement of the teddy bear being unpacked from a big hamper in the dining room of Curling Hall. The house was built in 1812 for curling enthusiast, Dr John Cairnie, who created Scotland’s first curling pond there. In the 1880s it was bought by John Clark, of the Paisley family of thread manufacturers, Clark & Co. Ltd. He was an extremely wealthy man when he died in 1894 leaving Curling Hall to his relative, William Clark. No doubt Mrs Clark could easily afford to buy such a generous present as a Steiff teddy bear, which would have been an expensive purchase.
Rosa with her mother, Mary Ann, and Teddy Lane, about 1908
Clark & Co. Ltd
By the 1890s, it was common for manufacturers to advertise their products through toys and novelties aimed at children. Clark & Co. Ltd. were no exception, producing several sets of paper dolls printed with a slogan on the back – “If the child who receives this doll is sent to the store for thread she should ask for Clark’s Spool Cotton”. The family firm now included thread mills in New Jersey, USA as well as in Scotland. In 1896 they amalgamated with their long-term rival, J & P Coats Ltd., along with Jonas Brook & Bros. and James Chadwick & Bros. Although each company kept its own name and trademarks, Clark & Co. Ltd. were now part of the largest thread manufacturer in the world. Their paper dolls were played with by thousands of children. Perhaps even by Rosa?
Paper dolls advertising Clark’s Spool Cotton, about 1895
Every child's teddy!
A child from a working-class background whose parents were in domestic service would not normally have owned a Steiff teddy bear. From her photographs, we can see how Rosa cherished Teddy Lane as a member of the family. Her brother and sister were much older than her so perhaps her teddy took their place as a companion.
In 1966, Rosa decided to donate Teddy Lane to the Museum of Childhood as she didn’t have any family to leave him to. She thought that “not every child would treat him with the respect due to his years” and that, in the museum, “he could be every child’s who didn’t have a teddy – but viewed at a respectful distance!”
You can explore more of the Museum of Childhood's terrific teddies on Capital Collections
Rosa and Teddy Lane with friends and family, about 1908
-
During Women’s History Month 2024 we celebrate the life of Margaret Johnstone Reid who left Lauriston Castle in trust to the nation in 1926. In this blog we look at her life and discover the reasoning behind such a generous donation, which has been appreciated by visitors to Lauriston Castle for almost a century.
Early Life
Margaret was born in 1854, the youngest surviving daughter of six children into a working-class family. Her father came to Edinburgh to start a plumbing and sanitation business, Barton & Sons, which became a roaring success. Most of the New Town plumbing was installed by his company. While her older siblings went out to work, as the youngest daughter, Margaret’s responsibilities remained at home. She helped her mother keep house, as they had no servants. She eventually became her ill mother’s carer. When her mother died in 1877, the Barton’s position in society had changed and now in a middle-class family it would not have been deemed appropriate for her to work. Unsure of her path in life, Margaret chose two routes: travel and education.
A Worldly Education
Margaret traveled far and wide, from visiting relatives in Canada to horse riding in Tangiers, exploring, collecting and learning as she went.
There were few opportunities for women in higher education at this time. However, in 1867 the Edinburgh Association for the University Education of Women was established. This allowed women to pursue classes and gain certificates at degree level. Women could not matriculate into university until 1892, or graduate with a degree until 1893. Margaret made the most of this opportunity and studied Physiology in 1886 along with 71 other women. One of whom was Elsie Inglis who qualified as one of the first female doctors in Scotland.
Married Life
Margaret married William Robert Reid in 1896 and they moved into Lauriston Castle in 1903 after the castle had been extensively renovated to their design. Electricity, central heating, interior plumbing as well as modern sanitary ware were installed. This was one of the first houses in the Cramond area of Edinburgh to possess such luxuries. The couple had no children of their own but enjoyed entertaining family and guests at Lauriston. They also traveled extensively throughout Europe collecting paintings, furniture and textiles for their home. During this period Margaret continued with her studies, becoming one of the early female members of the Edinburgh Photographic Society. A great deal of the photos we have are her own work. She could speak several foreign languages, a talent pianist and was a member of the Scoto- Italian society. In later life she was elected a fellow of the prestigious Society of Antiquities in Scotland.
A benevolent employer
Both the Reids were known to be fair employers. Mrs Reid took a particular interest in the welfare of the female staff of the castle, some of whom left home at the age of 15 to live and work in the castle. These members of staff were paid a fair wage and enjoyed the same meals as the owners. Ever mindful of the importance of education, she sent her cook, Ann Nichol, on courses to the recently established Edinburgh College of Domestic Science, better known as "Atholl Crescent". Mrs Reid even had her housekeeper’s headstone inscribed with the words ‘a faithful friend’.
Legacy
Margaret continued to live in the castle, with her housekeeper, Annie MacKay, as her companion after William Reid died in 1919. Before his death, the Reids agreed they would leave the castle, its contents and grounds to the nation. Margaret died in 1926 when the castle for the “intelligent education of the public taste”. It was important to her that future generations could visit the castle to learn about life in the Edwardian era. A “capable” and “strong willed woman with ideas of her own”, her legacy is supported today by a diverse events programme including lectures, family learning activities, access days and specialised tours. We continue to research woman at Lauriston and look forward to sharing their fascinating stories.
-
4min Article
The oldest and best known make of Teddy Bears are Steiff bears, which are popular today with both adult collectors and children. But who created the Steiff company and came up with the idea of the Teddy Bear as a toy? This is the story of Margarete Steiff, a creative businesswoman of the late nineteenth century who overcame physical disabilities and gender stereo typing of her time to become a successful innovator and the founder of the Steiff company.
Who was Margarete Steiff?
Margarete was born in Germany in 1847. As a small child she became ill with polio which paralysed both her legs and weakened her right arm. She attended school regularly as a child, not always common for a girl at this time, and throughout her life used an early design of a wheelchair to aid her mobility. She was quoted as saying "freedom is believing in yourself" and both in childhood and in her adult life Margarete found ways to achieve her business ambitions and was not defined by her disability or gender.
Most young girls at this time would have been taught sewing at home or school either to help with household duties or as a means to earn a living. Margarete’s sense of business and creativity meant she put her sewing skills to use and founded a company that still thrives today.
The Creation of the Teddy Bear
As a young woman Margarete trained as a seamstress and made clothes, opening her own shop selling felt underskirts by 1877. Soon she had employees and her business thrived. She had learnt to use a sewing machine and found sewing patterns for a toy elephant, as well as patterns for mice and rabbits. The Steiff company started to make soft toy animals using felt stuffed with lambswool. By 1892 the first illustrated Steiff toy catalogue appeared, showing the wide range of products available – elephants, monkeys, donkeys, horses, camels, pigs, mice, dogs, cats, rabbits and giraffes. Between 1897 and 1899, Steiff were making soft toys bears, which were upright, standing bears carrying sticks or pull-along bears on wheels. In 1902, her nephew Richard Steiff designed the first jointed bear and by 1907 over one million Steiff Teddy Bears had been produced and sold.
Margarete’s Success and Legacy
Steiff Teddy Bears are known for their distinctive ear buttons, which were added to the toys in 1904 as a trademark to fend off the competition of large numbers of lower quality imitation bears. Steiff became known as the most sought-after brand of Teddy Bear, praised for quality and innovation. In 1904 Margarete won the Grand Prix at the St. Louis World Fair and in 1910 the Grand Prix at the Brussels Exposition in Belgium.
Steiff still make Teddy Bears today and vintage bears are very popular with collectors too. At the Museum of Childhood we have a number of Steiff bears, some of which you can see on display in Gallery 3 and a very early Steiff Peter Rabbit you can see on display in Gallery 4. These delightful toys are the legacy of a remarkable woman, Margarete Steiff.
-
3min Article
Visitors to our new exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh Past Meets Present: Recent Acquisitions Revealed can get up close to objects that have come into our collections since 2019. Read on to discover more about five highlights from our social history collection and why we have them…
1. A Chain of Office that tells a migration story
This chain of office for the Edinburgh Caithness Association tells the story of migration to Edinburgh from elsewhere in Scotland and shows communities coming together to support each other before the development of health and social care.
The Edinburgh Caithness Association was originally established in 1837. It was created with the purpose of offering a social network and financial assistance to people from Caithness and the northern regions of Scotland who had relocated to Edinburgh, particularly those who came to study.
The Association organised a variety of events including talks and outings as well as ceilidhs and salt herring dinners. Each year the biggest event was their Annual Gathering. The organisation was dissolved in 2022 due to declining membership, but the chain of office remains to tell its story.
2. A gas streetlight lamp globe that’s a rare survivor
This globe is a rare survivor of the original gas streetlighting that revolutionised after-dark Edinburgh.
The lamp globe, dating from 1860-1910, was discovered in the cellar of a building on Dublin Street.
The lamp globe is not only a rarity but was also used as a model for Edinburgh’s Victorian Street Lighting project. This project replicated the city’s original gas lights and was funded by the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust. The project began in 2016 with the installation of a replica light next to Greyfriars Bobby on George IV Bridge and in August 2021, the first complete set of lights was installed on Scotland Street.
3. A bell and stand that’s actually a recycled church spire
This bell and stand highlights an interesting group of objects in our collections – commemorative items made from important historic buildings or structures.
In November 1824 a devastating fire tore through the Old Town, causing extensive damage to many of the buildings along the Royal Mile, including sections of the Tron Kirk. The entire Kirk spire had to be removed and was eventually rebuilt to a different design in 1828. This bell and stand are crafted from wood and metal salvaged from the original spire, making them possibly the sole surviving remnants of the historic structure.
4. A hand sanitiser made by a company normally distilling spirits
This ‘LeithAL’ hand sanitiser is a great example of Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s contemporary collecting work. We are constantly thinking about what future generations will want to know about today’s Edinburgh and acquiring objects to tell those stories.
During the Covid-19 pandemic we began a programme of contemporary collecting to document how the pandemic impacted the people of Edinburgh. The hand sanitiser was created by Leith distillers, Gleann Mòr Spirits Co., in response to sanitiser shortages in the first weeks of the pandemic. They pivoted their operations to produce sanitiser by repurposing the distilling equipment used for crafting gin, rum, whisky and vodka.
The hand sanitiser is a simple object but it has a big story to tell about a global crisis, local ingenuity and community resilience.
5. A brewery image that’s worth a closer look
Breweries have long been an important feature of the Edinburgh cityscape and a big employer of local people.
This poster shows the exterior of the Caledonian Brewery and its iconic chimney. The brewery was the last of Edinburgh’s Victorian breweries, finally closing in 2022. Museums & Galleries Edinburgh were invited to the site before it closed to gather objects relating to Edinburgh’s brewing history.
The poster shows the exterior of the brewery but if you look closely, you can see that the image is made up of the logos and beers produced by the brewery, including their iconic Deuchars IPA.
Visit the Museum of Edinburgh and find out more about Past Meets Present: Recent Acquisitions Revealed, which is free to visit and is on until April 2024.
-
How are you celebrating Burns Night this year? Perhaps a ceilidh? Or maybe just settling down to a yummy plate of haggis, neeps and tatties accompanied by a wee dram or two? You could even visit the Writers’ Museum to see many items from our Burns collection on display!
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s Burns collection includes books, manuscripts and portraits as well as some more unusual items. Here are three Burns-related objects in our collection that you might not normally associate with the Bard!
1. Temple of the Bard
The Burns Monument on Edinburgh’s Regent Road was built in the 1830s. It was paid for by public donations by the great and the good in the city, but also from around the world. At the time it was being built the Monument was known as the Temple, and intended to house a grand marble statue of Robert Burns by the sculptor John Flaxman. You can see this statue today in the spectacular grand hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
This letter is written by George Thomson, a celebrated Edinburgh music publisher and friend of Robert Burns. He is updating a colleague, Robert Johnstone, about the progress being made to raise funds to have a small wall around the Monument. It seems there were calls for the statue to be removed from the Monument and housed in an alternative setting, but Thomson fears the public outcry of such a move. He says that the editor of the Observer has got wind of these rumours and has protested “the severing of the Statue from the Temple is a thing that must not be thought of”.
Thomson goes on to write about the future of the Monument. While it was built with public money, there were no funds in the 1830s to ensure its upkeep. But he assumes an easy solution, relying on the people of Edinburgh to come to the rescue “many years will elapse before repairs are needed, and when needed there will always be found in Edinburgh enthusiastic and generous Spirits ready to contribute for the preservation of the monument of Burns”.Today, the Edinburgh & District Burns Association continue to advocate for the Monument, the poet and his vast legacy.
2. A jug of witches
Arguably the best known of Robert Burns’ poems, Tam O’Shanter is a tale full of sorcery and witches. In the poem, old Tam is riding his horse Meg home after an evening’s carousing at the inn. He spies a coven of witches dancing and can’t help himself shouting out. A crazy chase ensues, with Tam riding for his life followed by all manner of terrifying creatures. Just as he reaches a bridge, the witch Nannie grabs Meg’s tail. But witches can’t cross water, and so Meg gallops over leaving her tail in Nannie’s hand. This scene has been reproduced on countless paintings and trinkets, and here we see it on a stoneware jug made by Andrew Buchan & Co. of Portobello.
The witchy jug was made using a ceramic mould. Wet clay was pressed into two parts of the mould, and joined together to form the jug. To make sure the potters could reproduce as many jugs with the same pattern, they first made a ‘master mould’ from which they could keep making new moulds.
3. Coming home to Scotland
2009 was a big year for the millions of people around the world with Scottish ancestry. The Year of Homecoming, a year long programme of events, was organised on behalf of the Scottish Government to attract visitors from overseas who could trace their origins back to Scotland. There were ceilidhs, mass clan gatherings, piping competitions and Highland games.
2009 was also the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. This was a clever ploy; Burns is known all over the English-speaking world and anyone looking into their Scottish ancestors would no doubt be familiar with his work.
Promoting the event to an international audience was key to get the message out, and this special edition Coca Cola bottle is full of Scottish symbols, but the Bard features prominently! Here we see a version of the much-reproduced portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, now at the National Galleries of Scotland.
-
2min Article
We're continuing our series of blogs to mark Edinburgh 900. In this blog, History Curator Vicky Garrington explores one of Princes Street's iconic retailers.
Romanes & Paterson have one of the most distinctive shop fronts on Edinburgh’s Princes Street. This photo shows the company’s team of 18 dressmakers in around 1905. These skilled workers would have made up outfits in the tartans, silks and tweeds for which the company was famous.
Romanes & Paterson was established as a silk business in Edinburgh in 1816. They quickly added tartan to their specialisms and were issued with a Royal Warrant for Queen Victoria in 1842. The company moved to their current shop on Prince Street in 1884 after the 18th century building on site was remodelled in the fashionable French Empire style.
The woman on the far right of the photograph was Romanes & Paterson’s head dressmaker Olivia Osborne, who lived in Leith. The photograph was taken by the Parisian Photo Company, who were based only a few doors down from Romanes & Paterson on Princes Street. The number of dress makers pictured indicates the scale of Romanes and Paterson’s business at the time. Shoppers were able to select fabrics in store and consult with assistants about patterns that could be made up. The team of skilled seamstresses then brought these bespoke garments to life, including fitting sessions to make sure of the perfect fit for each client.
The dressmaking team are all pictured wearing elegant outfits and some pretty dazzling hats. An interest in the latest fashions would make sense for a seamstress working in a fashionable store, not only showcasing their own style but also acting as unofficial models of the latest trends to tempt potential clients.
In the 20th century, Romanes & Paterson broadened their range of products to include jewellery, accessories, food and drink. It was a recipe for success that continues today, with thousands of visitors a year buying souvenirs of their Edinburgh visit or enjoying afternoon tea in the second floor tea room.
You can find out more about Edinburgh's retail history at www.CapitalCollections.org.uk
Edinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
We're continuing our series of blogs to mark Edinburgh 900. Here, we dive into the historic links between the port of Leith and the whaling industry with social history curator Vicky Garrington, and discover the forgotten story of a very special penguin delivery.
In 1913 the whaling boats of the Christian Salvesen company carried three King Penguins from the South Atlantic island of South Georgia to the port of Leith. They were destined for Edinburgh Zoo, becoming the first King Penguins to breed in the northern hemisphere. The sailors of the whaling fleet may have rarely brought back penguins, but they often brought home mementoes of their time in South Georgia. Our collections include whale teeth and the head of an exploding whale harpoon – relics of a gruesome but valuable industry.
When Christian Salvesen moved to Leith from Norway in the mid-19th century, there was a growing demand for whale products. Oil for lamps, baleen or whale ‘bone’ for clothing, and whale meat and other products for food were all booming markets. The Salvesen company saw the economic possibilities and used their experience in shipping to develop the world’s largest whaling fleet.
