SIR ROBERT LORIMER (1864-1929) (ATTRIBUTED DESIGNER) FOR WHYTOCK & REID, EDINBURGH
CABINET ON STAND, CIRCA 1920
£2,250
Auction: Day One: 21 April 2022 | From 11:00
Description
mahogany, burr walnut, glass, painted and gilded wood
Dimensions
123cm wide, 137cm high, 54cm deep
Provenance
Provenance: Paul Reeves, London
Kirkton House, Angus
Footnote
Literature: Savage, Peter, 'Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft Designers', Steve Savage 1980, p. 89, plate 175
Note: Although Lorimer had used the Edinburgh cabinet makers Whytock & Reid in the 19th century, from around 1900 they increasingly became his favoured cabinetmakers because of their skill in interpreting his design sketches and their high-quality workmanship.
Lorimer did not hold copyright over his work, and many examples of what may have started as his designs became Whytock & Reid pieces which, as modified for other customers, became examples of the firms' look.
This fine display cabinet, probably a one-off commission, is designed in the Chinese taste, an aesthetic Lorimer favoured in the latter part of his career and employed in commissions such as Glencruitten House, near Oban, in 1927. The cabinet demonstrates all the characteristic features of his output including high quality inlaid cabinetmaking using fine timbers, with low relief carved and moulded detail.