Brass Candle Sconce, Alex Ritchie, ca. 1900

This brass candle sconce with embossed Celtic design of intertwined foliage and a central motif depicting a Viking sailing galley was made by Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie of Iona.  It is one of a pair, which could be either free standing or fixed to the wall.  The deep tray is designed to catch the melted tallow.  The design, whist Celtic in its decoration, is similar in form to vernacular candleholders made for use in Highland crofter’s houses.  It is made of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, which is an easy to manage metal that has been used throughout history.  It can be cast in moulds and hammered into shape and has an attractive gold lustre that enhances candlelight.

The Celtic revival was a broad cultural movement, starting in Ireland and spreading to Scotland in the second half of the nineteenth century that was driven by nationalist sentiments. It grew in conjunction with antiquarianism and archaeology and with the discovery of many ancient and finely made decorative objects, especially jewellery, which were copied and used for inspiration.  It also evolved alongside the Arts and Crafts movement.  In Scotland, the Edinburgh Social Union, a proto-socialist body, founded in 1885, took forward one aspect of the Celtic revival whilst in Glasgow it was associated with the School of Art, where Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a leading figure.  Celtic design motifs, often adapted from the ancient stone crosses that were found in the Highland landscape, were first highlighted for wide appreciation in design manuals, notably Owen Jones’ The Grammar of Ornament, published in 1856 with numerous subsequent editions.  Fashionable Edinburgh silversmiths, such as Marshall & Son, produced knife and fork sets with Celtic motifs on the handles from the 1870s.  The same firm also produced authorised reproductions of famous archaeological finds.

Alexander Ritchie (1856-1941) and his wife Euphemia Thomson (1862-1941) were Argyllshire born but trained at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1890s at the height of its fame as a centre for the Arts and Crafts movement.  They settled in Iona in 1900, founding the business known as Iona Celtic Art.  They enjoyed patronage and support from Lady Victoria Campbell, sister of the Duke of Argyll and an important figure in the Celtic Christian revival that focussed on Iona.

The Ritchies used brass for a wide range of goods including trays and plates, mirror and picture frames and small boxes as well as candle sconces. Their output of Celtic inspired wares, with frequent use of the sailing galley motif, included silver goods, particularly brooches and crosses and they also worked on wood and leather.  From their shop on Iona, where Alexander also acted as custodian and guide for the Abbey, they sold a large array of mostly small goods to tourists and pilgrims.  These were made in their local workshop, with additional input from a number of apprentices and assistants, though they also designed for a mass market with production from factories in England.