The Biel Crucifix was commissioned by Mrs Mary Georgina Constance Nisbet-Hamiliton-Ogilvie for her private chapel, St. Margaret's, at her home, Biel House in East Lothian. Created by James Crichton it is a wonderful example of work by the prominent Scottish silversmith to be offered in our Tuesday 05 March auction of Silver & Objets de Vertu.
Mary Georgina Constance Nisbet Hamilton, known as 'Constance', was born in 1843. She was the only child of Lady Mary Bruce and her husband Robert A. Dundas. The family's wealth had stemmed from her grandmother, Mrs. Mary Nisbet Hamilton Ferguson, formerly Countess of Elgin, who along with her first husband, was instrumental in the acquisition of the Elgin marbles. Important reforms to women's rights at the time, including the Scottish Married Woman's Property Act of 1881, allowed Constance to inherit and amass quite a significant personal wealth across East Lothian, with estates spanning Fenton Barns, Archerfield, Winton and Biel House.
Establishing her home at Biel House, it wasn’t until Constance was 45 that she married her husband, Henry T. Ogilvy, the son of Sir John Ogilvy, Bt., a Liberal M.P. Their wedding was a huge social occasion with the ceremony taking place in their private chapel with celebrations across East Lothian. It has been noted in the ‘Two Ladies of Direlton’ by Stephen Bunyan “The chapel was richly furnished with the crucifix of beaten silver embellished with precious stones”. The Chapel and this crucifix were both commissioned by Constance and show her devotion to the Episcopalian faith.
Biel House has always been an important home in East Lothian, the Lauder family welcomed James VI in 1599, and the Earls of Belhaven owned the property in the late 17th Century. The architect William Atkinson extended the house in 1814, who also designed, Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott. The house had further additions in the early 20th century to create a Tudor Gothic style country house, which welcomed Queen Mary when visited the house while she was the Duchess of York.
After the death of Mrs Constance Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy in 1921 the estates of Biel and Archerfield passed to Lt.Col.JP Nisbet Hamilton Grant. D.S.O. of Kilgraston, and services were discontinued at St Margaret’s Chapel at Biel. An inventory of church fittings from 15th May 1922 refers to this as 'crucifix 3'6" high'. This inventory was put together when the furniture and fittings came under the care of the Vestry of St. Annes, at Dunbar, as the couple were involved between 1888-1890.
The calibre of this crucifix was ensured through their choice of silversmith. Based at 47 George Street, James Crichton is first mentioned in the Edinburgh Assay records in 1884. The book of Registrations Vol 1, 1847-1902, notes that two punches registered. Along with this impressive commission, J. Crichton & Co. also received commissions from the Scottish nobility. The workmanship required for this piece would have demanded much collaboration between silversmiths, enamellers, and lapidaries in addition to consultations with the client.
The work of James Crichton continues to be very well regarded and sought after at auction. Lyon & Turnbull had the pleasure of offering an important suite of ten candlesticks and matching pair of candelabra by John Crichton III dated 1879, in our 2023 edition of our popular Scottish Works of Art auction (16th August 2023, lot 260). The suite, sold for £25,200 and is engraved with the crest of Brodie of Lethen, Co. Elginshire (or Nairnshire) suggesting that the reputation of the company was recognised throughout Scotland.
It is very unusual to find a piece such as this on such a scale, particularly in post-reformation Scotland. As a result, many comparable pieces are found on the Continent, and survive as early as the 14th century. It is interesting to note in this late Victorian period, there appears to have been a resurgence in commissioning of Episcopalian communion silver. This is seen in the Alms plate of St. Paul’s church Aberdeen, made from recycled silver cups and plates from the mid-18th-century and the communion cup, patten and flagon, for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh both made around 1881. This looking to the Gothic and Medieval past was at that time promoted within the Church of England, and to a lesser extent the Episcopal Church of Scotland, by the High Church Oxford Movement.
