ART TREASURES OF KINLOCH CASTLE PART THREE OF A SERIES

ART  TREASURES  OF  KINLOCH  CASTLE

  PART  THREE  OF  A  SERIES  
Written from on-site research and illustrated with photographs from his personal archive by George W. Randall.

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Kinloch Castle, Isle of Rum, Scotland.  

A further selection of the vulnerable 300+ Oil Paintings, 
Watercolours and Prints within this late Victorian/Edwardian Hunting Lodge on the Isle of Rum, off Scotland’s West Coast built for Sir George Bullough, Bt.  

Lady Monica Bullough.

Sir George Bullough, Bt.

I am devoting this selection to some of the mysterious 
and unidentified works in the hope my readers 
can throw light on these intriguing images.

I start with the strangest of all ... ... 

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THE CAUSEWAY, ST. GEORGES, BERMUDA
Original oil  -  signed: W.E.C. 1899  

In March 1996 an art conservator was commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage to undertake an appraisal of “Twenty-Five Easel Paintings in Kinloch Castle” of which

“The Causeway” was one.

The canvas, which measures

12 x 9 inches, and frame were

found to be “stable and sound”.

The surface was described as “poor” 

being “engrained (with) dirt”.

Research has so far failed to reveal the identity  of the artist, W.E.C.

St. George's is one of the principal islands of Bermuda and the first to be extensively colonised. Covering an area of 703 acres it was connected to its neighbouring island, St. David’s, which in turn was connected by a bridge and causeway to the main island, the latter, constructed by Royal Engineers on reclaimed land, was opened in September 1871 
to a plan approved by Irish born architect Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Albert Hime, R.E., 
and known as Hime’s Causeway, replacing the Bermuda Government link built 
in 1864 and destroyed in a hurricane. 

During the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902, five thousand Boer prisoners were housed

on several of  Bermuda’s islands

The canvas is securely fastened to its stretcher / strainer which is in good condition 

with all eight wedges present. The 1996 Appraisal revealed no warping, 

splitting, mould or worm damage.

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Despite the 1871 Causeway being wrecked by a hurricane on the
 1^st of September 1880 it was rebuilt to Hime’s original design. Nineteen years later, on the 14^th of September, another hurricane destroyed three quarters of a mile of the bridge section.

Hurricanes Felix (1995) and Fabian (2003) again caused massive damage, resulting in a tunnel alternative being considered.

Construction of two new bridges, one fixed the other swing, commenced in 2019 and are due for completion in 2021.

Winsor & Newton, Limited

38 Rathbone Place, 

London, W.

(Number)  445791


Founded by William Winsor and Henry Chares Newton in 1832 the firm originally traded as Winsor and Newton and from 1882 as Winsor and Newton, Limited. It remains today one of very few early 19^th century artist’s supply businesses still trading although no longer in family hands.

The Army & Navy Co-operative Society, Ltd.

105-107, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W.

No. 12 Dept. Fine Art Section

Oil Paintings Cleaned, Restored, Relined,

Engravings Cleaned and Repaired

Every description of Gilding, Picture Frames, Girandoles* Furniture, &c., &c.

Order No. 1225                                     * lighting   

                                                                                                                                                                     

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ORIGINAL OIL ON CANVAS

An original 21 x 20 inch oil on canvas signed M. Goad.

(Photographed October 2007) 

The edges are scuffed and several areas 

have peeled away revealing the ground layer.

The Piper's Room was cleared of its contents c2012 due to damp, being directly under the cold water tank at the top of the Castle tower.

Some items “disappeared” others were carelessly stored in the luggage loft off the first floor south corridor.

There is no record of this painting 

in any of the four inventories of contents

 in my possession.

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BROCON BEACH BY SYDNEY WATTS WHITE

A 12 x 8½ inch print on card signed by Sydney W. White and dated Apl. 99 (April 1899). 

When the photograph was taken in November 2006 

the picture was stored in the Piper’s Room off the Gallery 

in the Great Hall. It was unframed and unprotected,

 the edges were chipped and the surface 

suffering minor scratches.