Whaling was undertaken in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, but by the early 20th century, the focus was on South Georgia and Christian Salvesen established the settlement Leith Harbour there. Houses, whale processing factories and services including a cinema and hairdresser were eventually built in this remote and weather-beaten location. Thousands of people lived in Leith Harbour during the whaling season.
Pick up a penguin
By the early 20th century, Salvesen was able to send a huge fleet out into Antarctic waters during the season. Two factory ships were crewed by hundreds of men who processed the dead whales, from ‘flensing’ their flesh to rendering their blubber down into oil. A series of supporting vessels accompanied the factory ships, tracking and catching the whales. Whale oil was the most important product to extract, but most parts of the whale were used, producing everything from corset bones to gravy granules.
The 1913 penguin delivery came at the height of Salvesen’s whaling success. As the 20th century wore on, the demand for whale products declined as alternative fuels were developed and concern grew about the effects of whaling on whale populations and the wider ecosystem. Whaling stopped for most countries in 1963 and Leith Harbour stopped operating in 1965.
In our Museums & Galleries Edinburgh collection we have three whale teeth collected from South Georgia. Their exact story is unknown, but they are likely to have been collected by whaling fleet workers as souvenirs. We also have the nose of an explosive whaling harpoon in our collection, reflecting the technology that was developed for catching whales with devastating efficiency. A complete exploding harpoon has been preserved at the Shore in Leith as a reminder of the industry which forms such a key part of the port’s history.
You can find out more about Christian Salveson and other notable Leithers in our walking tour podcast
You can find whaling collections and more at www.capitalcollections.org.uk
Edinburgh 900
2024 marks the 900th anniversary of King David I introducing a new system of local government into Scotland, and making Edinburgh a royal burgh. To mark this anniversary, we're exploring the different ways the city museums' collections can tell Edinburgh's story. We'll be following the 10 themes of the programme, so keep an eye out for new blogs as we discover more. You can hear more about some of the items in these blogs in the Edinburgh 900 lecture series at the City Art Centre.
-
We have recently added a beautiful silk wedding dress to our dress history collection. It was worn by Maria Thereza de Rio Branco (known as Thereza) on her wedding day in May 1940. But can you guess the twists and turns of history that link it to J. Robert Oppenheimer and the invention of the atomic bomb?
Thereza was the daughter of the Brazilian Minister in Copenhagen during World War 2. She was noted as an accomplished swimmer and tennis player. Her husband was Ronald Turnbull, who worked for the Special Operations Executive Mission (Danish section) in Stockholm during the War. The couple became engaged on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Denmark in April 1940.
In 1942, two years after his wedding to Thereza, Ronald assisted the escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark of Niels Bohr. Bohr was a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1922. The escape involved him being stowed in a Mosquito aircraft bomb-bay to escape detection. Ronald later recalled that Bohr had forgotten to switch on the oxygen as the plan flew high above the clouds to avoid detection. He was so weak on arrival that he had to be helped from the plane.
Following Bohr’s escape, the scientist went to Los Alamos in the United States to work with J. Robert Oppenheimer on the development of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer described Bohr as his ‘chief advisor’ and one of the major minds behind the project. The story of the work at Los Alamos has recently lit up the big screen in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Kenneth Branagh as Bohr. It is fascinating to speculate what would have happened with the atomic bomb development programme had Ronald not managed to secure Bohr’s escape. Ronald was awarded the OBE and became a Knight of the Dannebrog (a Danish honour) for his work during the War.
Ronald was born and went to school in Edinburgh. His father was Colonel Bruce Turnbull, a senior Bailie of the City, who had a long and successful career in the Army before a second career as an Olympic hockey coach for the Indian and Danish national teams. Museums & Galleries Edinburgh hold objects relating to Bruce Turnbull’s life and career.
Thereza and Ronald travelled extensively during and after the War. In September 1945, Thereza was tragically killed in a car crash in Copenhagen, leaving behind a young son and daughter. We are privileged to have Thereza’s wedding dress in our collection as a memento of her life, the Turnbull family and the turbulent history of the 20th century.
-
Social History curator Gemma Henderson explores the concept of 'Human Zoos' as part of International Exhibitions in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
What was a ‘Human Zoo’?
Human zoos or ‘ethnological exhibitions’ were a phenomenon that gripped the Western world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While such exhibitions were not entirely new, they gained momentum in the 1880s due in part to the popularity of circus ‘freak shows’ and the spread of colonialist attitudes. Human Zoos, masquerading as educational and entertaining events, were in reality de-humanising spectacles that showcased non-European cultures in a manner akin to animals in a zoo. Edinburgh, like many European cities, was not untouched by this trend. In this blog we will delve into the history of human zoos in Edinburgh.
The rise of ethnological exhibitions
The concept of displaying people as ‘human curiosities’ dates back as far as the 16th century. However, it was in the 19th century that these exhibitions took a particularly grim turn. The circus ‘freak show’ spectacle, epitomized by figures like P. T. Barnum, played a significant role in popularising ethnological exhibitions. By the 1870s these exhibitions had evolved into the public display of ‘exotic populations’ in settings that simulated a ‘natural habitat’.
Human zoos or ethnological exhibitions were touted as opportunities for the public to experience other cultures without travelling to distant lands. However, beneath this veneer they were a reflection of the deeply ingrained colonialist attitudes of the time. Rather than fostering understanding, they perpetuated harmful stereotypes and dehumanized non-European cultures.You can see images of the Senegalese Village and other features of the 1908 Exhibition on the Capital Collections site.
The 1908 Scottish National Exhibition
Edinburgh, like the rest of Europe, hosted human zoos. The 1908 Scottish National Exhibition, held at Saughton Park, featured a ‘Senegalese Village’ as a side show attraction. This recreated village housed around one hundred men, women and children brought from their homes in Senegal. The village was designed to mimic their homeland and visitors could observe their ‘daily lives’, including traditional ceremonies, hunts and battles – all choreographed by exhibition organisers.
The 1908 ‘Senegalese Village’ was organised through an arrangement between the French Governor of Senegal and the principal amusement concessionaires for the event, a company called Popular Amuseuments Ltd. Individuals from various tribes in Senegal were selected to represent different aspects of their home life, such as warriors, dancers, musician and craftsmen. A tribe chief, a man named Pathe Thiam, oversaw their well-being. Tragically, during their time in Edinburgh, one elderly tribeswoman passed away, while a baby girl was born and named ‘Scotia Reekie’ in honor of her birthplace.The legacy of the Exhibition
The 1908 exhibition lasted only six months but attracted over 3.5 million visitors. Its success led to the establishment of a more permanent park at Portobello, known as Marine Gardens. Such was the popularity of the ‘Senegalese Village’ that a new ‘Somali Village’ was established at the site. It followed the same form but housed around 70 Somali nationals. The site remained open until it was taken over by the military as a base during World War I.
The ethnological exhibitions of Edinburgh were not isolated spectacles, but were instead part of a larger trend in Europe, with similar displays taking place in France, Belgium and Germany during this era. The popularity of these exhibitions waned after World War I, with the last known example being the Congolese Village displayed at the 1958 Brussels World Fair.The legacy of Human Zoos
Although these exhibitions were presented as a blend of entertainment and education, they perpetuated harmful stereotypes and dehumanized non-European cultures, further entrenching the colonial ideologies of the time. Acknowledging this history is essential for understanding the city's past and working toward a more inclusive and equitable future. Edinburgh's encounter with human zoos serves as a sobering reminder of the need to confront the dark chapters of history to prevent their repetition in the future.
-
Have you ever wondered what pubs were like in Edinburgh’s Old Town? Or asked yourself what people ate and drank during the 18th century? In this blog, Collections Information Officer Nico Tyack looks at some surprising documents in Museums & Galleries Edinburgh collections which bring the bustling social scene of 18th century Edinburgh to life.
A number of handwritten paper bills from taverns across Edinburgh give a unique insight into the social and gastronomic life of the middle classes. There are 24 bills in the group, dating from 1743 to 1769. The bills reveal some surprising foods, but also show how little has really changed. The décor and menu of the modern pub may have had a few make-overs since the 1700s, but we all still have our favourite haunts, our drink of choice and our chosen pub friends just as they did back then.
Where were the taverns?
The tavern bills in our collection are all written by hand on scraps of paper. They list all sorts of food, drink and services that people could get at the taverns. Only one tavern has a name we’d recognise as a pub today - the 'Crown'. Most were simply known by the name of the landlord or landlady - 'Richard Mackenzie's' tavern, 'Lawson’s', 'Wilson’s'. We know of the whereabouts of one tavern for certain, 'Mrs Lennose's tavern in Leith', but can only guess where the others were. Edinburgh at this time was still very small, and apart from the busy port of Leith, the city was largely limited to the wynds and closes of the Old Town.
The bills are records of meetings of the Guild Court. This was an organisation bringing together the city’s merchants to oversee trade and markets, but they also carried out charitable work for the city’s poor. They were not catching up over a quick drink on the way home, but instead met for lengthy evenings to discuss such weighty matters as the management of the city workhouse, entertaining city magistrates or rewarding the fire brigade and notorious city guard with a pint and a roll. Many of the bills note who paid for the costs listed, or fees that were to be reimbursed from the Guild Court. The name William Butter appears a few times; he was treasurer to the Guild Court. We get the impression that these receipts were kept by individuals claiming expenses for wining and dining on official business.
Some to porter, some to punch
What strikes us the most about the bills are the detailed lists of food, drink and services enjoyed by the tavern customers. Comparing the prices paid can tell us a lot about the spending habits and tastes of the 1700s, as well as what counted as a fancy night out, or just a low key drink down the pub.
As you’d expect, alcoholic drinks feature prominently. The staple drink was ale, a beer made without the addition of hops. Most bills include 'bread and ale' served in much the same way we’d get bread and a jug of water today. You could normally get this for about a shilling. The next cheapest and common drinks were beer (made with hops, and lighter than ale), porter (a stronger and darker beer from London) and punch, a rum-based mix.
At the upmarket end, Claret is consistently the most expensive drink. This is a term for red wine from Bordeaux in France, a region which still produces some of the finest wines. One bill even makes a point of stating “6 bottles best claret”. Another bill hints at a good evening where no-one wanted to go home. After a meal of beef, tripe, coffee and port is a simple entry for “more wine”. Another bill goes further for the night of 30th July 1767 at Avalons in Leith where customers were charged 1 shilling for “broken glass”!
Not all drinks listed were alcoholic; one drinker in 1769 paid 2 shillings for “coffiei”, or coffee. At this time, coffee was drunk mainly in coffee houses rather than taverns. Would you go to a pub for your matcha latte?
Pub grub
If you were looking for a fine dining experience in 1760s Edinburgh, these taverns were not the place! Food served here seems cheap, simple and filling. Typical listed items are:
- Beef
- Lamb
- Tripe
- Spinach and eggs
- Salad
One spring morning in 1743, four gentlemen sat down to a serving of “capon with oyster sauce” (a capon is a chicken). At this time, oysters from the Forth were cheap and easy to get hold of, and did not carry the association with luxury and refinement they do now. An entire culture of oyster cellars grew up in the Old and New Towns where millions of oysters were eaten each year - that’s another story for another time!
How are you getting home?
Food and drink wasn’t all that could be bought at these taverns. Customers could be charged for a whole range of other services. Many bills list tavern staff such as servants, cooks and waitresses (listed simply as “girls”), but we also see listed some of the things that the diners needed at short notice (paper, coals for the fire and a candle). If a landlord/ landlady could not satisfy their customer's requests, they could always turn to Edinburgh’s army of caddies. These were mainly young men who were licensed by the city council to deliver messages and undertake all sorts of errands. They were the eyes and ears of the city, and eyewitness accounts from the time tell us that nothing happened without them knowing about it. They were relatively cheap (less than a shilling, or the same as the bread and ale) but one caddy booking in 1768 cost the same as four servings of roast chicken at 6 shillings. We can only wonder what mission this particular young man had been charged with.
Finally, every night out ends with finding our way home. But 18th century Edinburgh was not safe at night, despite the watchful eye of the caddies, or protection by the city guard. So taverns could call on various means to take people safely home. Horse drawn coaches could be hired, or perhaps a sedan chair carried by two porters if you needed to get into the narrow wynds of the Old Town. The streets around St Giles must have been throbbing with the clatter of horsehooves, calls of people hailing a coach or a caddy, and the shouts of those on foot wending their way home. I defy you to stand on the High Street late one Friday and tell me things have really changed that much!
-
Curator Vicky Garrington has recently been researching a membership card for the Kosmo Club. Known in the 1920s and 1930s for its all-night dances and great live band, the nightclub became tangled in a scandal in 1933 that was uncovered by famous Edinburgh detective Willie Merrilees.
Founded in 1923 as the Bohemian, the Kosmo Club was based on Swinton Row, near today’s bus station behind the St James centre. The membership card dates from 1931, three years after the club was renamed the Kosmo Club.
We can see from details on the card that dancing went on until 4 am, but Merrilees and his associates discovered that many of the ‘dance partners’ booked for late-night dances were being coerced into prostitution. Legend has it that Merrilees began hanging around outside the club, disguised as a street walker, and was astonished by the well-known names coming through the doors. In 1933 he led a raid on the club and the owners were sent to trial for running a prostitution business. The club closed its doors, but its legend lived on.
As well as the membership card, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh hold the suit and drum kit of Jock Connell, who played in the Kosmo Club house band from the 1920s onwards. Many employees would have been unaware of the illegal activities going on at the club, or may have been powerless to stop them. They focused instead on bringing music and good times to one of Edinburgh’s best-known hot spots.
You can find more of our collections online at Capital Collections
-
We're celebrating Edinburgh 900 by taking a look at some interesting tales of the capital's people, places and activities over the centuries. Today we're exploring coffee - fueling Edinburgh's minds and bodies since the 17th century!
Coffee has been drunk in Edinburgh for centuries. The city's first coffee house opened in 1673 and the drink went on to fuel the intellectual and political debates of the Enlightenment. Museums & Galleries Edinburgh hold many coffee-related objects in their collections, spanning the 18th to the 21st centuries. Some objects are beautiful, others practical. Some are familiar, while others are rarely seen. If you're a coffee lover, read on to find out more.
18th century coffee urn made in Edinburgh
What a magnificent way to brew up! This coffee urn dates from the middle of the 18th century and is made in a distinctly Scottish style that isn’t seen anywhere else. A burner fixed between the legs of the urn kept the coffee warm inside. It would have graced the sideboard of a grand dining room and provided coffee for large groups of guests.
Visitors to the Museum of Edinburgh love to see the coffee urn - its snake handles and lion’s-paw feet make it look like it might scuttle off when no-one’s looking. It was probably made by well-known makers James Ker or William Dempster but the hallmarks that would confirm that have been worn away by years of polishing.
Photograph of Greyfriars Bobby's lunch spot
This photograph from around 1870 shows John Traill’s Temperance Coffee House at Greyfriars place. The Traill family became well-known for feeding Greyfriars Bobby while he kept watch over his master’s grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard. Tourists flocked to have coffee at a place associated with their favourite devoted dog.
Temperance coffee houses sprang up in the mid-19th century in response to the Temperance movement, which aimed to cure social problems by supporting people to abstain from alcohol. No alcohol was available on the premises, but the coffee was still good and strong.
Tavern Bill
This tavern bill from the mid to late 18th century lists what members of the Town Council consumed at a meeting. Alongside plenty of coffee, there was beef, tripe, spinach and eggs, bread and at least three different types of alcohol. ‘Lisbon’ would have been port, while ‘cadys’ refers to young messengers who crossed the city on foot relaying messages for people.
The tavern bill is one of a group in the MGE collections that gives an insight into what constituted pub grub in 18th century Edinburgh.
Coffee pot from the front lines of World War 1
This enamel coffee pot was used by Field Marshal Earl Haig when in charge of the British Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War 1. It was donated to MGE alongside his field canteen containing crockery, cutlery and other culinary objects. It is on display at the Museum of Edinburgh.
Haig's letters include references to receiving supplies of food and drink at the Front from high-quality suppliers such as Fortum & Mason in London. The food and drink of high-ranking officers was clearly very different to that of the front line troops. Providing meals for fellow officers and allies was a key part of diplomacy, so a good cup of coffee could pave the way for cooperation.
Artwork for Maxwell House instant coffee label
This 1986 label design for a jar of Maxwell House instant coffee might be familiar. It was produced by the Edinburgh printing firm Smith & Ritchie. Maxwell House was a heavily-advertised brand in the 1980s and into the 1990s, with its ‘Get the Max’ slogan and celebrities such as Victoria Wood and Maggie Smith appearing in adverts.
