Glass at the Museum

John, Limited (North British Glassworks) Paul Ysart

With the refurbishment really taking shape at the moment, we are all excited to be able to show our glass in the Rotunda exhibition hall. We have had a look through some of our collection, there is so much beauty to be shared.

Paul Ysart's work remained relatively anonymous until 1955 when he came into contact with Paul Jokelson, President of the Paperweight Collectors' Association. Jokelson marketed Paul Ysart's weights in the USA. All those weights produced for the American market had a 'PY' cane to identify them. Paul Jokelson promoted the virtues of fine antique and modern weights alike. Paul Ysart's works were promoted both for their immediate delight and as 'antiques of the future'. One collector wrote that "the perfection of Ysart's work is evident and a joy to possess".

Caithness Glass Paperweight - Paul Ysart

Lampwork derives its name from an oil-fuelled lamp used in the 19th century by glassworkers, who used metal tweezers to manipulate coloured glass over a lamp. Nowadays coloured rods of glass are shaped into a representational subject over the heat of a gas burner or torch. The intricate craft of lampworking requires simple equipment and no working assistance, and therefore offered Paul Ysart autonomy. The task of creating his own intricate millefiori and filigree canes must have also proved rewarding. Both provided a break from the conformity of the factory floor where industrial glass was blown.

Strathearn Glass Paperweight

The design of weaving, coloured fronds was contained within a drop shaped weight. It was originally produced in four colours: yellow, red, blue and green. This type of weight is often called 'seaweed'. There is a Strathearn label on the base. In 1965 the Strathearn Glass factory opened in Crieff, Perthshire. Strathearn was the first glassworks in Europe to fire its furnaces with propane gas. It made vases, bowls, paperweights and lamps in the Vasart style, often with a raised pontil bearing an impressed seal of a leaping salmon.

Introduction to A Picture of a Celt

Curator Amy Waugh introduces the exhibition JD Fergusson : Picture of a Celt. Fergusson was a prominent figure in the Scottish Colourists school of painting, and was widely considered as an influential figure in modern British painting in the early 20th Century.
JD Fergusson : Picture of a Celt is on at the Fergusson Gallery, Perth, until the 15th June, 2014.
A partnership between the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh and The Fergusson Gallery, Perth & Kinross Council.

Trams in Perth



Busy street scene with horse-drawn carts and tram,
on the corner of South Methven Street and High Street,
Perth, about 1890

With the last Dundee tram discovered as summer house in Perth garden, we thought we would look through our photographic collections for photos of the bygone age of trams in the street of Perth.

The first horse drawn buses arrived in Scone during the second half of the 19th century. Using two or three horses, they worked between Scone and Cherrybank, Perth. They were taken over by the Perth and District Tramways Company in the 1890's.

In October 1903 the horse tramways of the Perth and District Tramways were taken over by Perth Corporation with the main route running from Scone to Cherrybank and with branches to Craigie and to Dunkeld Road. The depot was beyond the terminus at Scone. The tramway closed on 19 January 1929 and was

South Methven Street, Perth, about 1904

South Methven Street, Perth, about 1904

replaced by bus services.

On the second photograph we are looking down South Methven Street with County Place on the left and South Street on the right. The Central Bar, selling Allsopp's Real Ale, stands on the right. In spite of the tram lines running beneath their feet, children crowd the centre of the road in an era when traffic ran at a slower pace than today.

The negative for the second photo was originally acquired by Wood and Sons, Printers, Perth, with a view to producing postcards. Wood and Son were first established in the High Street, Perth, in 1830. They moved to Mill Street, Perth, about 1900 and then to Glover Street, Perth in 2000.

Beatrix Potter: Fungi Drawings (1866-1943)

Studies of Perthshire fungi by the creator of the Tale of Peter Rabbit

Lactarius helvus

Lactarius helvus

As reported by The Scotsman January 13 2014: Rare fungus drawn by Beatrix Potter discovered.
A rare fungus seen only a handful of times in Britain since it was first documented by children’s author Beatrix Potter over a century ago, has been found growing on a Scottish estate.

Perth Museum and Art Gallery has a collection of 25 fungi studies by Beatrix Potter, the well known creator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Painted in watercolours in the 1880s and 1890s, these detailed studies give an insight into Potter's skills in observing the natural world. This understanding of nature was to give a solid base to her illustrations for her Little Books for children.



Potter's study of fungi (known as mycology) developed through her friendship with the Perthshire naturalist Charles McIntosh. Potter had spent many childhood summers in and around Dunkeld and Dalguise, Perthshire between 1871 and 1882. These holidays were some of the happiest days of her life and first awakened the interest of the young girl in the delights of wildlife and nature. She returned again in 1892, when she plucked up the courage to make contact with Charlie McIntosh.



The studies, beautifully executed in watercolour on paper, with some ink embellishments, date from 1888 to 1897. Most of them feature specimens either seen at first hand by Beatrix on her last trip to Perthshire, or are of specimens collected by Charlie and posted to Beatrix in London for her to paint. By way of thanks Beatrix appears to have sent the watercolours to Charlie. The majority entered the collection as Charlie McIntosh's bequest in 1922. Over the years the data became separated from the works, and the true authorship of the studies was not officially recognised until the late Dr Mary Noble, a leading Scottish mycologist, identified them as the work of Beatrix Potter in 1978.  



The story of the Perthshire watercolours, all illustrated in full colour, is available in the booklet A Fascinating Acquaintance, Charles McIntosh and Beatrix Potter their common bond in the Natural History of the Dunkeld area (3rd edition , 2003), which is available from Perth Museum and Art Gallery, priced £4.00 (excl. p&p). contact: museum@pkc.gov.uk

The collection will form part of the exhibition at Birnam in June 2014

Follow Perth and Kinross Museum and Galleries's board Beatrix Potter on Pinterest.

A Unique Feathered Headdress

Headdress from Tubuai, Austral Islands.
The original Perth Museum register
records this as ‘Cap worn by Tomatoa,
Principle Chief of the Island of Tuhuca
in the Australia group of the South Sea Islands’.

In our collection we have some incredible artefacts, some of which you would not necessarily associate with a Museum in the highlands of Scotland, one of these is the unique feathered headdress pictured here.

Mark Hall, History Officer at Perth Museum & Art Gallery hosted the Perth leg of a  project review for two weeks, with visits from Eve, Chantal and also Christofili Kefalas (Researcher of Maori material and British Museum Future Curators trainee). One of the most exciting discoveries has been the full recognition of the importance of the unique head-dress from the Austral Islands in the Perth collection.
For more details see Eves Blog

Virtual tour: Magic Carpet Exhibition

This art news clip comes from Art in Scotland TV

Curator Amy Waugh introduces artist Debbie Lawson’s exhibition ‘Magic Carpet’, featuring sculptural works of flora and fauna, a fox, bear and a flock of seagulls, covered in patterned carpet. Lawson’s inspiration for this exhibition is drawn from the literary classic, Arabian Nights.
Magic Carpet is on at the Fergusson Gallery, Perth, until the 15th March, 2014.