Subfonds DC 110/1 - Artworks

Key Information

Reference code

DC 110/1

Title

Artworks

Date(s)

  • c1914-1918 (Creation)

Level of description

Subfonds

Extent

54 items

Content and Structure

Scope and content

A variety of artworks completed by Mary Ramsay, including life drawings, portraits, architectural studies, designs, prints, and illustrations. Some of these items are dated to her time as a student at The Glasgow School of Art. Most items are pencil on paper, with a few further studies in paint.

This subfond includes one item by Jessie Wilson (DC 110/1/1/18), another student of The Glasgow School of Art, with whom Mary Ramsay and Margaret Macdonald started a pottery decorating business at The Studio, Strathyre, in 1926.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

These items were originally deposited within a portfolio folder (DC 110/1/4), alongside other loose artworks by Mary Ramsay. These artworks have been arranged into three individual series, Life Drawings and Portraits (DC 110/1/1), Architectural Studies (DC 110/1/2), and Illustrations and Designs (DC 110/1/3), organised by their subject matter. A further subfonds featuring Personal papers (DC 110/3) has been created. This has altered the original arrangement of the items when they were deposited with The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections.

General Information

Name of creator

(1896-1963)

Biographical history

Mary Anderson Ramsay was born in 1896 in Partick, and had two brothers, George (seven years her elder) and William (nine years her elder). In 1901 the family moved to Bridge of Allan, where the following year they established a sanatorium called ‘Salem’ - the establishment appears to have closed by 1909, being renamed ‘Drumpark’ and registered under new owners thereafter. From 1911 Mary was living with her parents at Glencairn Cottage in Logie, near Stirling; at this time her father was working as an author. From the age of 14 she was attending school part time, but may have been working part time alongside taking classes to prepare for Art School.

In 1914 she began her studies at The Glasgow School of Art, registered at the address 87 Edith Grove, Chelsea, in London. Her student registration also lists the address of a studio, 488 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, for the duration of her study. It is here that she would have been in contact with other studio renters Jessie Wilson and Margaret Macdonald, fellow students at the GSA with whom she would later found The Studio.

Mary Ramsay’s studies coincided with the First World War, and during this time her brothers were conscientious objectors. Her brother William spent time during this period in various prisons, being subject to forced feedings and solitary confinement, and wrote an unpublished memoir about his experiences. Mary visited him in England during his imprisonment.

Mary received her Diploma in Design and Decorative Art in 1918, and in the same year was awarded one of four Maintenance Scholarships for £50 (worth approx. £2300 in 2023), as well as Professor Anning Bell’s Prize in the Design Department. She earned an Endorsement on her Diploma in the 1918-1919 session. After 1919, Ramsay continued to study part time at the GSA, taking courses in Design (1920-21), Modelling (1921-22), and Pottery (1922-23).

In 1923 she moved with her brother William to a house named ‘Dunellan’ in Perthshire. From 1926 she took tenancy of The Studio, Strathyre, founding a pottery decorating business with GSA peers Wilson and Macdonald. The artists bought in blanks from industrial potteries and hand painted them; Mary’s work is distinguished by her floral patterns and the frequent use of an illustrated cat in her artist signature.

In 1940 Mary married Edgar King, and thereafter spent much of her time in England. Mary passed away in 1963. The family’s connection to the Studio was maintained until the mid-1980s, upon King’s death. The building has since been incorporated into a nearby inn.

Name of creator

Biographical history

Jessie Dunlop McCulloch Wilson was born on 24th January 1888 in Cupar, Fife. She was the daughter of Gavin Laurie Wilson, a draper and clothier, and Janet McCulloch. Her mother died of complications from childbirth, after which her father re-married to Alison Johnston Russell, and the family settled in Netherfield, Newton (Fife). Between those two marriages, Jessie D. Mc. Wilson had two brothers, one half-brother and two half-sisters.

Her father established a drapery business in Cupar, which he moved to Dundee and developed into a successful department store. Jessie’s older brother Garnet Wilson was Lord Provost of Dundee and was knighted in 1944; he published a book about his career, which described the family as close-knit and emphasises the importance of their religious observance. Jessie Wilson attended school in Dundee before starting at a boarding school in Edinburgh. At the age of 13 she and her step-family went to Bridge of Allan, and she resided with the family of fellow GSA student and co-owner of The Studio, Strathyre, Mary Anderson Ramsay, possibly due to poor health.

Jessie D. Mc. Wilson was a day student at The Glasgow School of Art from session 1912/13 to session 1916/17. She studied mostly Drawing & Painting, but also Modelling & Sculpture and Design. During most of her time as a student she listed her address as 488 Cathedral Street. During her studies she excelled in embroidery and was taught by Ann Macbeth; like Macbeth she often combined her work across both mediums, and The Studio stocked her work in both forms. In 1915 she participated in the Belgian Tryst, a fundraising effort on behalf of Belgian Refugees displaced during the First World War, volunteering in the Tea Room. She was awarded the Diploma in Design & Decorative Art by The Glasgow School of Art in session 1916/17. She also qualified as a Teacher of Art at The Glasgow School of Art, completing her professional training in the 1920/21 session.

During September 1916, her half-brother Gavin Arthur Wilson enrolled to the 14th London Regiment, London Scottish Battalion in a Short Service for the duration of War. While serving in France, he died on the 31st August 1918 at the 46th Casualty Clearing Station in Bac-du-Sud, Bailleulval (Pas-de-Calais), where he is interred at the British Cemetery. He was 19 years old and had attained the rank of Lance Corporal.

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Physical Description and Conditions of Use

Conditions governing access

Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections are open for research by appointment. For further details, please refer to our Access Policy @ https://gsaarchives.net/policies

Conditions governing reproduction

Application for permission to reproduce should be submitted to The Archives and Collections at The Glasgow School of Art.

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of material.

For further details, please refer to our Reprographic Service Guide @ https://gsaarchives.net/policies

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Catalogued by Molly McCracken, SGSAH intern, May 2023

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