Explore more of our objects that tell the story of Edinburgh on Capital Collections
-
2min Article
Our vision is to mainstream the range of services for all autistic visitors, their families and carers, across all ages in the City of Edinburgh. We have launched our first sensory backpack at Lauriston Castle for families to borrow and use during their visit. The pack contains:
Ear Defenders
A range of Fidget Toys
Notepad and Drawing Pencil
Emotion CardsWe will be developing these backpacks in all our remaining venues in the coming weeks/months.
Please ring Lauriston Castle on 0131 336 2060 in advance of your visit to book out the backpack.
-
-
Our curators have been exploring the collections at Lauriston Castle and have discovered a small innocuous looking table that is placed beside the bay window in the Sitting Room. It always has a pair of binoculars on top of it. Perhaps Mr and Mrs Reid, Lauriston Castle’s last private owners used them for looking out to Cramond Island and the First of Forth. The table is very elegant with its long tapering legs and was made in about 1795. It was not of course made to hold binoculars. It is known as an urn table and has what looks like a drawer on one side but when opened it reveals a small shelf designed to hold a tea pot or teacup which would sit below the hot water or tea urn placed on the tabletop above it. But what makes this table more interesting is its links to colonialism.
In the 18th century sugar was a plantation crop produced by slave labour in the West Indies, while tea was imported from China. Tea has its own contentious colonial history, but it is the combination of tea and sugar in western culture in the 18th century that links it so strongly to slavery. Both tea and coffee were sweetened by sugar which made it palatable to western taste, and it was on sugar plantations where there were often the worst conditions and highest death rates amongst slave labourers. So inexorably were sugar, tea and slavery linked, that one part of the abolitionist campaign was to persuade people in the UK, particularly women, to stop taking sugar in their tea. Around 300,000 people boycotted sugar and sales dropped dramatically.
Yet it is not just what this table was used for which connects it to slavery and colonialism. Its connection lies within its very fabric – in the wood it was made from and the firm who made it. Mahogany became the must have wood of the 18th century and was prized for its exotic nature, its strength and its colour. Its extraction from virgin forests directly used slave labour while the mahogany trade was also tied into the wider context of slave trading via forest clearance for new plantations and through trade in the products of these plantations – products such as sugar, coffee and rum. Then there was the return trade of British and other European produced goods, including mahogany furniture to furnish the homes of plantation owners.
The Lauriston table is made from Mahogany and was made by the English Cabinet making firm of Gillows. The slide out flap for holding a cup or a teapot is stamped with their name. Founded in Lancaster in about 1730 by Robert Gillow, they also had a branch in London. The firm remained in family ownership until 1814 when it was taken over by Redmane, Whiteside and Fergusson, but it continued to trade under the Gillows name, before it merged with Warings of Liverpool in 1903. Today, few people would think of Lancaster as having stronger links to the slavery than the general prosperity that so many towns and cities accrued in 18th century Britain from the trade in slaves and slave produced goods. Yet at one stage during the 18th Century Lancaster, with its links to the coast via the river Lune, was the fourth largest slave trading port in England. Research by Imogen Tyler from Lancaster University has highlighted Lancaster’s role in slavery and the role played by the Gillows family.
Gillows were one of many Lancaster firms who participated in this trade. As makers of fine furniture Gillows would of course use mahogany and imported wood directly from the West Indies. But Gillows involvement in slavery went much deeper than this. As well as importing mahogany, they traded in rum and sugar and exported fine furniture in return. Through their investments and business connections they also directly traded in slaves. Their account books suggest that between 1754 and 1765 three quarters of the ships financed by Gillows were slave trading vessels. At least 40% of their profits in the mid-18th century came from the profits of directly trading in slaves, while the rest of their profits were linked to materials and products that had been created by slave labour.
Gillows were just one of many businesses in Lancaster that profited from the slave trade. Lancaster was a prosperous place and Gillows benefited from this wealth creation, making fine furniture and creating interior decoration schemes for landowners and middle-class businessmen in and around Lancaster, whilst their London branch opened up a wider clientele base beyond Lancashire and Northern England. One of their Lancaster clients was John Bond, who twice became Mayor of Lancaster. He inherited several plantations including over 700 slaves in what was then British Guiana from his uncle Thomas Bond who had also been a slave trader. Later, John Bond became a multi-millionaire from the Government scheme which compensated plantation owners for the loss of their human ‘property’. Some of his fortune was spent on buying fine furniture produced by Gillows for his various properties, including his town house in Lancaster. He became one of Gillows’ biggest clients and his son Edward later became a partner in the firm, although by then Gillows was no longer a family run business.
The Lauriston table was made in about 1795, so it dates from the period when the Gillow family were still very much involved in the furniture business they had built up during the 18th century. It also dates from before the abolition of the trade in slaves 1807, and well before the abolition of slavery in 1833. William Robert Reid ran a cabinetmaking business and collected fine furniture and we can assume he collected this as an example of the furniture Gillows produced, without thinking or knowing its deeper history.
It has so many links with slavery and colonialism – tea, coffee, sugar, mahogany and a firm actively profiting from slavery. A dreadful history for something that is really quite a beautiful and innocuous looking piece of furniture.
-
Welcome to the Auld Reekie Retold Podcast from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. This is our ninth episode and today you’ll hear from Suzy Murray and Victoria Garrington who will be discussing the curious story behind a fascinating cabinet card photographic viewer in the collections. We'll start off from the owner, Eliza Wigham, and take a journey through temperance, womens rights and the 1886 Edinburgh Exhibition! We have been creating the podcast from home, so please excuse any inconsistencies in the audio.
To see the more of the photographic collections head to Capital Collections.
You can get the podcast on most major podcast providers so look for Auld Reekie Retold to subscribe on your preferred platform. Join the conversation at @EdinCulture on Twitter, @museumsgalleriesedinburgh on Instagram and Museums & Galleries Edinburgh on Facebook. Tag us using #AuldReekieRetold
-
-
Welcome to the Auld Reekie Retold Podcast from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. This is our eighth episode and today you’ll hear from Gwen Thomas and Helen Scott who will be discussing photography in our Fine Art collections and the photographic process, as well as looking at photographic preservation. We have been creating the podcast from home, so please excuse any inconsistencies in the audio.
To see the more of the photographic collections head to Capital Collections.
You can get the podcast on most major podcast providers so look for Auld Reekie Retold to subscribe on your preferred platform.
Join the conversation at @EdinCulture on Twitter, @museumsgalleriesedinburgh on Instagram and Museums & Galleries Edinburgh on Facebook. Tag us using #AuldReekieRetold
-
-
Welcome to the Auld Reekie Retold Podcast from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. This is our seventh episode and today you’ll hear from Oliver Taylor and Susan Gardner. We are looking at some very early domestic photography and discussing how photography brings us closer to our loved ones. We have been creating the podcast from home, so please excuse any inconsistencies in the audio.
To see the photographic albums head to Capital Collections.
You can get the podcast on most major podcast providers so look for Auld Reekie Retold to subscribe on your preferred platform.
Join the conversation at @EdinCulture on Twitter, @museumsgalleriesedinburgh on Instagram and Museums & Galleries Edinburgh on Facebook. Tag us using #AuldReekieRetold
-
-
Auld Reekie Retold is a major three year project which connects objects, stories and people using Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s collection of over 200,000 objects. Funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and Museums Galleries Scotland, the project brings together temporary Collections Assistants and permanent staff from across our venues. The Auld Reekie Retold team are recording and researching our objects, then showcasing their stories through online engagement with the public. We hope to spark conversations about our amazing collections and their hidden histories, gathering new insights for future exhibitions and events.
Welcome to the Auld Reekie Retold Podcast from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. This is our sixth episode and today you’ll hear from Suzy Murray, Nico Tyack and Anna MacQuarrie to celebrate Robert Louis Stevenson Day and a very exciting new acquisition. We thought we'd take a stop off in Samoa to look at Stevenson's amazing South Seas photograph albums before catching up with Anna to find out more about this new acquisition! We have been creating the podcast from home, so please excuse any inconsistencies in the audio.
To see the more of the South Seas photograph albums head to Capital Collections, or join RLS biographer Jeremy Hodges at 5pm on Saturday 13th November for a virtual talk on some of the fascinating characters Stevenson met on his travels.
You can get the podcast on most major podcast providers so look for Auld Reekie Retold to subscribe on your preferred platform.
Join the conversation at @EdinCulture on Twitter, @museumsgalleriesedinburgh on Instagram and Museums & Galleries Edinburgh on Facebook. Tag us using #AuldReekieRetold
-
-
Welcome to the Auld Reekie Retold Podcast from Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. This is our fifth episode and today you’ll hear from Suzy Murray from the team working on the Auld Reekie Retold project. Suzy is going on an adventure to Leith today, and you can join her! Follow along on Our Town Stories using the interactive map to see the route and all the images she's discussing. The walk will start up at the Victoria Bridge and take you down to Elm Row. On the way Suzy will discuss photographs and photographic studios which help tell the story of Leith Walk and the surrounding areas. We have been creating the podcast from home, so please excuse any inconsistencies in the audio.
Follow the route and see all the images here on the Our Town Stories site.
You can get the podcast on most major podcast providers so look for Auld Reekie Retold to subscribe on your preferred platform. Listen here on soundcloud
Auld Reekie Retold is a major three year project which connects objects, stories and people using Museums & Galleries Edinburgh’s collection of over 200,000 objects. Funded by the City of Edinburgh Council and Museums Galleries Scotland, the project brings together temporary Collections Assistants and permanent staff from across our venues. The Auld Reekie Retold team are recording and researching our objects, then showcasing their stories through online engagement with the public. We hope to spark conversations about our amazing collections and their hidden histories, gathering new insights for future exhibitions and events.
-
-
Edinburgh’s City Art Centre to reopen with new exhibition to mark 40th Anniversary
Edinburgh’s City Art Centre is to re-open its doors to the public on Saturday 12th September 2020 with a full range of new safety measures in place to ensure the safety of visitors and staff. The gallery reopens with two new exhibitions, City Art Centre at 40: Highlights from the City’s Art Collection marking the City Art Centre’s 40th anniversary and Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s.
Entry to book exhibitions is free but timeslots must be pre-booked online in advance. Please book here.
Having first opened its doors on 15th August 1980, heralded as combining; ‘Scotland’s largest air-conditioned fine art exhibition space, with specialist environmental and security facilities…a must for the display of world masterpieces’ – the City Art Centre celebrated its 40th anniversary this month (15th August). As the gallery doors reopen and to mark the anniversary, the City Art Centre is mounting a special ‘highlights’ exhibition, City Art Centre at 40: Highlights from the City’s Art Collection from the City’s collection of Scottish art. Widely recognized as being one of the finest in the country, the City’s collection numbers over 5,000 artworks ranging from some of the earliest views of Edinburgh to works by many of Scotland’s leading contemporary artists. Visitors will be able to see artworks by major historical figures such as Allan Ramsay, the pioneer photographers Hill and Adamson, and the Scottish Colourists, as well as contemporaries such as John Byrne, Alison Watt and Adrian Wiszniewski.
Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s a new exhibition exploring the work of Scottish artists during the 1920s – an evocative period of social, political and economic change also opens on the 12th September as visitors are welcomed back to the gallery as it reopens.
The forthcoming exhibitions mark the public re-opening of the venue on 12th September. In keeping with Government advice in order to protect and maintain the safety of our visitors and staff, the City Art Centre has introduced a range of new safety measures and procedures throughout the venue, including a one way system, installation of screens at reception, hand sanitiser stations, extra barriers and signage and staff will of course be wearing masks while offering visitors a very warm, socially distanced welcome.
Visitors are asked wear face coverings and to pre-book free tickets for allocated time slots in advance here.
City Art Centre at 40
Over the past 40 years the City Art Centre has housed over 500 exhibitions, shown priceless treasures from across the world to priceless paintings made by Edinburgh children and welcomed 100,000’s of visitors through its doors and is now a well-established, respected and cherished Scottish cultural resource.
Other activities marking the 40th anniversary in the coming weeks include; The City Art Centre is 40!, a curated a digital exhibition of much-loved and favourite paintings chosen by past members of staff, artists and people closely involved with the City Art Centre over the years presented via Art UK’s ‘Curations’ series. Tessa Asquith-Lamb, one our best-loved local artists, has created two special videos with the City Art Centre’s Public Programmes section to celebrate the milestone, featuring the artist’s favourite painting, 'Tristan and Isolde' by John Duncan. Asquith-Lamb tells us why Tristan and Isolde is so special, and demonstrates a special art activity everyone can do at home while we are not able to visit the gallery in person.
Having moved from its original home at The Royal High School on Regent Road to make way for the intended Scottish Assembly following Scottish Devolution, the City Art Centre found a new home in a purposefully refurbished five storey warehouse dating back to 1899 on Market Street, which was designed as an extension to The Scotsman building on North Bridge, having once housed the city’s fruit markets. The building was selected not only because of its architectural significance but also for its wrought iron framed structure which made it suitable to carrying the heavy floor loads required to house large volumes of visitors. As part of the significant renovation project, the building’s original stonework and metal frame windows were preserved, while the interior was repurposed to create four new gallery spaces, artist studios and a licenced café, designed to reflect the building’s late Victorian origins alongside minimal natural décor, complimented by a state of the art lighting system to protect the delicate works on show. The City Art Centre was designed to be ‘more than just a gallery’, providing studio and meeting spaces for artists, ‘craftsmen’ and for the people of Edinburgh.
The City Art Centre first opened its doors on 15th August 1980 with two major exhibitions as part of the Edinburgh International Festival – The Legacy presenting historic and contemporary Canadian/Indian art from the Provincial Museum in British Columbia and an exhibition by the Prescote Gallery near Oxford, showing outstanding examples of British Craft. Since that day, the City Art Centre has housed many hundreds of exhibitions and has continued to work with the city’s festivals; including The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, International Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and Edinburgh Science Festival.
From blockbuster exhibitions in the 1980’s and 1990’s which many residents in the city will remember, including The Emperor’s Warriors (1985), Thunderbirds are Go! (1986), Gold of the Pharaohs (1988), Dinosaurs Alive! (1990) and Star Trek: The Exhibition (1995), to hugely significant international art shows including; Abstract Expressionist Paintings from MOMA New York (1981), Michelangelo Drawings (1994) and Alphonse Mucha (2000) as well as a huge array of solo shows from Scottish artists and craft makers, such as James Cowie (1981), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1987), Peter Howson (2007) and Victoria Crowe (2019).
From 1985 onwards, the City Art Centre’s programming expanded to reflect many new threads and artistic disciplines, ranging from photography; Cecil Beaton (2004) Ansel Adams; Snowdon; Albert Watson (2006) and Coming into Fashion (2013) alongside major survey and group shows championing Scottish art and craft; Hand, Heart and Soul (2007), Window to the West: The Rediscovery of Highland Art (2011) and A-Z: An alphabetical Tour of Scottish Art (2014).
As the City Art Centre’s exhibition programme and audiences grew, remaining rooted in the city and its people was key, with exhibitions and works often reflecting Edinburgh’s history as well as local and global social issues such as; Anne Frank in the World (1987), Chernobyl – The Legacy (1993), Rainbow City (2006), Leith – The Turning Tide (1987), Edinburgh Re-discovered: Thomas Begbie (1990) and Robert Blomfield (2018).
The City Art Centre’s now well-established reputation as a key cultural Scottish institution is evidenced in its 40-year exhibitions history and audience loyalty. As well as an ambitious and ever-changing exhibitions programme, an additional vital aspect of the City Art Centre is its role in housing the City’s Collection of Scottish Art – one of the finest in Scotland. The collection, which supported through donations, bequests and gifts as well as purchases, features works from many of ‘The Glasgow Boys’ as well as the Scottish Colourists – John Duncan Fergusson, Samuel Peploe, Francis Cadell and Leslie Hunter. Some of the best-known artists of the Edinburgh School, including William Gillies, John Maxwell and Anne Redpath, all have several works in the collection, and featured post-war artists include Alan Davie, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elizabeth Blackadder and John Bellany. The contemporary collection includes artists such as Christine Borland, Callum Innes, Rosalind Nashashibi and Toby Paterson.
When the City Art Centre reopens and looks forward to the next 40 years, the continued focus will be to champion historic and contemporary Scottish visual art and craft. The City’s art collection continues to grow, and going forward the curatorial team will actively seek to diversify the collection in the coming years to better reflect the range of artists and work being produced in Scotland today. Visitors will be able to see the fruit of this with a new exhibition of recent acquisitions next year.
