The firm of Cottier & Co. was founded by the artist, designer, decorator and art dealer Daniel Cottier (1838-1891). Cottier had trained as a coach painter in Glasgow but by the 1860s was working as a glass designer in London where he heard lectures given by the critic John Ruskin and received drawing lessons from the artist Ford Madox Brown. Returning to Scotland he eventually opened his own business in 1864, which would grow to become a highly successful international organisation with branches in London, New York, Sydney and Melbourne.
 FOR COTTIER and CO. GRECIAN REVIVAL SIDE CABINET, CIRCA 1870-75.jpg)
Cottier was interested in glass, furniture, ceramic manufacture, and interior design. In the United States he is seen as a 'harbinger of aestheticism….and a profound influence on American decoration'.
A key exponent of the aesthetic movement, Cottier developed a very original and highly distinctive style, employing to great effect delicately painted surface decoration often on gold or ebonised ground providing bold contrast. His designs frequently drew on the prevailing Japanese aesthetic associated with the aesthetic movement but also, as in the current lot, on other ancient sources.
This beautifully crafted piece comes from the final group of works that Lyon & Turnbull had the delight of offering to auction from the celebrated collection of Peter Rose & Albert Gallichan. Started in the 1950’s, the collection provided a fascinating insight into Peter Rose and Albert Gallichan's passion for 19th century art and design and is an important record of the antique market in the second half of the 20th century.
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Lyon & Turnbull’s Decorative Arts & Design specialists are renowned for both their knowledge and their sales of artworks conducted from our Scottish auction house based in Edinburgh and via our live online auctions. Our specialists are experts not only on design from 1860 to the present, but also on current market conditions, an essential combination to any successful auction.
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