Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie, until 4 December 2011

AS A small independent museum situated in the Black Isle village of Rosemarkie, Groam House Museum is an internationally significant resource, housing a collection of Pictish sculpture and Celtic art, together with the Celtic works and archive of George Bain, donated by his family to the museum in 1998.

In 2008 Groam House was one of three Scottish museums selected for a Heritage Lottery Fund Collecting Cultures Award, which has enabled further development of the George Bain Collection in the context of the Celtic Art Revival; purchasing and conserving work related to Bain, delivering an extensive outreach programme and curating exhibitions throughout 2011-2012 at venues in Iona, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ullapool.

George Bain's Hebridean Rug

George Bain and the Celtic Art Revival is part of this exhibition programme, with Iona Illuminated – 100 Years of Celtic Art: Celebrating the Work of George Bain, Alexander & Euphemia Ritchie & Iain MacCormick, also currently on show on the Isle of Iona until 22nd October, and George Bain Master of Celtic Art opening at the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh from 15 October 2011 to 13th February 2012. True to Bain’s statement that “theory may inform but practice convinces”, Groam House Museum is successfully extending its reach beyond the Black Isle and actively raising awareness about the indigenous visual traditions of the Highlands and Islands in a global Art History context.

Cover of George Bain's classic Celtic Art - The Methods of Construction

Inspired by his study of illuminated manuscripts such as The Book of Kells, Book of Durrow and the Lindisfarne Gospels, Celtic metalwork, jewellery and early Christian cross slabs, George Bain worked as an artist and educator, deciphering methods of design construction and producing a series of six booklets on Celtic Art Construction published in 1945, followed by the single volume publication Celtic Art – the Methods of Construction in 1951.

Although Bain’s vision of establishing a College of Celtic Cultures in Drumnadrochit was not realised, his seminal text is still used by artists and designers today, and Bain is widely regarded as the “Father of Modern Celtic Art” through his prolific work in Art, Design and education. His life’s work highlights the rich visual culture of Scotland, encouraging consideration of the composition and visual grammar of ancient designs and their use in contemporary times.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the current Groam House exhibtion, featuring silverware, jewellery, print publications, textiles, leather work, sculpture and large scale designs used by Bain for teaching, are the connections between objects.

When looking at a Victorian Silver and Malachite Brooch with domed circular openwork and engraved detailing, the timeless strength of the interlocking design derived from Celtic knotwork and striking contrast of materials makes the connection with revivalism as a source of artistic innovation and renewal in the Celtic tradition. Equally, the placement of an adjacent work, a reproduction of an 8th/9th Century Annular Brooch popularised by Queen Victoria as the “Cavan Brooch” or “Queen’s Brooch” draws the viewer’s attention to a more ambiguous set of associations; the appropriation of key elements of Highland culture in relation to Empire and the meaning of design.

The joy, energy and dynamism of Bain’s low relief plaster cast Kirkcaldy Greets Alesund (1945) symbolically commemorates the friendship between Norway and Scotland during WWII. This intricate pattern of interlaced knotwork with zoomorphic designs and emblems of place, extends use of ancient symbol into a design specifically sited in the context of world history and the emotional resonance of that moment.

When traced through a series of objects of different periods the timelessly enigmatic Pictish symbols of Cresent and V Rod seen downstairs at Groam House on the 8th century Rosemarkie Cross Slab and visually disseminated in Stuart’s The Sculptured Stones of Scotland (1856) and Romilly Allen and Anderson’s The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland (1903), have been reinterpreted by subsequent generations of artists. A silver brooch by Iona silversmiths Alexander Ritchie and Iain McCormick, the first to use the historic Cresent and V Rod design, jewellery by Douglas Scott of Tain Silver and commissioned work by Kevin Allen of Orkneyinga Silversmiths reveal the timeless inspiration of these mysterious ancient symbols.

George Bain's Health & Vigour of the Elements

Some of the most beautiful objects of domestic and ritual silverware, including a reproduction of the Iona Nunnery Anointing Spoon by Alexander Ritchie and Coffee Spoons by Iain MacCormick, are distinctive for the quality of their craftsmanship, a tradition that still continues in the work of artist Mhairi Killin and Aosdana on Iona today.

The nature of Craft can also be contemplated in the relationship between three objects revealing different aspects of place and identity: George Bain’s designs for a Hebridean Rug in pencil and watercolour, the rug itself manufactured by Quayle & Tranter Ltd, c1950, and an advertising leaflet for the Hebridean Rug revealing the symbols, qualities and associative meanings of its complex design. The rich colours of the carpet in vibrant red, Lapus lazuli blue, emerald green and ochre that reads like the antique gold of an illuminated manuscript, together with the advertising text celebrate the unique placement of the work in a geographical and cultural context.

The origins of the carpet design as described by the Quayle & Tranter leaflet – the knotwork border “seen on the fragment of an enamelled bronze buckle found at Valtos in the Isle of Lewis”, four guardian angels “seen in the Book of Kells and in Celtic stones” “indicat[ing] the deep religious character of the Hebridean people”, Celtic galleys “depicted on stones found in Iona and Argyll exemplify[ing] love of the sea and adventure” and the key pattern on the outer border “taken from Celtic manuscripts and stones, imply[ing] everlasting safety of everything within it – define the object’s lineage and authenticity. Natural and mythological elements such as fish, seaweed, interlacing birds, shells and waterhorses also anchor the domestic object to ideas of place, tradition and heritage.

The complexity of association between Bain’s original design inspired by ancient source material, the domestic manufactured carpet and the advertising text promoting its sale is one of the most intriguing dialogues in the exhibition, raising important and relevant questions about place, identity and the nature of Craft and Design as a cultural signifier.

An extensive programme of lectures, workshops and events have also been scheduled throughout 2011/2012 coinciding with the exhibition programme curated by Groam House Museum, including a week long Festival of Celtic Arts on the Black Isle from 1st – 8th October featuring music, storytelling, craft and design workshops and a lecture by Murdo MacDonald, Professor of History of Scottish Art, University of Dundee on Celtic Revival Art from Ossian to George Bain at Fortrose Community Theatre at 7.30pm on Thursday 6th October at 7.30pm.

© Georgina Coburn, 2011

Links

• Groam House Museum