David Patterson, Curatorial and Conservation Manager, City Art Centre said; “Since we opened in 1980, staff at the gallery have worked with artists who live in some of the most densely populated cities on the planet as well as others who live in some of the remotest places on earth. We’ve tackled global tragedies and local issues, and shown paintings, drawings, watercolours, sculpture, tapestry, photography, silver, glass, interior design, film and installations among many other media. We’ve displayed works made from ice, oil, wood, metal, matchsticks, coat hangers, parachute fabric, nylon, gold, even old welly boots!
“We are thrilled to be reopening on the 12th September, and fittingly with two exhibitions drawn from our Scottish art collection. In the months and years to come, we’ll continue to shine the spotlight on Scottish artists of the past who have been overlooked in the story of Scottish art as well as curate major displays by some of the country’s leading artists past and present. The topography and people of Edinburgh will remain a consistent strand in our programming, as will the display of the finest contemporary and historic applied art and craft. We’ll continue to work with our partners Edinburgh Science Festival to bring some of the best Science and Art to a family audience, and our wonderful collection will continue to be shown throughout the year in a series of temporary exhibitions.”
Herbert Coutts, City Art Centre Curator (1971-1999) said: “Having been in at the birth of the City Art Centre, I am immensely proud of the myriad exhibitions it has sourced from all parts of the globe, and from its own important fine art collection. This remarkable achievement has been due to the creativity, commitment and hard work of its staff, past and present, which I hope will continue long into the future."
Ian O’Riordan, City Art Centre Curator (1984-2015) said; “I can’t be dispassionate about the City Art Centre. I started working there on Monday 5th November 1984, my 31st birthday, and stayed for 30 years. We put on the most fantastic exhibitions and built up the most brilliant collection of Scottish art. In retrospect, it all feels truly amazing – what we managed to do and how hard we all worked. People came and loved it and kept coming back. It remains a fabulous place, still with loads of potential. In these challenging times, Edinburgh is truly lucky to have it. Here’s to the next 40 years!”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener said: “Over the last 40 years our City Art Centre has hosted more than 500 exhibitions, housed works from across the globe and welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors. As we celebrate this milestone it’s a great opportunity to look back at our favourites over the years as well as look ahead to reopening our doors on September 12th.
“Our collection of Scottish art is one of the finest in the country and this special ‘highlights’ exhibition is a fantastic way to celebrate the past 40 years as well as welcome our community back. We wanted to mark this significant anniversary of a very special place and celebrate the city’s artistic collections in a safe way when we open our doors and gather together again.
“When it opened in 1980 the City Art Centre was designed to be more than a gallery, providing studio and meeting spaces for artists, craftspeople and art lovers. I’m very much looking forward to the exhibition and to welcoming visitors back when we reopen next week.”
City Art Centre at 40: Highlights from the City’s art collection runs from 12th September – 18th October 2020. Bright Shadows: Scottish Art in the 1920s runs from 12th September – 6th June 2021.
Free entry to both exhibitions, pre-booking essential. Please pre-book your timeslot here.
From 12th September the City Art Centre is open daily from 10am -5pm (last admission 4:20pm)
-
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have launched a new Covid-19 contemporary collecting drive with an open call to the people of Edinburgh to contribute their own items and stories which reflect how life in the city and the city itself has been impacted by the global pandemic and lockdown. The curatorial team leading on this project are gathering public contributions in order to record and preserve this significant moment in Edinburgh’s history, so it can be chronicled for future generations.
The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown has affected every aspect of the lives of Edinburgh’s residents, and Museums & Galleries Edinburgh are keen to create a contemporary collection which charts these significant changes to everyday life in the city.
The call is for donations of objects and stories which capture the everyday experiences of the people of Edinburgh and the many ways in which they adapted and responded as their lives were transformed by Covid-19. Items such as a note of an offer of help received by a neighbour, pyjamas worn all day indoors or a rainbow artwork created in support of keyworkers are all welcome. These are of course only suggested items and the call is very much about recording those objects and stories which helped people cope and get through the many challenges and uncertainties presented by the pandemic.
Those who are keen to contribute are asked to email anna.macquarrie@edinburgh.gov.uk with details and an image if possible on the item or items for potential donation. Given the current lockdown restrictions, no physical donations will be accepted until venues reopen but the curatorial staff will contact those contributors to make arrangements at an appropriate time.
City of Edinburgh Council Leader Adam McVey said: “This is an extraordinary period in our history that in due course we will want to look back on. By collecting objects, photographs and first-hand experiences of citizens now, we’re making sure we can capture this moment for future generations.
Depute Leader Cammy Day added: “Often we look back and wish we could ask previous generations about the historic events they lived through and witnessed – this is our chance to document Edinburgh and Covid-19. The stories and images we capture for this collection will create a valuable insight into 2020 for generations to come.”
Anna MacQuarrie, Curator of History, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh said; “Our social history collections reflect daily life in Edinburgh over some hundreds of years. It’s never been more important for us to continue to show changes in the city than during this pandemic. Object donations from Edinburgh residents will help us to preserve experiences of this challenging time for future generations to understand how everyday life in the city changed so much and so suddenly.”
-
Beneath the Surface
Sara Brennan | Michael Craik | Eric Cruikshank | Kenneth Dingwall | Callum Innes | Alan Johnston | James Lumsden | Karlyn Sutherland | Andrea Walsh
16 November 2019 to 1 March 2020
City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Admission Free
This winter the City Art Centre presents Beneath the Surface, a group exhibition featuring work by nine contemporary artists based in Scotland - Sara Brennan, Michael Craik, Eric Cruikshank, Kenneth Dingwall, Callum Innes, Alan Johnston, James Lumsden, Karlyn Sutherland and Andrea Walsh. Each of them articulates a minimalist aesthetic through abstraction in their work, which ranges from drawings, paintings and constructions to ceramics, glass and tapestry. Eschewing narrative and observed reality, their artworks have an economy of gesture in common - a limited tonal palette or a monochrome colour plane.
The surface of any artwork is often the most readily accessible component. However, what lies behind or beneath the surface often deserves a closer look. With most of the artworks in the exhibition, the process of making is not hidden; in fact, making constitutes the very subject of some of them, as is the case with the works by Callum Innes, Michael Craik and James Lumsden. The layering and reduction of materials are processes that feature repeatedly in their work, used to create effects of translucency or depth, as well as to portray the passage of time. Whereas for Kenneth Dingwall the thought and reaction produced in the act of making seeks a form that carries analogies to aspects of human nature and emotion.
For artists Sara Brennan and Eric Cruikshank, their inspiration derives from something more tangible such as nature or landscape. They use these elements as starting points, but without the intention of creating literal representations. While artists Alan Johnston, Karlyn Sutherland and Andrea Walsh are concerned with the interaction of light and shadow on surfaces and the definition of space or memory of a place.
Beneath the Surface is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue with an insightful essay on the history of Scottish abstract art by Kenneth Dingwall. The exhibition continues this narrative by showcasing a group of contemporary artists currently working in Scotland in the field of minimal abstraction.
Curator Maeve Toal said: “Artworks with such apparent simplicity sometimes attract the false perception that they require little intervention on the artist’s behalf. However, what may appear simple to the viewer, often involves restraint and extended periods of time spent by the artist contemplating, reworking and refining complex ideas and processes. I hope this exhibition will encourage visitors to take their time viewing these subtle yet intense artworks, to use their imagination, and look beyond what seems immediately obvious.”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: “We are delighted to present Beneath the Surface in our City Art Centre this winter. The exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to see the works of nine contemporary artists and how differently this theme has been explored through diverse mediums. I’m sure it is going to be captivating, and there is a fantastic range of inspired events planned to coincide with the exhibition, allowing visitors to try their hand at the techniques they’ve seen or join discussions with the artists themselves.”
Media Contact:
For further information, images or interview requests please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes - kate@thecornershoppr.com, 07825 335 489 or Susie Gray - susie@thecornershoppr.com, 07834 073 795.
Associated Events:
Saturday 11 January 2020 | 2pm | Free
In Conversation
To accompany Beneath the Surface, Brian Robertson, curator at Zembla Gallery, will chair a discussion among five of the artists in the exhibition: Michael Craik, Eric Cruikshank, Kenneth Dingwall, Alan Johnston and James Lumsden. This is a unique opportunity to hear these contemporary artists come together to talk about their work.
Saturday 25 January 2020 | 10.30am - 3.30pm | £30
Personal Narrative & Mindful Stitch
In this workshop we will take inspiration from the artworks in Beneath the Surface and explore the meditative and mindful potential of stitch. Bring with you a picture of a place you find calming and create a tactile mini stitch journal inspired by a sense of place using fabric collage and mixed media. With artist Rachael Forbes.
Sunday 26 January 2020 | 10.30am - 3.30pm | £30
Landscape Abstractions: A Window of Memory
To accompany our exhibition Beneath the Surface, in this workshop you will develop an abstract interpretation of an important landscape to you, through drawing and experimental mark-making, masking and layering techniques. We will bring together experimental studies into a final monoprint creating your 'window of memory'. With artist Rachael Forbes.
Sunday 2 February 2020 | 10am - 4pm | £60 | Suitable for beginners and advanced students.
A line, a strip, a field of colour: Tapestry Masterclass
Inspired by the works in Beneath the Surface, this masterclass will examine how the warp and weft of woven tapestry lends itself to exploring minimalism through the quality of lines, stripes and fields of colour. Delighting in the variety and contrasting surfaces that can be achieved by weaving with a range of materials from wool to linen, cotton yarns. With tapestry artist Fiona Hutchison.
Saturday 15 February 2020 | 2pm | Free
BSL Tour
Join us for a tour of Beneath the Surface, which will have a BSL interpreter present. Please meet at the City Art Centre reception desk on the ground floor. This tour has full disabled access.
Friday 28 February 2020 | 10.30am - 3.30pm | £30
Minimalism in Focus: Subtraction & Extraction
Taking inspiration from the Beneath the Surface exhibition, this painting class looks to explore themes used by the exhibiting artists. Working on MDF board, participants will have the opportunity to consider muted line, tone, texture and repetition incorporating this into their artwork. With artist Erik Petrie.
Saturday 29 February 2020 | 10.30am - 3.30pm | £30
Ways into Abstraction: Printmaking Workshop
Inspired by the exhibition Beneath the Surface, join artist Tessa Asquith-Lamb for a printmaking workshop using simple monoprinting and relief methods. Making use of natural materials such as plant forms, stone strata, and seashells, we will consider the beauty in small things and develop initial sketches into abstract prints.
Booking is essential. To book any of these events please visit edinburghmuseums.org.uk or contact the City Art Centre on 0131 529 3993.
City Art Centre:
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries, with a vibrant programme of exhibitions. It is also home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country, showcased in a series of changing displays.
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am - 5pm
Website: edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Twitter: @EdinCulture
-
New exhibition places Edinburgh-born female artist back in the spotlight over 150 years after her birth
Mary Cameron: Life in Paint
2 November 2019 – 15 March 2020
City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Free admission
In November 2019, Edinburgh’s City Art Centre brings the Edinburgh-born artist Mary Cameron (1865-1921) back into the spotlight, displaying over forty rarely-seen artworks from public and private collections.
Mary Cameron: Life in Paint explores the life and career of a woman who was truly ahead of her time, charting her creative journey from elegant family portraits to breath-taking Spanish scenes.
Born in Portobello, Edinburgh, Cameron began her artistic career as a portraitist and genre painter in her native city, before venturing abroad to study in Paris. Foreign travel proved to be a life-long source of inspiration. In 1900 she visited Madrid for the first time, where she became captivated by the Spanish culture, people and scenery. Establishing studios in Madrid and Seville, she painted large-scale compositions of traditional peasant life, dramatic bullfights and rural landscapes.
A thoroughly modern and adventurous woman, Cameron exhibited widely during her lifetime, with her talents being admired by contemporaries such as John Lavery and Alexander Roche. However, like so many female artists of her generation, her name is little-known today. This exhibition aims to change that, with examples of her impressive work complemented by historic photographs and archival material.
The display will be the first dedicated exhibition of Cameron’s paintings since her death in 1921. It is accompanied by the forthcoming illustrated catalogue Mary Cameron: Life in Paint, written by Helen E. Scott and published by Sansom & Co.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: “I’m delighted that the City Art Centre is able to showcase this fantastic exhibition of the rarely seen works of Mary Cameron. It’s incredible to think this is the first exhibition dedicated to her since her passing in 1921. “Life in Paint” will take visitors through her creative journey from starting out in Portobello to international travel. Not only will it be an opportunity to celebrate her work, it is also a chance for people to learn about the artist herself and the important role she played in Scottish artworld history and the positive strides she made for women.”
Curator Dr Helen Scott said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to showcase a female Scottish artist whose work will be new to most people. During Mary Cameron’s lifetime she was fairly well-known. Today, however, her name is scarcely recognised, let alone celebrated.
As a female painter practicing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cameron faced many obstacles in pursuing her ambition to become a professional artist. Women of her generation had far fewer training opportunities than their male peers, and they often encountered discrimination when exhibiting, selling and promoting their art. They had to work doubly hard to succeed as artists and gain recognition. Even when they managed to establish themselves, their posthumous legacies were often eclipsed by the reputations of their more famous male counterparts. Over the years, many of these women have slipped into obscurity and been virtually forgotten.
Mary Cameron was one of those who helped to lay the foundations for greater gender equality in the Scottish art world, and I think it’s so important that we celebrate her contribution.”
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am - 5pm
City Art Centre
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries. It is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council. It is home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country. The gallery hosts a vibrant programme of exhibitions from its collection and by contemporary local, national and international artists and makers.
-
Fascinating new exhibition explores enduring artistic bond between Scotland and Italy
The Italian Connection
7 September 2019 – 24 May 2020
City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Free admissionIn September 2019, Edinburgh’s City Art Centre hosts a fascinating new exhibition exploring the creative links between Scotland and Italy, which have remained strong for hundreds of years.
The Italian Connection celebrates the enduring bond between these two countries, looking at the continuing ability of art to transcend geographical borders – a topic which remains hugely relevant in the politics of the 21st century. The new exhibition explores the many different ways Scottish artists have been influenced by Italy, and the significant contribution that Italians have made to visual arts in Scotland. The display includes work by prominent artists such as: Allan Ramsay, E.A Walton, F.C.B. Cadell, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi and Elizabeth Blackadder.
Presenting a wide range of media and techniques from oil painting and drawing to printmaking and sculpture, the exhibition examines the journey of Scottish artists who travelled to Rome and Florence in the 18th and 19th centuries to advance their professional training and career prospects.
Throughout the 20th century this creative pilgrimage to the Mediterranean continued, with art students undertaking travelling scholarships and mature artists finding inspiration in the beautiful Italian landscape and culture. Some even settled there on a long-term basis, making Italy their permanent home. This creative exchange of people and ideas also developed in the opposite direction, with Italian immigrant families making their homes all around Scotland.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Convener of Culture and Communities said: “The bond Scotland shares with Italy stretches over centuries. Edinburgh has a huge number of first, second and third generation Italian-Scots residents and over the years the two cultures have become inseparable. This enduring cultural influence is a joy to explore through these carefully curated pieces by artists who have been inspired by both countries. What a fantastic glimpse, yet again, into the City Art Centre's extensive and Nationally Significant collections."
Curator Dr Helen Scott said: “This exhibition has been a really exciting project to curate because of the sheer variety of artistic connections that have evolved over the years between Scotland and Italy. There are obvious links in terms of Scottish artists like Joan Eardley and Elizabeth Blackadder travelling abroad and depicting the Italian landscape, but there are also more subtle connections such as John Duncan finding inspiration in Italian Renaissance painting techniques or Stanley Cursiter exploring the Italian Futurist movement of the early 20th century. And Scottish art has also benefited enormously from the contributions of artists with Italian heritage, figures like Eduardo Paolozzi and Alberto Morrocco, whose parents emigrated from Italy to Scotland. It is also interesting to trace the long-established tradition of Scottish artists going to Italy to study, a practice which dates back hundreds of years and continues to have a major impact on the development of young artists through schemes like travelling scholarships.”
“All of the artworks featured in the exhibition are part of the City’s permanent collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art. The exhibition offers a unique perspective on that collection, and I hope it will give visitors an insight into the richness and diversity of the City’s artistic treasures.”For more information, image and interview requests please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes - kate@thecornershoppr.com / 07825 335 489
Images can be downloaded here
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am - 5pmCity Art Centre
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries. It is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council. It is home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country. The gallery hosts a vibrant programme of exhibitions from its collection and by contemporary local, national and international artists and makers. -
New exhibition exploring the choices and challenges of parenthood opens at Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood
Bringing Up Baby, Museum of Childhood, 9th February – 29th September 2019, Free Entry
Bringing Up Baby, a new exhibition has opened at Edinburgh’s Museum of Childhood will explore the choices and challenges faced by parents. The exhibition is free to enter and runs until the 29th September.