The reverse bears the inscription: G516 brocon Beach.

Brocon could refer to the Brocon Pass, located at almost 5,300 feet in the Italian Alps 

between the Vanoi and Tesino valleys. The Pass is described as “very wide” 

an interesting feature being that for 2½ miles it is level in appearance very much

 like the Highlands of Scotland. Its strategic position meant the region played an 

important role in both World Wars and reputedly is where underground bunkers 

and trenches dug by the Austrian army are still to be found.

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GLADYS BULLOUGH

(Not Hermione Bullough as originally attributed.)

The painting above left is a 100 x 75 inch oil by Sydney White

 of Miss Gladys Bullough, half-sister to George Bullough, and is displayed facing the top of the south stairwell  on the first floor south landing in Kinloch Castle. 

The work is dated 1901, when Gladys was thirteen years old, she was born in 1888, 

daughter of George Bullough’s father, John, and his second wife, Alexandria.

The portrait was for many years considered to be that of Sir George and Lady Bullough’s daughter, Hermione, until the author noticed the date 1901. 

Sir George and Lady Bullough’s daughter Hermione was not born until the 

5^th of November 1906.

I received confirmation of the identity of Gladys from her cousin, 

the Honourable John George Lambton, son of Hermione, Countess of Durham 

and her husband, Lord Lambton, in 2005.

Who commissioned the painting is unknown, Gladys was only three years old when her father, John Bullough, died in 1891 

Was it her mother, Alexandra, John Bullough's second wife? 1901 was the tenth year since her husband died. If that was the case the portrait would have been originally displayed at Meggernie Castle as the background location depicting the snow capped Glen Lyon Hills,  (the Highland Breadalbane range), would strongly suggest.                             It seems likely, following the sale of Meggernie Castle and Estate in 1919 to Sir Ernest Salter Wills, Sir George Bullough, Gladys's older half-brother, acquired the portrait for Kinloch Castle. Such a large family heirloom requires space and the right setting to be correctly displayed; Kinloch Castle offered the perfect solution. The portrait today hangs on the landing immediately at the top of the south staircase.

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MONKS IN WINE CELLAR 

A pair of glazed, ornately gilt framed prints of Monks Sampling Wine described as being displayed in the “Caretaker’s Dining Room”* 

in the 1978 Inventory of Castle Contents:
“Item 911 Two coloured prints of monks in wine cellar, in gilt frame, glazed.”

(*See photograph left taken in July 1998.)

In the 1992 and 1996 Inventories 

(pages 46 and 36 respectively), when the Castle 

was being run as an exclusive hotel plus Hostel in 

the former servant’s quarters, the prints are still in the “Caretaker’s Dining Room” which from 1995

 (the separate hotel operation having ceased)

was used as a dining room for non self -catering hostelers and called the “Bistro.”

Both the 1992 and 1996 Inventories record word for word: “Two framed prints, The Friar Vintners” which are lumped together with “two 18^th century etchings and one other print.”

Photographed in November 2006, the print above, (along with its pair) 

was frameless, unprotected and languishing in the damp Piper’s Room 

with many other damaged pictures.

Why were the pictures taken down and not replaced?  
On whose authority? 

How did their frameless condition happen?

A possible artist is German painter Eduard von Grüttzner born in Poland in April 1846 and noted for his genre paintings of monks. 

He was a pupil of  Bavarian Herman Dyck in Munich thereafter studying at the Academy of Fine Arts under Karl Theodor von Piloty.

Aged twenty-four Grüttzner opened his own studio in Munich which proved 

so famous that Prince Regent Luitpold of Austria granted him the title of “professor.”

In 1880 he was awarded the Order of Merit of St. Michael, and was knighted in 1916.

Eduard von Grüttzner died in Munich in April 1925.

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WATERCOLOUR BY LADY BULLOUGH

Phillips' 1978 Castle Inventory - Item 612:

Location:  Sir George Bullough's Bedroom

Description: “Water coloured drawing (of) 2 soldiers on horseback in white painted frame.”

