Lot 139
A RARE WEMYSS WARE HEART-SHAPED GARDEN PLAQUE
CIRCA 1895
Scottish Works of Art & Whisky | 696
Auction: 17 August 2022 at 11:00 BST
Description
inscribed DOWAGER COUNTESS OF AIRLIE, with lead frame
Dimensions
10.5cm high, including frame
Provenance
Provenance: Mr Randolph and Lady Lillian Erskine-Wemyss, for the Friendship Garden at Chapel Gardens, West Wemyss, circa 1894
Lady Victoria Erskine-Wemyss
Literature: Cunningham A. S. Randolph Gordon Erskine Wemyss: An Appreciation, Leven 1909
Peter D, and Rankine R. Wemyss Ware, presented by Victoria de Rin and David MacMillan, Edinburgh 1986
Note: The patronage of the Wemyss family at nearby Wemyss Castle was an enormous contribution to the success that Robert Heron & Son enjoyed with Wemyss Ware. Indeed, as a tribute to the family two vases in the range were named for Randolph Erskine-Wemyss' sister Lady Henry Grosvenor (Grosvenor vase) and for his second wife Lady Eva Wellesley (Lady Eva vase). From the beginning of the project and throughout its heyday at the turn of the 20th century, their continuing support ensured the success of the range. This lot bears testament to their support as heart-shaped plaques like the current lot were specially commissioned from Robert Heron & Son by the Erskine-Wemyss family to decorate the Friendship Garden, created within The Chapel Garden in 1894 by Mr Erskine Wemyss and his then wife Lady Lillian Wemyss. Each heart was painted with a motto or name pertaining to friendship and they can be seen in contemporary photographs attached to a tree in the middle of the garden. Contemporary photographs of the garden and the plants donated dated 1894 also show borders of donated plants surrounding the central tree and each donor's plot is marked with a heart-shaped plaque. The plaque offered in this lot is the only known example with the name of the donor rather than a motto.
Andrew S. Cunningham in his 1909 publication 'Randolph Gordon Erskine Wemyss: An Appreciation' writes about the garden; "The garden is situated in a semi-circular creek in Red Rocks Bay, to the west of the village of West Wemyss….To get to the place of burial one has to pass through a pergola of ivy and hops and pretty creeping hops, and at every turn he meets rustic gateways and pretty creeping plants. In a pond constructed in the red rock there are some rare specimens of plants and roses grow in profusion. The old dovecote which takes the name of the East Tower, has been converted into a summer house, and above the entrance are carved the words: "I wish the sun would shine on all men's fruits and flowers as well as mine"