Bringing Up Baby features a range of objects from the museum’s collection including; Paddi Pad disposable nappies invented by British mum Valerie Hunter Gordon in 1947, Kamella Baby Bag popular in the 1930’s and a charming selection of baby’s clothes, including home-made knits and a selection of clothes popular through the decades.
Scotland’s Baby Box also features as part of the exhibition having been gifted to the Museum by the Scottish Government last year, marking the 1st anniversary of the national scheme which sees every newborn baby in Scotland presented with a Baby Box from the Scottish Government.
Through these wide-ranging objects, Bringing Up Baby aims to highlight some of those difficult decisions and the different responses made by parents across the generations as they approach parenthood. Breast or bottle? Cloth nappies or disposables? Should you use a dummy? These questions and more shall be addressed through the exhibition and are sure to generate debate, discussion, shared stories, memories and advise across the generations.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “With over 200,000 visitors every year, the recently refurbished Museum of Childhood is one of Edinburgh City Council’s flagship venues and a much-loved institution in the City.”
“Now open seven days a week it is home to an impressive collection of more than 60,000 objects reflecting childhoods from the 18th century to the present day and this latest exhibition is a welcome addition. It showcases generations of childcare artefacts, documents and changing trends in parenting right up to 2019.”
Lyn Stevens, Museum of Childhood Curator said: “It has been fascinating to explore the Museum’s collection to find what has changed in infant care and what has stayed the same. The clothes were especially interesting as fashion plays a large role in how parents wish to present their new arrivals to the world. Scotland’s Baby Box is a great addition to our collection, and captures a moment in time for this new initiative.”
Venue Details:
Address: Museum of Childhood, 42 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TG
Telephone: 0131 529 4142
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/museumofedinburgh
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is a collection of 13 venues and over 200 monuments across Edinburgh. Our vision is to inspire, enthuse and provoke through a shared passion for Edinburgh, Art and History.
In 2016-17, we welcomed more than half a million people to our nine major visitor attractions: the City Art Centre; Lauriston Castle; Museum of Childhood; Museum of Edinburgh; Nelson Monument; People’s Story; Queensferry Museum; Scott Monument and Writers’ Museum.
We house rich and varied collections relating to the historical and cultural life of Scotland’s Capital. Our venues also boast an exciting and vibrant programme of events and exhibitions, offering something for everyone to enjoy.
-
24 November 2018 to 17 March 2019, City Art Centre, Admission Free
This winter the City Art Centre showcases an exhibition of vintage street photography by Robert Blomfield, revealing part of a remarkable private archive of his stunning work.
Blomfield practised street photography across the UK from the 1950s to the 1970s, beginning in Edinburgh. He moved to the city to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1956, when he was 18 years old. Whilst a student, Blomfield pursued his passion for photography and spent his free time capturing life on the streets. He adopted an unobtrusive fly-on-the-wall approach, seeking interesting or amusing scenes in the rapidly changing post-war period. An engaging manner and healthy disrespect for authority allowed him to get close to a myriad of subjects, taking photographs that are in turn tender, bold and humorous. Blomfield used a pair of Nikon F SLRs to shoot his images, and did his own developing and printing in a makeshift darkroom set up in his student digs.
A subsequent medical career meant his vast collection of striking images - which number in the thousands and carry echoes of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Vivian Maier - remained largely hidden, stored away in cardboard boxes. In 1999, a stroke forced him to retire from medicine and put down his camera, and ten years ago, his wife Jane started the huge task of cataloguing and digitising these photographs. After her passing Blomfield’s three sons William, Edward and George, along with his brother Johnny, continued this labour of love.
The exhibition Robert Blomfield: Edinburgh Street Photography | An Unseen Archive displays a selection of around 60 black and white works from this remarkable private collection, revealing and documenting the dramatic shifts taking place in Edinburgh’s urban landscape during the 1960s. It includes candid portraits and group shots, children playing amongst crumbling tenements, public gatherings, student life and evolving architecture, offering a rare opportunity to reappraise our understanding of Scottish culture at that time. Staged in the year of his 80th birthday, this first large-scale display of his street-life scenes is also a chance for Blomfield to receive the recognition he rightly deserves.
Robert Blomfield commented: ‘After 50 years I’m thrilled to be able to share some of my pictures with the wider world. Edinburgh is a city that remains close to my heart, and the interaction of its residents with this most dramatic of urban stages provided me with endless inspiration as a young photographer. The exhibition represents a personal view of life on its streets during the 1960s.’
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Culture and Communities Convener, said: ‘This exhibition of vintage street photography will strike a chord with anyone who grew up in 1960s Edinburgh and bring back so many memories. The exhibition will also appeal to the residents of this wonderful city today and to visitors, who will be able to draw comparisons between then and now, with some areas of Edinburgh having changed beyond recognition. The City Art Centre is the people of Edinburgh’s gallery; the perfect place to showcase Blomfield’s stunning display.’
The exhibition is a partnership with Robert Blomfield and Family. The show is accompanied by a documentary of Robert Blomfield and his work by cinematographer Stuart Edwards and a programme of events. Please see further information about them below under associated events.
For more information on Robert Blomfield: Edinburgh Street Photography | An Unseen Archive please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes - kate@thecornershoppr.com 07825 335 489 or Susie Gray - susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073 795
Image Credits:
Jane Blomfield, Robert Blomfield Photographing Children, Edinburgh, 1966 © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Childhood Friends, Edinburgh, 1966. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Boy on Cannon, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 1964. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Arthur Street Children, Edinburgh, 1960. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Boy Drinking Cola, Edinburgh, 1966. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Two Women with Chickens, West End, Edinburgh, 1966. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Student Union, Teviot Row House, University of Edinburgh, 1964. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Couples, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, 1966. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Forth Road Bridge under Construction, North Queensferry, 1962. © the artist
Robert Blomfield, Traffic, Princes Street, Edinburgh, 1964. © the artist
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Pinterest: pinterest.com/edinburghcc/city-art-centre
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am - 5pm
City Art Centre:
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries. It is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council and is home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country. The gallery hosts a vibrant programme of exhibitions from its collection and by contemporary artists and makers.
Associated Events:
Friday 30 November, 2pm
The Early Life and Times of Robert Blomfield: The Making of a Street Photographer
This talk by Robert Blomfield’s brother, Johnny Blomfield, will include personal anecdotes providing an insight into the man behind the evocative images of 1960s Edinburgh on display at the City Art Centre.
Saturday 1 December, 2pm
An Audience with ‘Dark Edinburgh’
Robert Blomfield documented the dramatic shifts taking place in Scotland’s urban landscape during the 1950s and 60s. Similarly, Scott Liddell, the man behind ‘Dark Edinburgh’, documents hidden and changing aspects of the city today. Join Liddell to hear more about his intriguing work.
Sunday 2 December, 2pm
Edinburgh: A City of Contradictions
To complement the exhibition Robert Blomfield: Edinburgh Street Photography | An Unseen Archive Lynn and Paul Henni (henni.photo) will give an illustrated talk about their work. They use black and white photography to capture their home city and look for less conventional views of beautiful Edinburgh.
All events are free, but booking is essential. To book, please contact the City Art Centre on 0131 529 3993 or visit edinburghmuseums.org.uk
-
4 August 2018 – 10 February 2019, City Art Centre
Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye will be the first ever major exhibition to focus on this enigmatic artist.
Edwin G. Lucas, Caley Station, Edinburgh, 1942. City Art Centre, Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. © the artist's estate. (Photo: City Art Centre)
Revealing the little-known story of Lucas’s life and career, it traces his development from the early watercolours of his youth to his boldly experimental oil paintings of the 1940s and 1950s. It also explores the artist’s final, uncompromising works of the 1980s, which were produced after a break of almost thirty years.
The exhibition will feature over sixty artworks drawn from public and private collections, including loans from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and rare archival material from the artist’s estate.
“This is a really exciting opportunity to bring Lucas’s paintings to public attention. For so many years his work has been overlooked and ignored in the wider narrative of 20th century Scottish art, but Lucas was, in fact, one of the most original painters of his era – a unique talent that deserves to be recognised.” said Dr Helen Scott, curator of Fine Art, City Art Centre. She continued “Although he was self-taught, he was well-aware of avant-garde developments taking place at home and abroad. His friendships with contemporary artists such as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham gave him direct insights into modernist approaches, and these connections seemed to spur him on to experiment in his work.
“His encounter with Surrealism in the late 1930s was undoubtedly a turning-point in his career, but it is interesting to note that he always pursued his own creative path. Having absorbed a variety of modernist influences, he deliberately distanced himself from conventional groupings and popular trends, choosing to paint against fashion. He was determined to find his own expression of artistic truth. His independent spirit shines through in his work, and I think there’s something irresistible about that.”
It is accompanied by the forthcoming illustrated catalogue Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye, written by Helen E. Scott and published by Sansom & Co.
Information on the exhibition is available here
https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/edwin-g-lucas-individual-eye
Edwin G. Lucas (1911-1990) was one of the most unique Scottish painters of the 20th century. Born and educated in Edinburgh, he was largely self-taught as an artist, his family having discouraged him from pursuing a risky career path. Despite this, Lucas went on to become a serious and prolific painter, whose work was exhibited by the Royal Scottish Academy and the Society of Scottish Artists.
During the 1930s he encountered Surrealism, which had a lasting impact on his creative practice. Blending Surrealist influences with his own idiosyncratic vision of the world, he cultivated an original and highly imaginative style of painting that is richly colourful and fascinatingly quirky.
Edwin G. Lucas, The Schism – Final Diagnosis, 1940. Lucas Family Collection. © the artist's estate. (Photo: John McKenzie)More on Lucas’s life can be found here http://edwinglucas.com/biography.html
“Lucas seems to have noticed that the rules were there to be broken, and to have set about breaking them with an entirely original abandon, paying only superficial attention to the orthodoxies of the avant garde.” Richard Warren
Edwin’s son Alan Lucas said, “My father effectively stopped painting to focus on having a family, something my brother and I are eternally grateful for! However, it's a shame the paintings that decorated our family home didn't gain wider recognition during his lifetime. We are delighted that this exhibition will, for the first time, show a wide audience the full range of the innovative work he produced during his artistic career.”
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said, “An ordinary man with an extraordinary talent, Edwin G. Lucas is surely one of Edinburgh and Scotland’s most underrated artists.
“By day Lucas worked in the civil service, but at night he would turn his hand to painting incredible surrealist scenes. Born in Leith, he spent most of his life in Edinburgh having grown up in Juniper Green and later settled in Stockbridge, and had to put his painting on hold for many years to raise his young sons – a balancing act between work, family and creative interests many of us can identify with.
“Now, 70 years on, his imaginative artworks are being recognised as much more than that of a hobbyist. In fact, his colourful and unique paintings are starting to be considered as unprecedented for his time and this exhibition will bring 60 of Lucas’ artworks together for a dedicated display.
“I’d like to thank the artist’s family for their support for the exhibition as well as its curator, Helen Scott, who has used her expertise at the City Art Centre to compile a fascinating catalogue about the life and work of Edwin G. Lucas to accompany this must-see exhibition.”
Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye is part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2018. Find out more about this year’s Festival programme at edinburghartfestival.com @EdArtFest #EdArtFest
For more information on Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye please contact Susie Gray – Susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073 795 or Kate Bouchier-Hayes – kate@thecornershoppr.com 07825 335489
More information on the exhibition will be released closer to the opening. Edwin G. Lucas: An Individual Eye is part of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival 2018.
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Pinterest: pinterest.com/edinburghcc/city-art-centre
Opening hours: Monday – Sunday 10am - 5pm
City Art Centre:
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries. It is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council. It is home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country. The gallery hosts a vibrant programme of exhibitions from its collection and by contemporary local, national and international artists and makers.
-
New exhibition to celebrate the historic role played by the women of Edinburgh in the Suffrage movement
Their Work is Not Forgotten, 8 June – 14 October, Museum of Edinburgh, Free Entry
Marking the centenary year of the first women receiving the right to vote in the UK, a new exhibition is to open at The Museum of Edinburgh charting the significant role the women of Edinburgh played in the suffrage movement. Entitled Their Work is Not Forgotten, the exhibition will look back at Edinburgh’s position as a major site in the seminal suffrage protests and demonstrations of 1909, as women took to the streets to fight for their right to vote through to the modern day movement, providing a timely reflection on a decade of female enfranchisement, exploring what has been achieved and what is still to fight for 100 years on.
The exhibition will showcase Edinburgh’s rich history and contribution to the suffrage movement with a range of objects and images from the Museums & Galleries Collection going on show together for this first time. Highlights include; Bessie Watson’s scarf, images and replica banners from the Great Procession and Women's Demonstration in 1909 through Princes Street, and original sashes worn by the women of Edinburgh who participated in the demonstration. The exhibition will also feature items used in more recent protest activity in Edinburgh, exploring the development of social and political protest in Edinburgh through the years.
In the 2018 Year of Young People, the voices of young women in Edinburgh will be presented as part of the exhibition. A series of workshops will be held at The Museum of Edinburgh in the weeks preceding the exhibition in which women will be encouraged to voice their own thoughts on the role of women in social and political action today, in comparison to the actions of those women who campaigned to bring about the Representation of the People Act in 1909. Banner and flag making will also feature as part of the workshops which will take place on the 27th April , 8th and 10th June (full details as noted below).
Their Work is Not Forgotten will open just days before Edinburgh once again hosts a major celebration as part of the suffrage movement. On Sunday 10th June, PROCESSIONS will see thousands of women and girls in Edinburgh, alongside Cardiff, London and Belfast take to the streets to commemorate the fight for suffrage and express what it means to be a woman today. PROCESSIONS forms part of the 14-18 NOW programme, in partnership with Artichoke, the UK’s largest producer of art in the public realm.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Vice Culture and Communities Convener of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Documenting the bravery and struggle of Scottish women who fought long and hard to win the right to vote, this powerful exhibition features an impressive display of protest banners, sashes and photographs from our city’s museum and gallery collection.
“Designed to commemorate the centenary of this historic moment on the road to full gender equality and celebrate the achievements of our female ancestors, the display also contemplates whether their fight is really over, 100 years on.
“I hope visitors of all ages feel empowered by the display, and perhaps even inspired to create their own banners and take to the streets on 10 June to join me and many other women as we channel the suffragette spirit in PROCESSIONS Edinburgh, to prove the work of the suffragettes will not be forgotten.”
Anna MacQuarrie, History Curator with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh said: “Edinburgh’s place as a centre for political and social action is longstanding and our museum collections reflect this. We’re thrilled to be displaying important objects from the suffrage movement in Edinburgh as well as objects from recent political demonstrations held in the city. This exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on the significant role that women have played at the heart of Edinburgh’s social and political action for over a hundred years. We hope it leaves visitors feeling informed, engaged and asking questions of their own.”
For more information on Their Work will Not Be Forgotten please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes – kate@thecornershoppr.com 07825 335489 or Susie Gray Susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073 795
Workshop Details
Museum of Edinburgh
27 April: 2-4pm: Take part in recordings and flag and banner making
Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh at 142-146 Canongate on 27th April 2-4pm for the opportunity to be recorded discussing your views on protest, women’s rights and what the centenary means to you and to take part in a banner and flag making workshop (it is not essential to do both activities).
To take part please book your place by emailing Diana Morton: diana.morton@edinburgh.gov.uk or phone 0131 529 6365. If you cannot make the afternoon of the 27 April but would like to take part in a recording, do contact us to see if it would be possible to arrange another time.
This activity is free.
8 June: 2-4pm: Flag and banner making workshop
We will also offer another banner and flag making workshop for those hoping to take part in the PROCESSIONS event. This will take place on 8 June 2-4pm at the Museum of Edinburgh. You will be able to visit the exhibition as well as taking part in the activity. This session will not involve any audio recordings.
This activity is free and drop in.
10 June: 10 – 11:30am: Flag and banner making workshop
Additional banner and flag making workshop for those hoping to take part in the PROCESSIONS event will take place on the morning of the event itself, June 10 from 10-11:30am at the Museum of Edinburgh.
This activity is free and drop in.
Venue Details:
Address: Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DD
Telephone: 0131 529 4143
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/museumofedinburgh
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am – 5pm
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is a collection of 13 venues and over 200 monuments across Edinburgh. Our vision is to inspire, enthuse and provoke through a shared passion for Edinburgh, Art and History.
