MATCHED PAIR OF RARE GARNKIRK FIRECLAY 'NUPTIAL' COVERED URNS BY ALEXANDER 'GREEK' THOMPSON, MODELLED BY JOHN MOSSMAN
CIRCA 1860
£4,808
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 25 January 2017 at 11:00 GMT
Description
of tall tapering cylindrical form, the later lobed covers above bodies moulded with a Neoclassical bridal procession above an anthemion frieze on later corresponding bases (2)
Dimensions
48cm across, 135cm high and 47cm across, 128cm high
Footnote
Literature: Stamp, Gavin 'Alexander 'Greek' Thompson', 1999
Garnkirk Catalogue of specimen sheets, 1857
Note: The original coloured example of this urn was designed by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson (1817-1875) for the Garnkirk stand at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and is now held at Glasgow's Museum and Art Galleries. Thompson was a visionary Scottish architect who rejected the Gothic style that prevailed in Britain in the 1850s and 1860s and strove to resuscitate the principles of Greek architecture. The urns depict a bridal procession on the frieze, modelled by John Mossman (1822-1863) and the urns are early examples of how Thomson managed to combine Greek principles and industrial design.