The reverse reads:
“Painted by Monica L. Bullough”

Date undecipherable.

The painting is not listed separately in later inventories.

It was found, no longer in its frame and unprotected, in the Piper's Room in 1997 when the photographs were taken.

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ENGRAVING SIGNED DOUGLAS ADAMS

This glazed framed engraving measures 26 x 18 inches 

the border bears the signature: Douglas Adams (W. Douglas Adams 1853-1920)
The engraving itself is signed: W. Douglas Adams 1893.

W. Douglas Adams was born in Birmingham (England) in 1853 and died in 1920.

His genre centred on wildlife, landscape and sporting scenes, particularly Scottish Highland and coastal views. His studio was in London’s Haymarket and he exhibited at a number of galleries including the Royal Academy.

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The lower edge of the frame is inscribed:

“J.C.B. TO G.B. August 14^th 1896 
FORSAN ET HAEC OLIM MEMINISSE JUVABIT.”

(Translates: Perhaps some day it will please us to recall even these things.)

Quotation from Virgil’s Aeneid Book 1 line 203.

Clearly a gift to G.B. (George Bullough) however a search of the Rum Deer Forest Game Book records no guest with the initials J.C.B. in the year 1896.

The engraving depicts the Black Cuillin, a range of gabbro rock mountains on the

 Isle of Skye as viewed from Sligachan at the head of  Loch Ainort, 

one of the islands many sea lochs.

The peak  is Sgurr nan Gillean (3,170 feet),

to its right Am Basteir (3,064 feet) with its “tooth” or Inaccessible Peak.

Two stalkers approach the Royal (twelve point) Stag they have shot.

The photograph was taken in May 1996 at which time it was displayed above the fireplace in the Visitor's Common Room.

The 1978 Phillips of Scotland Inventory of Castle Contents records:

“Item 1230 Hostel Dining Room* Engraving - Landseer of Dead Deer, D. Adams.”

                                                               * Former Caretaker's Dining Room.

In the 1992 and 1996 Inventories it was lumped together as "one other print"

with "two 18^th century etchings" and the two gilt framed colour prints 

of monks in their wine cellar.

Around 1996/7 all these pictures were removed when the Dining Room (Bistro) 

was redecorated and never returned.

The Douglas Adams work was then displayed above the fireplace in the former Ghillies Room (Visitor’s Common Room by the courtyard gateway). 

In 2000 it was removed again, this time being stored on its side directly on the floor in the Gun Room off the Great Hall and consequently no longer on display to visitors.

It was still in the Gun Room in March 2006 when the image below was taken.

I have found no evidence that this engraving by Douglas Adams is a copy of an original by Sir Edwin Landseer as implied in Phillips' 1978 Inventory description.

However, a colour version exists under the title 
“Fallen Monarch”, is that the original and the engraving 
a copy by the same artist?

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ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR

by BYRON COOPER

George Gordon Byron Cooper was born in Manchester, England, in 1850. 
He commenced his artistic studies at the cities Academy of Fine Arts and later in Paris under the French naturalist painter Jules Louis Breton and director of the French Academy Charles Émile Durand. 

Aged twenty-nine Cooper first exhibited at London’s Royal Academy in 1879, 

and again in 1883 and 1901. 

In 1889 he was awarded Place of Honour for his painting Grange Fell exhibited in that years Paris Salon Exhibition. 

Cooper painted in both oils and watercolour and several originals of both depicting views on the island of Rum were commissioned by Sir George Bullough and hang in Kinloch Castle. 

This watercolour measures 51 x 25 inches and depicts a rocky cleft at the old township of Harris on the island. It is signed lower right and dated 1902. The ornate gilt frame is deteriorating with large portions already lost particularly along the bottom edge.  

This photograph, taken in July 1997, also shows clusters of black mold spores growing on the inside of the glass due to damp, high humid conditions.

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REVIEWED 29 NOVEMBER 2022