In 2016-17, we welcomed more than half a million people to our nine major visitor attractions: the City Art Centre; Lauriston Castle; Museum of Childhood; Museum of Edinburgh; Nelson Monument; People’s Story; Queensferry Museum; Scott Monument and Writers’ Museum.
We house rich and varied collections relating to the historical and cultural life of Scotland’s Capital. Our venues also boast an exciting and vibrant programme of events and exhibitions, offering something for everyone to enjoy.
-
In Focus: Scottish Photography
7 July 2018 – 12 May 2019
City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Open 7 days a week 10am to 5pm, Free Admission
Scotland has played a central role in the history of fine art photography since the mid 19th century. The pioneering work of Edinburgh duo David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson helped to lay the foundations of this art form in the 1840s, inspiring subsequent generations to explore both its documentary potential and aesthetic possibilities.
In Focus: Scottish Photography showcases the City Art Centre’s photographic collections, charting the development of fine art photography in Scotland from the 19th century to present day. The exhibition features work by a range of historic and contemporary artists, including Hill and Adamson, Thomas Begbie, Joseph McKenzie, David Williams, Maud Sulter, Wendy McMurdo, Calum Colvin, Christine Borland and Dalziel + Scullion.
In Focus: Scottish Photography is part of a series of collection-based exhibitions which have been taking place on the Lower Ground Floor of the City Art Centre, which is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, since its redevelopment in 2014. These exhibitions showcase different aspects of the Fine Art collection exploring a variety of time periods, artistic media and subject areas.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Culture and Communities Convener, said: “In an age when everyone has a camera in their pocket and can take a photograph in seconds, this display of fine art photography reminds us of the beauty and skill of a perfect shot.
“Charting the development of fine art in Scotland, the City Art Centre delves into Edinburgh’s collection of incredible photographs for this display, which highlights remarkable advances in camera technology as much as it does changing styles, landscapes, fashions and snapshots in time. Treat yourself to a visit for free when ‘In Focus’ opens this summer.”
Curator Dr Helen Scott said, “The City Art Centre holds a rich and diverse group of photographic works as part of its wider Fine Art collection. This includes work by some of the leading names in the history of Scottish photography, as well as artists who have distinguished themselves through this medium in more recent years. The exhibition covers a wide array of subject-matter, from portraits and landscapes to still life assemblages and conceptual themes. It also explores some of the different photographic techniques that artists have used to create their images. In many ways the exhibition is a celebration of the versatility of Scottish photography, and a testament to the combined power of scientific technology and the human imagination.
“This project has been fascinating to work on – not least because of the enduring potency of so many of the images. Cameras are everywhere these days, and you would think this might lessen the impact of photographic images, but the best ones still have the ability to stop us in our tracks. This is first time in over a decade that the highlights of the City’s photographic collection have been displayed together in one place, and it’s a great opportunity to remind ourselves of the magic of this artform.”
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/focus-scottish-photography
ASSOCIATED EVENTS
A number of free events are taking place alongside this exhibition. Booking is essential and can be done online at www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk or by calling City Art Centre reception on 0131 529 3993.
Saturday 7 July, 10.30am - 3.30pm
Stereoscopic 3D Images - Creative Workshop
To complement our In Focus: Scottish Photography exhibition, this workshop will reveal the theory and practice of the wonderful process of Stereoscopic Photography. Ideal for anyone searching a new photography technique. After an introduction to the technique, you will get the chance to go out and experiment with your camera, then come back to make your own stereoscopic photos with amazing depth.
Bring your own digital camera or even a smartphone.Saturday 28 July, 2pm
Behind ‘Real Edinburgh’
‘Real Edinburgh’ is one of Edinburgh’s biggest photography platforms with a large social media following. Join Grant Ritchie to hear about the inspiration behind ‘Real Edinburgh’. Grant will also discuss his favourite images, the stories behind them and which photographers have influenced him.Saturday 15 September, 12.30pm - 4.30pm
Exploring Bookbinding & Cyanotype
£30
To complement our In Focus: Scottish Photography exhibition, join artist Cassandra Barron to make your own hand-printed papers, and then learn how to bind them together, using a decorative stitch, to create a photo album or journal. An opportunity to explore a number of mark-making techniques, including cyanotype printing and stamping, using found materials as well as your own designs. Leave the workshop with your own unique photo album or journal full of pattern and texture, as well as the skills to make many more.Thursday 27 September, 2pm
Light in the Darkness: Hill & Adamson’s Pioneering Photography
Anne Lyden, International Photography Curator at the National Galleries of Scotland will explore the pioneering partnership of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, two Scottish photographers from the 1840s. Drawing inspiration from the writings, philosophies and art of the Scottish Enlightenment, these two men created a distinct approach to the new medium of photography and in doing so established Edinburgh as an important locale within the history of photography around the world.Thursday 27 September, 3pm
In Focus: Scottish Photography - Curator’s Tour
Dr Helen Scott, Curator of Fine Art, provides a tour of the exhibition In Focus: Scottish Photography, charting the development of fine art photography in Scotland from the 19th century to present day.Saturday 13 October, 10.30am - 3.30pm
Stereoscopic 3D Images - Creative Workshop
To complement our In Focus: Scottish Photography exhibition, this workshop will reveal the theory and practice of the wonderful process of Stereoscopic Photography. Ideal for anyone searching a new photography technique. After an introduction to the technique, you will get the chance to go out and experiment with your camera, then come back to make your own stereoscopic photos with amazing depth.
Bring your own digital camera or even a smartphone.Saturday 20 October, 2pm
Photography into Art
Photography has influenced artists for decades. Erik Petrie is an artist who uses photography in every aspect of his paintings depicting the changing landscape and seasons. Join Erik for a talk outlining his journey as an artist and how photography influences him.Saturday 24 November, 2pm
Behind ‘Spectacular Scotland’
‘Spectacular Scotland’ is one of Scotland’s biggest photography platforms with a large social media following. Join Neil McDade to discuss the success of ‘Spectacular Scotland’. Neil will also discuss his favourite images, the stories behind them and which photographers have inspired him.Gallery Tours
Join one of the excellent guides on a spotlight tour of the exhibition. There is no need to book for groups fewer than 10 people. Please meet at reception. A portable loop system is available to amplify the guide. The fm loop system is compatible with hearing aids with a T switch and can be used with headphones.
Fridays at 3pm and Saturdays at 3pm
Photography Tours with Jessops
Booking essential. To book, please contact the City Art Centre reception on 0131 529 3993 or visit www.edinburghmuseums.org.ukTo complement our In Focus: Scottish Photography exhibition, we are thrilled to be collaborating with Jessops who are offering 3 special photography tuition photo-walks. Bring your camera and receive expert tuition looking at some of the City Centre landmarks.
Saturday 8 September - Family Day for over 12yr olds and parents.
10am - 4pm - stopping for a lunch break - bring a packed lunch.
£6 per person. The walk will start and finish at Jessops store, 8 Castle St, Edinburgh EH2 3AT. Meet at 10am.Saturday 15 September - Adult Day
10am - 4pm - stopping for a lunch break - bring a packed lunch.
£10 per person. The walk will start and finish at Jessops store, 8 Castle St, Edinburgh EH2 3AT. Meet at 10am. Booking essential.Saturday 6 October - Adult Day
10am - 4pm - stopping for a lunch break - bring a packed lunch.
£10 per person. The walk will start and finish at Jessops store, 8 Castle St, Edinburgh EH2 3AT. Meet at 10am.For more information on In Focus: Scottish Photography please contact Susie Gray – Susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073 795 or Kate Bouchier-Hayes – kate@thecornershoppr.com 07825 335489
More information on the exhibition and details of further events will be released closer to the opening. In Focus: Scottish Photography is part of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival 2018.
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: Facebook.com/City.Art.Centre.CAC
Pinterest: pinterest.com/edinburghcc/city-art-centre
Opening hours: Monday – Sunday 10am - 5pm
City Art Centre:
The City Art Centre is one of Edinburgh’s main public art galleries. It is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council. It is home to the City’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, one of the best in the country. The gallery hosts a vibrant programme of exhibitions from its collection and by contemporary local, national and international artists and makers.
-
New exhibition to celebrate the historic role played by the women of Edinburgh in the Suffrage movement
Their Work is Not Forgotten, 8 June – 14 October, Museum of Edinburgh, Free Entry
Bessie Watson, aged 9 is dressed ready to join the Women’s Franchise Procession and Demonstration in October 1909
Marking the centenary year of the first women receiving the right to vote in the UK, a new exhibition is to open at The Museum of Edinburgh charting the significant role the women of Edinburgh played in the suffrage movement. Entitled Their Work is Not Forgotten, the exhibition will look back at Edinburgh’s position as a major site in the seminal suffrage protests and demonstrations of 1909, as women took to the streets to fight for their right to vote through to the modern day movement, providing a timely reflection on a decade of female enfranchisement, exploring what has been achieved and what is still to fight for 100 years on.
The exhibition will showcase Edinburgh’s rich history and contribution to the suffrage movement with a range of objects and images from the Museums & Galleries Collection going on show together for this first time. Highlights include; Bessie Watson’s scarf, images and replica banners from the Great Procession and Women's Demonstration in 1909 through Princes Street, and original sashes worn by the women of Edinburgh who participated in the demonstration. The exhibition will also feature items used in more recent protest activity in Edinburgh, exploring the development of social and political protest in Edinburgh through the years.
In the 2018 Year of Young People, the voices of young women in Edinburgh will be presented as part of the exhibition. A series of workshops will be held at The Museum of Edinburgh in the weeks preceding the exhibition in which women will be encouraged to voice their own thoughts on the role of women in social and political action today, in comparison to the actions of those women who campaigned to bring about the Representation of the People Act in 1909. Banner and flag making will also feature as part of the workshops which will take place on the 27th April , 8th and 10th June (full details as noted below).
Their Work is Not Forgotten will open just days before Edinburgh once again hosts a major celebration as part of the suffrage movement. On Sunday 10th June, PROCESSIONS will see thousands of women and girls in Edinburgh, alongside Cardiff, London and Belfast take to the streets to commemorate the fight for suffrage and express what it means to be a woman today. PROCESSIONS forms part of the 14-18 NOW programme, in partnership with Artichoke, the UK’s largest producer of art in the public realm.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Vice Culture and Communities Convener of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Documenting the bravery and struggle of Scottish women who fought long and hard to win the right to vote, this powerful exhibition features an impressive display of protest banners, sashes and photographs from our city’s museum and gallery collection.
“Designed to commemorate the centenary of this historic moment on the road to full gender equality and celebrate the achievements of our female ancestors, the display also contemplates whether their fight is really over, 100 years on.
“I hope visitors of all ages feel empowered by the display, and perhaps even inspired to create their own banners and take to the streets on 10 June to join me and many other women as we channel the suffragette spirit in PROCESSIONS Edinburgh, to prove the work of the suffragettes will not be forgotten.”
Anna MacQuarrie, History Curator with Museums & Galleries Edinburgh said: “Edinburgh’s place as a centre for political and social action is longstanding and our museum collections reflect this. We’re thrilled to be displaying important objects from the suffrage movement in Edinburgh as well as objects from recent political demonstrations held in the city. This exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on the significant role that women have played at the heart of Edinburgh’s social and political action for over a hundred years. We hope it leaves visitors feeling informed, engaged and asking questions of their own.”
For more information on Their Work will Not Be Forgotten please contact Kate Bouchier-Hayes – kate@thecornershoppr.com 07825 335489 or Susie Gray Susie@thecornershoppr.com 07834 073 795
Workshop Details
Museum of Edinburgh
27 April: 2-4pm: Take part in recordings and flag and banner making
Join us at the Museum of Edinburgh at 142-146 Canongate on 27th April 2-4pm for the opportunity to be recorded discussing your views on protest, women’s rights and what the centenary means to you and to take part in a banner and flag making workshop (it is not essential to do both activities).
To take part please book your place by emailing Diana Morton: diana.morton@edinburgh.gov.uk or phone 0131 529 6365. If you cannot make the afternoon of the 27 April but would like to take part in a recording, do contact us to see if it would be possible to arrange another time.
This activity is free.
8 June: 2-4pm: Flag and banner making workshop
We will also offer another banner and flag making workshop for those hoping to take part in the PROCESSIONS event. This will take place on 8 June 2-4pm at the Museum of Edinburgh. You will be able to visit the exhibition as well as taking part in the activity. This session will not involve any audio recordings.
This activity is free and drop in.
10 June: 10 – 11:30am: Flag and banner making workshop
Additional banner and flag making workshop for those hoping to take part in the PROCESSIONS event will take place on the morning of the event itself, June 10 from 10-11:30am at the Museum of Edinburgh.
This activity is free and drop in.
Venue Details:
Address: Museum of Edinburgh, 142-146 Canongate, Edinburgh EH8 8DD
Telephone: 0131 529 4143
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Facebook: www.facebook.com/museumofedinburgh
Instagram: instagram.com/museumsgalleriesedinburgh
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 10am – 5pm
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh
Museums & Galleries Edinburgh is a collection of 13 venues and over 200 monuments across Edinburgh. Our vision is to inspire, enthuse and provoke through a shared passion for Edinburgh, Art and History.
In 2016-17, we welcomed more than half a million people to our nine major visitor attractions: the City Art Centre; Lauriston Castle; Museum of Childhood; Museum of Edinburgh; Nelson Monument; People’s Story; Queensferry Museum; Scott Monument and Writers’ Museum.
We house rich and varied collections relating to the historical and cultural life of Scotland’s Capital. Our venues also boast an exciting and vibrant programme of events and exhibitions, offering something for everyone to enjoy.
-
Drawing is an important part of Peter Randall-Page's practice as an artist. He always carries a sketch book to note ideas and often makes observational drawings as a way of analysing and studying form.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 10am - 5pm; Sunday: 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 3 December 2016 - 12 February 2017
Cost: Free
He uses drawings in many different ways, from technical drawings when working with architects and engineers to drawings which are artworks in their own right.
Works on Paper presents a series of drawings based on branching patterns and mirror image symmetry. Using gravity Randall-Page allows the ink to flow over the paper like tributaries or a river delta. He then inverts the paper, effectively reversing gravity so the ink flows upwards like the branching patterns of trees.
These ink drawings explore Randall-Page's interest in order and chaos in natural phenomena. The underlying structures that govern the works are derived from simple mathematical rules of subdivision and exponential growth patterns. Although he guides the rivers of ink there is a strong element of chance inherent in this way of working.
Exhibition in partnership with Peter Randall-Page’s Studio.Read The Edinburgh Reporter's review of both of our winter exhibitions.
Spotlight tours
Join one of our excellent guides on a spotlight tour of our exhibitions. There is no need to book the tours for groups under 10 people. Please meet your guide at reception.
A portable loop system is available to amplify the speaker. The fm loop system is compatible with hearing aids with a T-switch and can be used with headphones.Fridays, 11am and 3pm
Saturdays, 11am and 3pmSuggested donation of £2.
-
A Sketch of the Universe: Art, Science and the Influence of D’Arcy Thompson
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860-1948) was a pioneering Edinburgh-born biologist whose theories about the growth of organisms had a profound impact on 20th century art.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 10am - 5pm; Sunday: 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 19 November 2016 - 19 February 2017
Cost: FreeHis ground-breaking book On Growth and Form was first published in 1917, but its influence stretched far beyond Thompson’s own lifetime. It laid the foundations for the future study of mathematical biology and provided the inspiration for generations of artists to explore its ideas. Thompson’s legacy unites these seemingly opposite fields. As the art critic Herbert Read told him, “you have built the bridge between science and art”.
In 2011 the University of Dundee Museum Services received a grant from the Art Fund RENEW scheme to develop a collection of artworks inspired by D’Arcy Thompson. This exhibition showcases the highlights of the collection, with works by modern and contemporary artists including Henry Moore, Victor Pasmore, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Will Maclean, Susan Derges and Daniel Brown.
Four star review from The List
Four star review from The Scotsman
Spotlight tours
Join one of our excellent guides on a spotlight tour of our exhibitions. There is no need to book the tours for groups under 10 people. Please meet your guide at reception.
A portable loop system is available to amplify the speaker. The fm loop system is compatible with hearing aids with a T-switch and can be used with headphones.Fridays, 11am and 3pm
Saturdays, 11am and 3pmSuggested donation of £2.
-
Paper Trail: Drawings, Watercolours, Prints
Exhibition
A blank piece of paper is one of the most basic materials available to a visual artist; yet it is also among the most versatile...
