This is the other scagliola bowl that will be appearing in this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The previous post was just one bowl shot from different angles - sorry for the confusion!
The pigments from this bowl were collected whilst we were working on the 18th century Robert Adam Dome in General Register House, Edinburgh a couple of years ago.
The black pigment is a very fine black soot which had settled on the back of the dome since its completion c.1790. It is a beautiful pigment and, in its raw state, it still smells of fire.
The cream pigment was made from pieces of failed historic lime plaster. The original plasterwork was executed by Thomas Clayton Junior's plasterers using lime supplied by William Laing. Laing was an Edinburgh Lime merchant who also supplied lime to many of the builders of Edinburgh's New Town in the 1780s-90s. The building accounts reveal that the onsite water supply dried up whilst the dome was being plastered and Clayton's labourers were forced to carry water drawn from Edinburgh's Nor' Loch to the site!
All photography by the wonderful @stmc
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition runs from July 18th - August 18th
@royalacademyarts
#summerexhibition
#scagliola
We're really thrilled to have two scagliola bowls in this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Thank you so much to @assembleofficial for including us.
Both of the bowls were formed using a running mould. The bowl in this post was created with gypsum and pigments from Saint-Gobain Formula's Bantycock Quarry in Nottinghamshire.
At the Bantycock Quarry, stratas mudstone are excavated to access and extract the gypsum seams beneath. This 'overburden' consists of a grey-green dolomitic mudstone (known as the Blue Anchor Formation) and a red-brown mudstone (known as the Branscombe Formation). They make fantastic pigments and we combined them with gypsum from the same quarry to produce the Bantycock Bowl.
A huge thank you to Saint-Gobain Formula for having us last year + the wonderful @stmc for taking such beautiful photographs of our work.
The Royal Academy of Arts & Architecture Summer Exhibition opens on July 18th and runs until August 18th.
@royalacademyarts
#summerexhibitiom
This Sunday (December 17th) at 14:00 Ffion will be doing an in-depth exhibition walkthrough and Q&A session at our exhibition @custom_lane
I will guide you through the materials and processes on display at “UNEARTHED”
It will be an informal format with time for plenty questions.
Free tickets available at Eventbrite, see bio for link
The exhibition has been extended to the 3rd of January and was put on as part of the @talksatthelane
Photography @stmc@paula__szturc
Back in September we had a lot of fun running a day long scagliola workshop for staff at Saint Gobain Formula's Gypsum Quarry in a Newark.
This demonstration sample was made on the day using green dolomitic marl (Blue anchor Formation) and red marl (Branscombe mudstone Formation) collected from the quarry and used as pigments. The gypsum used in the sample was also quarried and processed onsite.
It was a fascinating experience and we would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at Saint Gobain Formula, Newark for being so enthusiastic and for sharing their plaster expertise with us.
Some of the scagliola samples, gypsum and marls we made/gathered during the workshop are currently on display at 'Unearthed'@custom_lane (link in bio)
@saintgobainuk
Happy 1st Birthday @bard.scotland
We are delighted to have our 'Cat Throne' included in Bard's wonderful 1st Birthday exhibition "The Grit and the Glamour" alongside 21 thoughtful and talented makers from around Scotland.
It is the most technically challenging piece we have made in scagliola. Cast from a 12-part plaster piece mould, it is only about 10mm thick, hollow and entirely enclosed. It has a lovely ring to it if you tap it.
We thought we were making a simple seat but it turned out to be much grander than we imagined. More of a throne than a seat, in our house our cat, Claude, would probably be the first to claim it.
Photographs @murrayorr
(Except Claude!)
A fascinating recent visit to see the monument to the 1st & 2nd Barons Poulett, Saint George's Church, Hinton Saint George, Somerset. Created before 1669
Attributed to Baldassare Aritma, and perhaps Diacinto Cawcy, it is thought to be the earliest 'scagliola' to have been produced in Britain.
The term 'scagliola' doesn't appear to have been used in Britain until the 18th century. During the 17th century it was simply known as 'counterfeit marble'.
#scagliola #conuterfeitmarble
On Saturday 30th September Steven will be giving a lecture on the decorative plasterwork of Hannah and Robert Lorimer, as part of the Lorimer Society's Autumn Lecture Series. It should be fun!
The lecture will explore the wonderful but little-known decorative plasterwork created by Hannah Lorimer between 1893 -1894 Before focusing on Robert Lorimer's plasterwork designs/specifications for Marchmont House - tracing the architects relationships with plasterers and modellers Samuel Wilson, Thomas Beattie and David Fisher & Sons.
Harriet Richardson will also be giving a lecture on the work of James Bennet of Arncroach, blacksmith.
Image 1. The Vine Corridor at the House of Falkland, executed by Hannah Lorimer and William Goscombe John in 1894.
Image 2. The stairwell ceiling in Marchmont House, executed by Thomas Beattie with David Fisher & Sons in 1915.
Lorrimer Society Lectures
30 Sept, 10:00 – 14:30
Pittenweem, Kellie Castle, Pittenweem, Anstruther KY10 2RE, UK
Full Programme including lunch £30pp
Lectures and morning coffee £15pp
If you would like to attend register for tickets at
#hannahlorimer #williamgoscombejohn #robertlorimer #houseoffalkland #kelliecastle
Plasterclass: Gypsum plasters and Imitation marble techniques
Steven will be giving a talk and practical demonstration @custom_lane later this month. He will be explaining how to make and recycle gypsum plasters as well as giving an introduction to imitation marble plaster techniques, covering materials such as polymer-modified plasters (Jesmonite), patent marble cements and scagliola.
Tickets available through Eventbrite (Follow link in bio)
Price: £15
Duration: 1.5 hours
Location: Custom Lane, Leith
Two dates available: Sat 22nd or Sun 23rd July
Time: 11am-12.30pm
Places: 10
Photography @stmc
#gypsumplaster #scagliola #jesmonite #craftscotland
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us here in Fife for our scagliola course.
The last few days have been an extraordinary experience and a wonderful realisation of something I had hoped to organise for a long time.
It has been a long held ambition to work with @oscarurrueladesign so when he got in touch to ask if we could collaborate it was a dream come true. I’m so grateful that we were able to make this happen with such a wonderful group of talented people.
Photography by the adorable @stmc
Thank you everyone x
@elena____________blank@rinatdesigns@charlie.short.733@michael_goodger@claydonkarl@gen.tili@clastic_aesthetics@make_relief@ayydunlop
Rolf Stålberg
Ana De Andrés Álvaro
Jaime Ingle
#scagliola #earthpigments #naturalpigments #stuccomarble
Scagliola created using pigments made from construction waste
#scagliola
#decorativeplasterwork
#constructionwaste
#constructionwasterecycling
#stucmarbre
Late last year we were very lucky to be included in a group of Scottish artists and makers brought together by @method.studio to create work for Vacheron Constantin’s Edinburgh boutique.
The Provenance Collection explored the themes of time, place, heritage and craftsmanship.
Our scagliola side table was made using hand-processed pigments gathered during an extensive plasterwork consolidation project at General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Whilst working on the beautiful 18th century Adam Dome we removed layers of fine black soot which had settled on the back of the lath and plaster ceiling over the centuries.
We also collected and process the failed sections of historic lime plaster and used these materials as pigments to colour our scagliola.
It is a real pleasure to be showing our work alongside pieces by the wonderful, talented @method.studio@hazelfrostceramics@julibd_com@aramintacampbell
Photography by @shannontofts
#scagliola #stucmarbre #vacheronconstantine
