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| SUPERB QUALITY AESTHETIC MOVEMENT BURR ASH 4 PIECE BEDROOM SUITE JOHN MOYR SMITH |
FABULOUS QUALITY AESTHETIC MOVEMENT 4 PIECE BEDROOM SUITE COMPRISING OF LARGE DEEP TRIPLE WARDROBE WITH CENTRE MIRROR,MIRRORED DRESSING TABLE, SINGLE BEDSIDE, WASHSTAND WITH JOHN MOYR SMITH TILED BACK. ALL MADE OF SOLID ASH AND FINELY FIGURED BURR TIMBERS, THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN THEIR CONSTRUCTION IS A REAL PLEASURE TO SEE, FROM THE CHOICE OF TIMBERS USED , BIZARRE OVAL DOVETAILING,DETAILED INNER LINING ON THE WARDROBE DOWN TO THE STYLE OF THE BRASSWORK AND MYTHICAL IMAGERY ON THE TILES- ALL THE FEEL OF QUALITY.
THE ROBE DISMANTLES INTO SECTIONS WITH INNER FITTINGS AND THE BEDSIDE AND WASHSTAND HAVE SHELVED INTERIORS.THE DRESSING TABLE HAS EXHIBITS A PARTICULARLY FINE COLOUR AND PATINATION.
BOUGHT PRIVATELY.
DIMENSIONS:
ROBE: 227CM TALL 193CM WIDE 54CM DEEP
BEDSIDE: 89-76CM TALL 42CM WIDE 42CM DEEP
DRESSING TABLE: 75CM-185CM TALL 134CM WIDE 56CM DEEP
WASHSTAND: 72-103CM TALL 128CM WIDE 57CM DEEP
Historical Note:
John Moyr Smith was born in Glasgow as John Smith on 12 March 1839, the son of David Smith, wine and spirit merchant, and his wife Margaret Moire. Some sources state that the family came from northern England but his mother came from Kirkaldy (not traced), Doune, Perthshire. He appears to have been articled to James Salmon c.1855-59, thereafter working as an assistant for James Smith on Overtoun House, Dumbarton, along with William Scott Morton. During those years he adopted the middle name of Moir, later spelled Moyr, attended Glasgow School of Art from November 1857 and became president of the Glasgow Architectural (Assistants) Association of which Robert Grieve Melvin was treasurer. By his own account he was wholly responsible for Smith's Stirling's Library until December 1863 when Smith died and Melvin and his partner William Leiper took over the project. During his time on the Overtoun and Stirling's Library projects Moyr Smith became a member of Alexander Thomson's circle - which at that date included Leiper, Bruce Talbert, and Daniel Cottier - and began developing an interest in painting and the decorative arts: he was presumably the J M Smith at 295 Hope Street who exhibited 'Vivien tempting King Arthur' at the Glasgow Institute in 1862. The catalogue records that it had been acquired by Robert Dalglish MP. Moyr Smith probably remained with Melvin until the Stirling's Library project was nearly complete, but sometime before 1864 he moved to Manchester as assistant to the gothicist Alfred Darbyshire with whom he remained for three years. It was probably during this period that Smith first became acquainted with the artist and designer Henry Stacey Marks. In 1866 Moyr Smith moved to London as assistant to George Gilbert Scott, but by that date he had already established a reputation as an illustrator in Tom Hood's 'Fun' magazine and by about 1867 he had commenced 'temporary service' for Christopher Dresser and begun supplying designs to the Arthur Silver Studio. Moyr Smith's first book, 'Studies for Pictures: A Medley' (1868), was dedicated to Dresser, and in the following year, 1869, he visited Gustave Doré in Paris, probably with a view to furthering his career as an illustrator. In 1868 Moyr Smith was commissioned to make designs for furniture and fittings for the Building News and by about 1872 he established a career as a chromo-lithograph illustrator, some of his biblical scenes having markedly Thomsonesque detail. He also made designs for Bruce Talbert's studio although the relationship between their practices has not been precisely established. From 1880 he was editor of the magazine 'Decoration in painting, sculpture, architecture and art manufactures' published by Sampson Low. From about 1870 Moyr Smith had an extensive commercial practice in the decorative arts, his main clients being the cabinetmakers Collinson & Lock and Cox & Son, the piano-maker Broadwood & Son |
| Ref: MOYR BEDROOM SUITE |
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