Wednesday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pmWho is this for? - All
Dates: 2 July 2016 - 21 May 2017
Cost: Free
The range of work that can be produced using paper is potentially limitless. Rough sketches, finely detailed drawings, atmospheric pastel studies, delicate watercolours, and a variety of printmaking techniques including etching, lithography and woodcut, all take their starting point with a fresh sheet of paper.Paper Trail: Drawings, Watercolours, Prints explores some of the many ways that artists create works on paper. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the City Art Centre’s permanent collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, and spans the period from the late 18th century to present day. A variety of creative processes are showcased, from the use of sketchbooks to etching plates, and artists’ individual working practices are examined in depth.
The exhibition includes a selection of work by celebrated figures like Anne Redpath, Joan Eardley, Eduardo Paolozzi and Paul Sandby. It also introduces some lesser-known artists such as James Watterston Herald, Katherine Cameron and Mabel Royds, whose careers and methods are not so familiar. In addition, Paper Trail presents a number of recent acquisitions to the City Art Centre’s collection, some of which are on public display for the first time. These include works by Victoria Crowe, Ian Hamilton Finlay and the early 19th century artist Robert Batty.
Behind the scenes at Paper Trail
Scotsman review of Paper Trail
Spotlight tours
Join one of our excellent guides on a spotlight tour of our exhibitions. There is no need to book the tours for groups under 10 people. Please meet your guide at reception.
A portable loop system is available to amplify the speaker. The fm loop system is compatible with hearing aids with a T-switch and can be used with headphones.Fridays, 11am and 3pm
Saturdays, 11am and 3pmSuggested donation of £2.
-
William Gillies & John Maxwell
William Gillies and John Maxwell were among the most significant and distinctive Scottish artists of the 20th century.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 30 July 2016 - 23 October 2016
Cost: FreeGillies is best known for his tonal landscapes, spontaneous watercolours and carefully constructed still lifes, while Maxwell is remembered for his expressive, dream-like depictions of creatures, flowers and timeless nudes. The two artists pursued differing approaches in their work, and had contrasting personalities, but remained life-long friends.
Gillies and Maxwell met at Edinburgh College of Art in the early 1920s. After completing their studies both received travelling scholarships, which enabled them to live and work in Paris and encounter avant-garde movements like Post-Impressionism and Cubism. As they matured they developed in different creative directions. Yet their lives continued to interweave as they travelled, exhibited and socialised together. Both joined the staff at Edinburgh College of Art, and while Gillies’ teaching career was longer than Maxwell’s, each of them proved to be a considerable influence on the next generation of Scottish painters.
William Gillies & John Maxwell traces the careers of these two artists, exploring the parallel development of their work and their enduring friendship. It showcases some of their finest drawings and paintings, including the Fletcher Collection, a group of 43 artworks that has been on long-term loan to the City Art Centre since 1995. This is the first time in over twenty years that the Collection has been displayed together in its entirety.
-
Hidden Gems opens at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre on 7 October 2017
EDINBURGH’S CITY ART CENTRE REVEALS ITS HIDDEN GEMS
Showcasing 50 artworks from the City Art Centre’s collection that have rarely – and in some cases never - been seen before by the public, an exhibition opening at the City Art Centre this weekend (Saturday 7 October) will shine a spotlight on Edinburgh’s lesser-known treasures.
Free to visit, Hidden Gems will include artworks by famous names such as Lucien Pissarro, Man Ray, Joshua Reynolds and F.C.B Cadell, as well as lesser-known figures such as Bessie MacNicol, John Sheriff and Cecile Walton. The display will also bring several new acquisitions to public view for the first time, including significant works by Scottish artists Morris Grassie, Anthony Hatwell and Nicol Laidlaw.
Spanning over 200 years from the 18th century to the present day, this rich and eclectic selection of historic and modern art covers a range of media, from oil paintings and sculptures, to tapestries and artists’ books.
Councillor Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Culture and Communities Convener, said: “The City Art Centre’s fine art collection is recognised as being of national importance and features over 4,800 items. While famous old favourites are exhibited often, this exhibition is an opportunity to showcase some of the collection's hidden gems. It features many beautiful artworks of different eras, genres and styles. We are really looking forward to sharing them for the first time."
City Art Centre Curator of Fine Art, Dr Helen Scott, added: “Some of these pieces are stand-alone artworks that do not fit easily into thematic or chronological displays. Others represent unfamiliar periods in artists’ careers, or are by artists who were successful in their day but are now virtually forgotten.
“Celebrating the unsung and the unusual, this exhibition has been a joy to curate. It should be a rich and varied display featuring some artworks which have, simply, never had a chance to shine.”Hidden Gems
7 October 2017 to 13 May 2018
City Art Centre, Edinburgh
Free AdmissionExhibition Dates:
Hidden Gems runs from 7 October 2017 to 13 May 2018
Admission:
Admission free
Learning and Public Programmes:
A varied programme of creative workshops, talks and tours accompanies this exhibition. The City Art Centre is also offering regular spotlight tours with its excellent in-house guides. For further information please contact Margaret Findlay, Learning and Programmes Manager on 0131 529 3963 or by email margaret.findlay@edinburgh.gov.uk
Venue Details:
Address: City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Telephone: 0131 529 3993
Website: www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
Twitter: @EdinCulture
Opening hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12noon - 5pm
City Art Centre Collection
• The City Art Centre is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council
• The City Art Centre’s fine art collection includes works by leading Scottish artists from the 17th century to present day
• The venue has one of the best collections of Scottish art in the country, consisting of over 4,800 works including paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints, photographs, sculpture and installation art
• The City of Edinburgh Council also manages the following venues: Writers’ Museum, Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh, People’s Story, Scott Monument, Nelson Monument, Lauriston Castle and Queensferry Museum.
For further information, images or interview requests please contact Katy Allison, Media and Social Media Officer on 0131 529 4452 / 07885 976 519 or katy.allison@edinburgh.gov.uk
-
Making It: Sculpture in Britain 1977-1986
Exhibition
The late 1970s and 1980s witnessed the emergence of a talented generation of artists working in the UK who began to receive international attention for practices which, although diverse, shared a revived interest in the sculpted object, in materials and in ideas around making.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 7 May 2016 - 3 July 2016
Cost: FreeMaking It is the first exhibition to survey this moment in British sculpture. It shows how approaches to object making were reinvigorated by earlier breakthroughs in conceptual and performance art made by preceding generations and by sculptural inspirations from beyond these shores.
Drawn primarily from the Arts Council Collection and augmented with loans from UK public and private collections, Making It presents works by over 40 artists including Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Cornelia Parker and Alison Wilding amongst others.
A Touring Exhibition from the Arts Council Collection
-
Stephen Collingbourne: Don’t be afraid of Pink
Exhibition
Stephen Collingbourne, a former lecturer of sculpture for over 20 years at Edinburgh College of Art, now concentrates mainly on painting with oils, both on paper and wood panels.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 7 May 2016 - 3 July 2016
Cost: FreeThe title for this exhibition, Don’t be afraid of Pink, derives from an experience as a student in the 1960s, when his painting tutor suggested he should work with the colour he most disliked. The idea was that Collingbourne should rid himself of any preconceptions and learn to appreciate the potential of every colour. The colour he disliked most was pink. On display will be a vibrant selection of paintings inspired by this concept.
-
Jagged Generation: William Gear’s Contemporaries and Influences
The abstract painter William Gear was a significant 20th century British artist with an international reputation, but he was not an isolated maverick.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 12pm - 5pmWho is this for? - All
Dates: 24 October 2015 - 7 February 2016
Cost: FreeHe was part of an extraordinary generation of artists who emerged from the trauma of WWII, rebelling against traditional artistic conventions to explore radical new ways of understanding and visualising the world.
Jagged Generation: William Gear’s Contemporaries and Influences presents a selection of artworks from the City Art Centre’s collection, chosen to complement William Gear (1915-1997): The painter that Britain forgot. The exhibition focuses on the dynamic circle of Scottish artists associated with Gear – his tutors, friends and contemporaries.
Born into a Fife mining community, Gear studied at Edinburgh College of Art during the 1930s. There he was taught by figures such as William Gillies, John Maxwell and S.J. Peploe, whose influences he both absorbed and reacted against. Gear also met like-minded fellow students including Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Margaret Mellis and Alan Davie, each of whom ultimately made their own innovative contributions to the post-war art scene.
After graduation, Gear spent most of his career outside Scotland, establishing himself on the Continent as a member of the CoBrA group, before settling in England in 1950. Yet he retained many Scottish ties and friendships, and his career path continued to overlap with that of compatriots such as Robert Colquhoun, Robert MacBryde and William Johnstone.
Jagged Generation showcases Gear’s work within this wider Scottish context, shedding light on his personal and professional relationships, as well as his artistic development.
-
William Gear (1915 - 1997): The painter that Britain forgot
Timed to coincide with the centenary of his birth, this major survey show seeks to position William Gear in his rightful place as one of the most advanced British abstract painters of his generation.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 24 October 2015 - 14 February 2016
Cost: FreeOn display will be the whole range of impressive and innovative works spanning Gear’s long and productive career. The exhibition will trace his influence through his association with CoBrA in the 1940s, the radical monochrome abstractions of the 1950s, to the exuberance of his mature style from the 1960s to his death in 1997.
A new book written by Andrew Lambirth will accompany the show, which will place Gear’s work in the international context. William Gear (1915-1997): The Painter that Britain forgot is a partnership with the Towner in Eastbourne, where Gear was curator from 1958 to 1964 and where it will be on display earlier in the summer.
Times article
Journalist's blog of same article
Edinburgh Reporter article and video
WSI
The Student Newspaper
North Edinburgh News -
The Artist and the Sea
Scotland has a long and complex relationship with the sea - its landscape, history and culture have been shaped by proximity to the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 26 September 2015 - 8 May 2016
Cost: FreeOver the centuries artists have responded to this influence in various ways. Some have portrayed significant maritime events such as the Battle of Trafalgar or the arrival of King George IV into Leith harbour in 1822. Some have focused on recording the day-to-day experiences of coastal communities, from the lives of the 19th century fisher families based in Newhaven to the heavy industry of 20th century shipyards. Others have responded to the mythology, folklore and traditions associated with Scotland’s seafaring heritage.
Meanwhile, many artists have sought to capture the more elemental character of the sea, depicting its rich natural environment and unpredictable changes in mood. In these artworks, ferocious storms contrast with scenes of sublime beauty. The tensions inherent in our understanding of the sea, as a simultaneous source of wonder, industry and danger, are a recurring motif.
The Artist & the Sea explores these themes and their interpretation by a range of different artists. Selected from the City Art Centre’s collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art, the exhibition contains examples of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Featured artists include John Bellany, William McTaggart, Joan Eardley and Elizabeth Ogilvie.
Helen Scott discusses the exhibition - from the STV Fountainbridge show
-
Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas
Over the years, the City Art Centre has shown its permanent collection of Scottish art in various formats, enabling visitors to appreciate its range and depth.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 23 May 2015 - 27 September 2015
Cost: FreeIn 2011, Scottish Art 1650-2010 revealed a variety of highlights, presented chronologically from 17th century to present day. But with over 4,500 artworks in the collection, this barely scratched the surface.
Now, four years later and by popular demand, the collection is once again returning to the forefront of our exhibitions programme.
Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas is based on a thematic framework and explores four key areas - people, landscape, still life and abstraction. Within each section a variety of artistic styles and different media are juxtaposed, demonstrating the impressive breadth of creativity that has developed in Scotland over the last 250 years.
The City Art Centre’s collection of Scottish art is a nationally recognised collection that continues to grow through purchases, donations and bequests. Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas celebrates this important public resource, while providing an overview of Scottish art that is both comprehensive and fresh.
A short video of the exhibition installation
Review in The List
-
You Choose: Favourites from the City Art Centre
Every year the City Art Centre stages a varied programme of exhibitions drawn from its permanent collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art. Curators are normally responsible for selecting the artworks that go on display, but this year the public have taken on this role and made their own choices.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 13 December 2014 - 19 July 2015
Cost: FreeYou Choose: Favourites from the City Art Centre presents a selection of our most popular paintings as voted for by the public. The exhibition is the culmination of a project run between June and September 2014, which surveyed people on their favourite artworks from the City Art Centre’s collection. The project made use of the BBC Your Paintings website, a resource which enabled voters to view digital images of over 900 oil and acrylic paintings before selecting their personal favourites. The results of the survey are finally revealed in this exhibition.
The City Art Centre’s collection includes landscapes, portraits, still life studies and abstract images, from a range of different time periods. You Choose celebrates this rich and varied collection, displaying old favourites by renowned Scottish artists alongside lesser-known artistic gems. Selected by the public, this exhibition promises to have something for everyone.
-
Calton Hill: Site of Memory
This exhibition brings together a selection of views of and from Calton Hill from the City Art Centre’s collection in the context of the recent acquisition of three new prints by Ruth Ewan donated by Outset Scotland.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pmWho is this for? - All
Dates: 8 November 2014 - 18 January 2015
Cost: Free
Edinburgh, the Athens of the North, has seven hills like Rome. Of these, Calton Hill is one of the most central and one of the most climbed, offering a magnificent view of the city and its surroundings.One of the attractions of Calton Hill is its profusion of monuments and buildings, including the uncompleted replica of the Parthenon erected as a monument to the dead of the Napoleonic Wars and the inverted telescope of the Nelson Monument. Others commemorate Dugald Stewart, Robert Burns, John Playfair and the Political Martyrs.
Prominent buildings include the former City Obervatory, the old Royal High School, St Andrew’s House and Rock House, where Hill and Adamson worked.
Calton Hill has provided a rich seam for artists to mine over the years, featuring in works in a variety of media, either in the background or as a more conscious focal point. One of the city’s best known pictures is Ewbank’s view of the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, as seen from Calton Hill. Barker’s late 18th century panorama also shows the city as seen from this vantage point.
In 2013 Collective moved to the former City Observatory on Calton Hill and commissioned Ruth Ewan and Astrid Johnston to create an audio guide Observers’ Walk, focusing on the Political Martyrs’ Monument, which commemorates five 18th century political reformers. Ewan also produced three text-based prints, referencing different aspects of the radical tradition.
The commission was funded by Outset Scotland, who bring private individuals and corporate partners together to fund contemporary art activity in Scotland, and who have generously donated these prints to the City Art Centre.
-
The First World War was a life-changing event for millions of people, a conflict that elicited responses in literature, music and the visual arts.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 8 November 2014 - 18 January 2015
Cost: FreeThe First World War was a life-changing event for millions of people, the first conflict of a truly global nature. The scale of the war, and its personal toll for so many individuals, prompted an outpouring of responses in literature, music and the visual arts. Artists were at the forefront of this movement. They depicted the people, places and experiences of the war in official and unofficial capacities, producing formal commissions as well as more personal, private images. These artworks provide a valuable insight into the events of the war and its impact on those involved.
Picturing Conflict: Art of the First World War presents a small selection of paintings, drawings, prints and photographs. The exhibition includes artworks produced during the war and in its immediate aftermath, alongside images created in later years, which view the conflict through the lens of hindsight and memory. Featured artists include figures such as D.Y. Cameron and John Lavery, whose reputations were already well-established at the outbreak of war, and younger artists like Eric Robertson and William Johnstone, whose careers developed out of their wartime experiences. The work of several unknown makers is also displayed, giving voice to artistic responses from outwith the established art world.
Picturing Conflict is drawn from the City Art Centre’s collection of Scottish art, supplemented by loans from the wider collections of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries. The exhibition is being staged as part of the commemorations marking the centenary of the First World War.
-
Based on work acquired through the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland (NCSS), Urban/ Suburban will look at the theme of architecture and the built environment in recent Scottish art.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 1 August 2014 - 19 October 2014
Cost: FreeThrough the work on show, the exhibition will examine how we live today in our urban/suburban environment.
Specific works include Villa Savoye by Nathan Coley, Nothank by Graham Fagen, Town, 2005 by Carol Rhodes and Citrus Fruit Market by Toby Paterson. Other artists whose work has been acquired through the NCSS include Charles Avery, Christine Borland, Martin Boyce and Kenny Hunter. Additional works from artists in the collection will be shown, including Kate Gray, Chad McCail and Jonathan Owen, and the exhibition will include a small number of additional loans.
Urban/Suburban is part of GENERATION, a landmark series of exhibitions celebrating 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland.
-
As part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, and during the year of Homecoming Scotland, Edinburgh Art Festival in partnership with City Art Centre presents a major international exhibition of contemporary art selected by five curators from Commonwealth countries.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm, Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 1 August 2014 - 19 October 2014
Cost: FreeTaking its title from a work by Indian artist, Shilpa Gupta, the exhibition invites perspectives from across the Commonwealth to explore and interrogate the ideas, ideals and myths which underpin notions of community, common-wealth, and the commons.
