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拍品專文
These beds, that evoke the spirit of the age of the High Gothic so remarkably, were designed by Lorimer after his marriage in 1903 to Violet Wyld of The Tilehouse, Denham. They incorporate heraldic motifs associated with their families: the Wyld arms bear a crescent moon and the bull is incorporated into the arms of Stodart from whom Robert was descended on his mother's side. In 1916 Lorimer acquired Gibliston from distant Campbell cousins, following the death of his mother, who had resided nearby at Kellie Castle each summer since 1878. The lease of the castle passed to his elder brother, the painter John Henry, with whom he did not get on and thus the architect bought a property of his own a few miles away as he was fond of the East Neuk of Fife.
The earliest furniture that Lorimer designed, such as the oak centre table at the top of the stairs at Kellie Castle and these beds reflect his deep appreciation of Gothic architecture and decorative art. This was encouraged by visits to North Europe at the turn of the century in the company of his then close friend the remarkable Sir William Burrell, shipping magnate, collector on a prodigious scale and founder of the Burrell collection. Lorimer had been Burrell's best man and both shared a great love of the High Gothic. This passionate appreciation was translated with remarkable vitality and sensitivity by Lorimer in his designs for the Thistle Chapel, St Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh.
Lorimer was insistent upon the use of the finest timber available and also the methods of traditional craftsmanship. His pursuit of good design led him to draw inspiration from diverse sources and it was his aspiration to 'take a fine old model and do your own "comments" upon it, and then you have a sound sweet smelling thing fit to last for a few hundred years...'
Lorimer built up a close relationship with the craftsmen of the fashionable Edinburgh cabinet-makers Whytock & Reid, often sketching out his ideas on the back of an envelope and allowing them considerable leeway in the interpretation of his design. However, they knew that he was an exacting patron who would not accept any deviation from his own high standards. Furniture designed by the architect has a distinctive restraint, charm and practicality that his imagination breathed into life, he was a devout pantheist who believed that 'wood should tell it's own tale.'
The earliest furniture that Lorimer designed, such as the oak centre table at the top of the stairs at Kellie Castle and these beds reflect his deep appreciation of Gothic architecture and decorative art. This was encouraged by visits to North Europe at the turn of the century in the company of his then close friend the remarkable Sir William Burrell, shipping magnate, collector on a prodigious scale and founder of the Burrell collection. Lorimer had been Burrell's best man and both shared a great love of the High Gothic. This passionate appreciation was translated with remarkable vitality and sensitivity by Lorimer in his designs for the Thistle Chapel, St Giles's Cathedral, Edinburgh.
Lorimer was insistent upon the use of the finest timber available and also the methods of traditional craftsmanship. His pursuit of good design led him to draw inspiration from diverse sources and it was his aspiration to 'take a fine old model and do your own "comments" upon it, and then you have a sound sweet smelling thing fit to last for a few hundred years...'
Lorimer built up a close relationship with the craftsmen of the fashionable Edinburgh cabinet-makers Whytock & Reid, often sketching out his ideas on the back of an envelope and allowing them considerable leeway in the interpretation of his design. However, they knew that he was an exacting patron who would not accept any deviation from his own high standards. Furniture designed by the architect has a distinctive restraint, charm and practicality that his imagination breathed into life, he was a devout pantheist who believed that 'wood should tell it's own tale.'