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Kelso Abbey

  • Artist

    Attributed to A.W.N. Pugin (1812-52)

  • Detail

    Oil on panel

    54 x 65 cm (inc. frame)

    English, probably circa 1830-32

  • Labelled

    ‘Melrose Abbey by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.  Born in London 1st March 1812.  Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1849-1852.  He devoted all his energies to the promotion of the Gothic style of Architecture.  He also took charge of the decorative furnishing of the Houses of Parliament.  Died at Ramsgate – 14th Sept. 1852.’ (Typed paper label on back of frame)

    A second typed label describes the subject as Melrose Abbey

  • Provenance

    […]; Phillips (London), British and Victorian Paintings, 8 October 1991, lot 10, bt Wainwright; collection of Clive and Jane Wainwright

  • Exhibited

    Pugin: A Gothic Passion, Victoria and Albert Museum, 15 June-11 September 1994

    Clive and Jane Wainwright Collection, H. Blairman & Sons, 21 June – 14 July 2023, no. 22

  • Literature

    Clive Wainwright, ‘The Antiquary and Collector’, in Paul Atterbury and Clive Wainwright, eds, Pugin: A Gothic Passion, New Haven and London, 1994, p. 93 and fig. 166

    Rosemary Hill, ‘Pugin and Scotland’, in Rebecca M. Bailey, ed., Caledonia Gothica: Pugin and the Gothic Revival in Scotland, Architectural Heritage VIII (1997), pp. 13-14

    Clive and Jane Wainwright Collection, London: H. Blairman & Sons, 2023, no. 22

  • Collection

    Private collection

  • Notes

    The attribution to Pugin rests primarily on the plausible label attached to the back of the frame.

    The identification of the subject as Kelso Abbey is confirmed in a letter from Richard Fawcett of Historic Scotland to Ian Gow, 23 March 1993.