Through new and recent work by over 20 international artists, Where do I end and you begin considers what it means to join ‘common’ with ‘wealth’, reflecting on the notion of The Commonwealth as a problematic historical and contemporary construct and offering international perspectives on the range of associations which common-wealth evokes, from the challenge of ‘being in common’ in a truly global world, to ideas of the common good, common land, public ownership and alternative exchange systems.
Edinburgh Art Festival is proud to be working with international partners across the Commonwealth on the development of this major enterprise, including the British Council, Creative New Zealand; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; South Africa - United Kingdom Seasons 2014 & 2015; Gallery MOMO, Johannesburg; Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi and other partners in Canada, India, New Zealand and UK.
Artists:
Amar KanwarArpita SinghGavin Hipkins
Kay Hassan
Kemang Wa Lehulere
Kushana Bush
Mary Evans
Mary Sibande
Masooma Syed
Naeem Mohaiemen
Pascal Grandmaison
Rushton and Tyman
Shannon Te Ao
Shilpa Gupta
Steve Carr
Uriel Orlow
Yvonne Todd -
For generations, Scotland has been the home and inspiration of a stunning array of visual artists. The City Art Centre’s collection reflects this wealth of creativity and talent, featuring some of the best examples of Scottish art from 17th century to present day.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 26 April 2014 - 16 November 2014
Cost: FreeThe collection covers a wide range of subject-matter, depicted through a variety of styles and media. Traditional oil portraits of public figures hang alongside contemporary installation pieces. But who are the artists behind these artworks?
A - Z: An Alphabetical Tour of Scottish Art introduces some of the men and women whose work makes up this rich collection. Painters, sculptors, photographers and printmakers are all featured, representing the key movements that have shaped Scotland’s artistic identity. From William Allan to Aleksander Zyw, this exhibition cuts across time periods, themes and media to explore the breadth and diversity of Scottish art.A - Z is the first exhibition to be staged in the City Art Centre’s newly refurbished lower ground floor gallery. This exciting space has now been redeveloped to create a dedicated area for showing the permanent Scottish Art Collection. In the coming years, visitors will be able to see more of this collection than ever before, through a changing programme of temporary displays.
The Scottish Art Collection, cared for by the City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries, is a Recognised Collection of National Significance to Scotland. The refurbishment of the lower ground floor gallery has been undertaken with the support of Museums Galleries Scotland through the Recognition Capital Fund.
-
Riots, sieges, executions, and coronations – Scotland’s capital city, so often at the very heart of Scottish affairs, has had a turbulent and eventful history.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 10 May 2014 - 6 July 2014
Cost: Free
Having been granted its original charter by David I in the mid 12th century, for centuries thereafter the city was confined to the ‘crag and tail’ ridge running eastwards from the Castle rock. It was only in the 18th century that the city broke from its medieval confinement, and in doing so achieved for Edinburgh a permanent place among the world’s most beautiful cities.This significant exhibition traces the growth and development of the City, seen through the eyes of painters, printmakers and sculptors. From early prospects showing rows of humble dwellings densely clustered around the ‘Royal Mile’, the exhibition traces the expansion of Edinburgh through times of great intellectual advance and periods of social upheaval.
Among the earliest views are works by a French artist, William Delacour, Paul Sandby and John Clerk of Eldin. They depict scenes which had not changed significantly since medieval times. Alexander Nasmyth captured the City during the golden age of the Scottish Enlightenment. Sir Henry Raeburn painted many of the influential figures of the same period. By contrast, artists such as James Howe, John Kay and Charles Doyle portrayed the town’s ‘ordinary folk’ at work and at play.
The exhibition includes portraits of leading civic figures, landowners, pioneers and performers as well as city porters and street traders. Notable 20th artists such as Sir John Lavery, Dorothy Johnstone and John Houston are all represented alongside works by those not so well known. Brought together for the first time, they reveal a unique, multi faceted view of Edinburgh’s story.
A Capital View complements a major new publication based on the City’s art collection, written by Alyssa Popiel and published by Birlinn. The book is available for sale in the City Art Centre shop, priced at £14.99 for the paperback or £25 for the hardback. We can also send copies by mail order (additional charges apply) - for more details or to make a purchase please call 0131 529 3993
-
Explore stunning landscapes, maritime history, proud sporting legacies and the galas, festivals and diversity of modern Leith.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 26 October 2013 - 23 February 2014
Cost: FreeCitizen Curator celebrates Leith’s fascinating and varied heritage, through the art collections of the City Art Centre and history collections of Edinburgh Museums.
The exhibition includes artworks by well known Leithers such as Eduardo Paolozzi, and depictions of the local area by artists including Alexander Nasmyth, Jock McFadyen and Kate Downie. It also includes new works created by up and coming artists and a specially commissioned film exploring the diversity of the area. Alongside these pieces there will be historical objects and contemporary items exploring Leith’s heritage, from Hibs memorabilia, to Mela programmes, boxing gloves, to ship building tools and the skin of a catfish caught in Leith Harbour!
This exhibition is the cumulation of a project developed to give local communities, in particular young people, the opportunity to explore and interpret their local heritage. Several community groups have chosen collections items to put on display and created their own works in response to these.
Organisations taking part include: Leith School of Art, Leith Festival, Young Saheliya, Leith Late, Leith Library, Leith Academy and Home-Start Leith and North East Edinburgh.
If you are part of a community group or school and would like to arrange a visit to the exhibition or to receive an outreach visit, please contact Diana Morton at diana.morton@edinburgh.gov.uk or 0131 529 6365 to find out more.
To find out more about the Outreach Programme and Citizen Curator please visit the Outreach blog: www.edinburghmuseumsoutreach.wordpress.com
Diana Morton talks about Citizen Curator :
Diana Morton : Citizen Curator from arts-news on Vimeo.
Citizen Curator has been supported by the Leith Townscape Heritage Initiative.** Celebrating Scotland's History Festival **
-
Exhibition
This exhibition sets out to re-evaluate one of Scotland’s significant but often overlooked 19th century talents.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 19 October 2013 - 2 March 2014
Cost: Free
Walter Geikie was one of the most unique artists working in Edinburgh in the early 19th century, but his talent and contribution is often overlooked. A fine draughtsman and skilled printmaker, Geikie’s main focus was the portrayal of the city’s poor and working classes – subjects that he approached with honesty, empathy and wit. In many ways his genre studies anticipated social realism, at a time when depictions of ordinary people tended to veer towards either lofty moralising or grotesque caricature.
While Geikie’s artistic vision was striking, his strength of character was remarkable too. As an infant he contracted a fever that left him unable to hear or speak. Yet this lifelong disability did not prevent Geikie from pursuing a successful career and ultimately becoming a member of the Scottish Academy.
Walter Geikie (1795-1837): An Artist of Character shines a light on this underrated artist. Concentrating on figurative imagery, the exhibition highlights Geikie’s mastery of expression and character. It explores some of his most enduring themes, from the revelry of fairground crowds to the quiet dignity of agricultural labour. His artistic and literary influences are examined, including the art of David Wilkie and the poetry of Robert Fergusson and Robert Burns. Although Geikie is best known for his etchings, the exhibition also features drawings and paintings, demonstrating the breadth of his practice.
This exhibition draws together artworks from the collections of the City Art Centre, Edinburgh City Libraries and the National Galleries of Scotland, including these images.
During the exhibition run, more information on the life and art of Walter Geikie will be available on Capital Collections www.capitalcollections.org.uk and Our Town Stories www.ourtownstories.co.uk
-
EXPLORING THE LION KING is a unique exhibition which reveals the inspiration and evolution behind Disney’s ground-breaking, award-winning musical THE LION KING.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pmWho is this for? - All
Dates: 28 September 2013 - 12 January 2014
Cost: FreeIncorporating many of the now iconic costumes, masks and puppets, this interactive exhibition will give visitors the opportunity to discover - through sketches, original models, film and photography - how acclaimed director and designer Julie Taymor, along with the rest of the show’s creative team, conceived and created this acclaimed production.
Timed to coincide with the musical’s Scottish premiere season at the Edinburgh Playhouse, this innovative exhibition, featuring interactive video touch screens, will reveal the craftsmanship behind THE LION KING and will include complete costumes from the production, original set models, sketches and maquettes (miniature models), and behind-the-scenes interviews - allowing the visitor to see the show’s intricate design and detail up-close.
Julie Taymor, a director and designer of theatre, opera and film, has achieved worldwide acclaim for her production of THE LION KING, which combines performers, masks, puppetry, ritual and large theatrical landscapes. She was entrusted by
[75] Disney Theatrical Productions to transform the beloved 1994 animated feature film into a stage musical drawing upon her vast and varied experience of myriad theatrical styles and cultures, most prominently African tribal design and masks and Balinese puppetry and movement.
Disney’s THE LION KING has been seen by over 70 million people in 18 different countries and in eight different languages. In addition to the sold-out UK tour, the production can currently be seen in London, New York, Tokyo, Hamburg, Madrid, Sao Paulo and on tours of North America and Japan. A new production will open in Sydney in December.
THE LION KING will play the Edinburgh Playhouse:
Friday 11 October 2013 – Saturday 18 January 2014
Tickets via 0844 871 7692 or www.thelionking.co.ukArticle in the Edinburgh Reporter.
-
Fashion photography - glamorous, provocative, beautiful, accomplished, and magical - has been associated with some of the most famous names in the history of the medium since the early years of the 20th century.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 7pm; Sunday 12pm - 7pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 15 June 2013 - 8 September 2013
Cost: £5; Concessions £3.50; £2.50 for children aged 5 to 15 inclusive; £11 for a family ticket for two adults and two children or one adult and three children. Other ticketing options are available; please ask at the venue.The great American photographer Edward Steichen took what were probably the first fashion photographs in 1911. Since then it has become a unique platform for experimentation, balanced between commerce and creativity, recording the Zeitgeist and capturing individual dreams and desires.
The legendary publisher Condé Nast recognised this very early on and created a distinctive style for his magazines, elevating haute couture and turning fashion photography into an art form. With his keen sense for discovering new talents, he found the best photographers and promoted their careers, a tradition continued by subsequent editors and art directors at Condé Nast.
The exhibition shows early work by such luminaries as Cecil Beaton, Erwin Blumenfeld, Helmut Newton, David Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Corinne Day, Mario Testino and Sølve Sundsbø as it appeared in the pages of Vogue, Glamour and other Condé Nast publications.
With unprecedented access to the Condé Nast archives in New York, Paris, London and Milan, the curator Nathalie Herschdorfer has gathered original prints, as well as pages from the actual magazines. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see the work of over eighty photographers right at the outset of their careers.
This exhibition has been organised by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/Paris/Lausanne, in collaboration with City Art Centre, Edinburgh.
Image: Miles Aldridge, Vogue Italia, September 2002
© Miles Aldridge
Vogue Magazine article
Glamour Magazine article
City of Edinburgh Council Pinterest boardSpotlight Tours: These 30 minute tours will focus on key works in the exhibition.
Saturday, Tuesday and Friday at 1pm. Meet in the gallery reception area.
Dressed to Impress: Exploring Studio Portraiture
Secondary school kids, come along on Tuesdays in the school holidays between 2pm and 4pm and try our dress up corner in the gallery. Get dressed in dashing hats and explore with pastels and drawing materials in creating a sketch of yourself. Our gallery staff will photograph you in action.
-
Dressed to Kill showcases how Scottish artists have captured fashion, costume and dress over the years, from the late 17th century to the present day.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm Who is this for? - All
Dates: 15 June 2013 - 29 September 2013
Cost: FreeThe exhibition includes portrayals of a whole range of different types of costume, from mundane everyday working clothes to the most elaborate fashionable dress. There is an inevitable focus on the depiction of women and women’s costume but other sections will look at men’s clothing, children’s costume, headgear, working clothes and uniforms.
Central to the exhibition are the City Art Centre’s two iconic Colourist portraits, J.D. Fergusson’s The Blue Hat and F.C.B. Cadell’s The Black Hat, both showing young women dressed up to the nines in the height of Edwardian fashion. The exhibition will also include works by Allan Ramsay, Henry Raeburn, E.A. Hornel, John Lavery, J.H. Lorimer, John Duncan, Stanley Cursiter, John Bellany, Adrian Wiszniewski, David Williams and Moyna Flannigan.
Selected to complement Coming into Fashion, the exhibition is drawn from the City Art Centre’s nationally Recognised collection of Scottish Art and includes paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture. A wide ranging and varied activity and education programme will complement the City Art Centre’s summer exhibitions.
-
The City Art Centre is delighted to work in collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art.
Monday - Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 15 June 2013 - 29 September 2013
Cost: Free with the price of an exhibition ticket.Over the course of our summer fashion exhibitions, we will display graduate work from students graduating from the Undergraduate and Masters Programmes of Fashion, Performance Costume and Textiles.
Many ECA graduates make a global impact in fashion, and this is the perfect opportunity to see the future of fashion.
Fashion Graduate Collections
Lauren Smith - Anthology
Shonagh Kerr Galbraith - Sho-Sho
Louis Alderthon - Blythell - New Mortal Experience
-
The Derek Williams Trust Collection is an important collection of British Modern art which is currently on long term loan to Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 1 December 2012 - 24 February 2013
Cost: FreeThe collection contains work by many of the key figures in early and mid 20th century British art including Lucian Freud, LS Lowry, Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson.
Derek Williams (1929-1984) was a chartered surveyor who lived and worked in Cardiff and began collecting modern British art in the late 1950s. He was initially attracted to the work of John Piper and Ceri Richards. The collection also contains work by other British Neo-Romantics, including David Jones, Graham Sutherland and Keith Vaughan, as well as their contemporaries including Josef Herman, Ivon Hitchens and Stanley Spencer.
Most of the work dates from the 30s, 40s and 50s and is relatively modest in scale, having being collected for a domestic environment. Williams bought mainly from the Howard Roberts Gallery in Cardiff and the Marlborough Gallery in London. He gained immense satisfaction from building his collection and displaying it within his various residences and practice offices.
The Derek Williams Trust was established following the collector’s death. It is committed to the care, enhancement and public display of the Derek Williams’ collection. The Trust also provides generous support in furthering the acquisition of post-1900 works of art at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
Despite its importance the collection remains relatively unknown and the Derek Williams Trust are staging a limited tour, with the Pier Arts Centre and the City Art Centre the only Scottish venues.
-
A major exhibition exploring the work of the late Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, curated by Lynne Green.
Monday to Saturday 10am - 5pm; Sunday 12pm - 5pm
Who is this for? - All
Dates: 24 November 2012 - 17 February 2013
Cost: FreeThe painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham is usually classified as a St Ives School artist, yet her Scottish roots and close links with her homeland throughout her life had a huge influence on her work. This major exhibition, marking the centenary of her birth, radically reappraises her career looking at the influence of her artistic training in Edinburgh, the inspirational resource she found in Scotland and its continuing creative importance. The exhibition is the first to look at the artist from this perspective.
Barns-Graham was born in St Andrews on 8 June 1912 and, after deciding as a child that she wanted to be an artist, enrolled at Edinburgh College of Art in 1931. The exhibition examines her training under the tutelage of such senior figures in Scottish art as William Gillies, John Maxwell, SJ Peploe and briefly, yet crucially, William MacTaggart. The delight in drawing instilled by Gillies never left her and the influence of both Gillies and MacTaggart can be seen in her extraordinary sensitivity to and use of colour. The show will include works which have their origins in the rigorous academic training that Barns-Graham received in Edinburgh.
In 1940 Barns-Graham moved to St Ives, Cornwall where a group of modernist artists had settled and where she met, among others, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Naum Gabo, Bernard Leach and Alfred Wallis. While this formidable group of painters, sculptors and potters certainly had a profound effect on the 28 year-old Scot, she did not arrive as a blank canvas. Her origins, formal training, and her new life in Cornwall combined to provide the inspiration and structure for her career as a consummate draughtswoman and painter.
The exhibition also explores Barns-Graham’s continuing links with Scotland following her move to St Ives. Over the next 20 years she visited and exhibited in Scotland regularly. The connection was reinforced when she inherited a small family estate outside St Andrews in 1960.
Fife offered Barns-Graham much-needed respite from the intensity of life in a busy, competitive and internationally famous artistic community. Equally importantly it re-established a tangible link with her family roots and a refreshment of the Scottish dimension of her character. It also re-awakened her emotional bonds with Scotland and reinforced her presence in the Scottish art world.
From then on she divided her time between the south-west and the north-east, with working studios in each, from which drawings and canvases moved up and down the country with her. There is little doubt that without these twin creative centres Barns-Graham’s work would have developed differently and that without her Scottish base important themes might never have emerged. By the time of her death in 2004 Barns-Graham was truly a Scottish artist who also lived in St Ives.
Organised in association with The Barns-Graham Charitable Trust.
