Kellie Castle lies beyond the fishing village of Pittenweem in Scotland. Originally built in the twelfth century, it was leased to the prestigious Lorimer family in 1878. The Lorimers have been compared to a Renaissance dynasty; James Lorimer (1818-1890), was an eminent professor of law and his sons were the renowned architect Sir Robert Lorimer […]
Ada Louise Lessore known as ‘Lalla’ to her family and close friends was one of a number of talented female Arts and Crafts designer-makers, including Georgina Gaskin and Edith Dawson, who are remembered primarily as part of a husband-and-wife team. She was however an established artist in her own right with a remarkable pedigree before […]
In her lifetime Phoebe Anna Traquair was known in Scotland for her mural decoration of three buildings in her adopted city of Edinburgh but in London her name was more associated with the studio crafts – embroideries, illuminated manuscripts and, from the 1900s, art enamelling. Born Phoebe Anna Moss in County Wicklow, Ireland, she had […]
Embroidering A poem by Frances Richards (date unknown) She embroiders heads; small children sitting With spinning tops on blue velvet A light-footed dancer, delicately darned on lace With flowers, like a garden, as a background. Does she think as she sews her silks and velvet, That she is weaving a paradise of her own mind […]
