ONE of Scotland’s greatest collections of art and design of the late 19th and early 20th century is to go up for sale later this month as a the result of the sale of Kirkton House near Montrose.
Scotland’s oldest auctioneers, Lyon & Turnbull, will present for sale ‘The Contents of Kirkton House’, the 1804 former manse outside Montrose which has housed the collection of beautiful examples of Gothic Revival, Aestheticism and Arts & Crafts works of art presented alongside a collection of British art, featuring a fine collection of etchings.
The history and landscape of the surrounding area is represented in the collection with an outstanding group of watercolours and oils by local artist James Watterston Herald revealing views of Montrose, Arbroath, Forfar and Aberdeen.
The sale includes an important collection of etchings, including Gerald Leslie Brockhurst’s print masterpiece Adolescence valued at £8,000-12,000. All the important British etchers are represented, from Whistler and Griggs to D.Y. Cameron and James McBey, from Samuel Palmer and Robin Tanner to Dame Laura Knight and Charles Nevinson.
Most were bought whilst the owners were living in London, visits were regularly made to the Royal Exchange Gallery, not for the marine pictures which they specialised in, but the etchings which they also sold. A visit to The Fine Art Society in New Bond Street also cemented interest in this medium. John Mackie, Director at Lyon & Turnbull said “This will be one of the more exciting sales of 2018, the house contains a remarkable collection.
Sydney Drew of Lyon & Turnbull with some of the contents of Kirkton House in Montrose. Photograph: Gordon Terris
“The collection follows the arc of 19th century design history and includes works representative of the Gothic Revival, Aestheticism and the Arts & Crafts. Amassed over several decades, many of the works have been purchased in London from leading establishments such as The Fine Art Society, The Royal Exchange Gallery and renowned Arts & Crafts dealer Paul Reeves.
Visits to The Fine Art Society also sparked an interest in the work of the New Sculpture movement of the late 19th and early 20th century.
One of the highlights of the sale is a rare bronze figure of St George and the Dragon by Gilbert Bayes, valued at £12,000-18,000 and thought to be one of only three in existence.
Other important bronzes include The Sluggard valued at £20,000-30,000, by Frederic, Lord Leighton, and important renders by Sir Alfred Gilbert and Hamo Thornycroft.
There is a collection of Arts & Crafts ceramics, started when the owners were living in Gloucestershire. There are over thirty pieces of Pilkington’s Lancastrian lustre pottery; ruby-lustre chargers by William De Morgan and a group of vessels by Sir Edmund Elton.
Works from the Arts & Crafts movement feature in other areas: notably a spectacular piano by Charles Robert Ashbee valued at £8,000-12,000; copper and brass light fittings by W.A.S. Benson and textiles by Morris & Co.
Adorning the walls of the house is a collection of 19th and 20th century British art featuring a charming harbour scene by George Leslie Hunter, an unusual Edward Arthur Walton still-life and a dramatic portrait by Sir Gerald Kelly of his wife Jane.
The anonymous owners of Kirkton House have now sold the house and have decided it is time for the artworks to be enjoyed by other collectors.
They said: “We have enjoyed living with every single item in the house, each of which has been chosen very carefully over the years for a certain room or place. As you get older you realise that you are merely custodians for a short time and we have decided to sell it to make our lives much simpler. Our hope is that they give the next owners as much pleasure as they have given us over the years.”
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