Cairn at Roseisle

Artist Lady Sophia Dunbar (Cheshire, England, 1814 - 1909)

Date1859

Mediumwatercolour on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 26 cm, Width: 36 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1989.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG008391

Keywords

Cist

About MeLady Dunbar (1814-1909) was born in Cheshire as Sophia Orred. In 1840, upon her marriage to Sir Archibald Dunbar, she came to live in Elgin on the Moray coast. At this time she received private tuition from a number of drawing masters, including John Le Capelain of Jersey, but it was after the birth of her youngest child in 1859 that her 'career' as a painter began. Her first exhibited works appeared at the Society of Female Artists in 1863 and the Royal Scottish Academy in 1867. Henceforth the subjects of her paintings alternated between landscape views from abroad (the Dunbars were intrepid tourists, travelling as far afield as Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Algeria) and rural scenes observed closer to home in Morayshire and Aberdeenshire. When she exhibited for the last time at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1888 she had shown 42 paintings in total, a number which distinguishes her as a leading nineteenth-century lady watercolourist.

This is one of three works held in the collection which record the archaeological excavation of a cist at Roseisle on 14 June 1859. Lady Dunbar looked on with great interest as the site was excavated, sending a written account to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Scotland who published it in their Proceedings the following year. As it happens, her water colours are the only visual record of the cist and its excavation, which underlines the importance of the amateur painter at a time when photography was still in its infancy. This water colour shows the cairn with the cist in place. Although painted for the purposes of historical record, Lady Dunbar has not forsaken all artistic licence: the composition is considered and mobile, with leading brushstrokes sweeping out of the foreground and up to the summit of the cairn in the middle distance. Whilst the cist is rendered neatly, broad and expressive contours demarcate the floor of the cairn from its steep sides. The result is a pleasing balance of naturalistic and expressive elements.
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Very heavy on atmosphere for a painting that's primary purpose is historical record.