Recently opened at The Scottish Gallery, in Edinburgh’s handsome New Town, is Place Makers, a new show featuring the work of artists Ed Kluz and Vicki Ambery-Smith.
For this joint show they have taken inspiration from some of Scotland’s quirkiest buildings, including perhaps the most astonishing folly in Britain, The Pineapple, which Vicki has reinvented as a brooch in silver and yellow gold. The Pineapple folly was built as a summer-house from 1761 the Earl of Dunmore’s seat near Stirling, and is a Landmark Trust property.https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/pineapple-10726
Ed and Vicki have also explored doocots, or dovecotes to those south of the border (although ducket appears in northern England). These take many forms but that at Saltoun Hall, 15 miles from Edinburgh, is full of architectural interest. Ed has used scraperboard to create his characteristic atmospheric view of the building.
The castellated and turreted doocot is attributed to architect William Burn who added similar embellishments to the mansion at Saltoun at the turn of the 19th century. The ‘Pigeon house’ is shown on Forrest’s Map of Haddingtonshire, surveyed in 1799 and published in 1802. As pigeon meat was less essential as a foodstuff by this period doocots began to take on more fanciful and romantic forms as eye-catchers in the landscape. Thanks Ed for introducing the Folly Flâneuse to this charming gothic example.
The exhibition continues until 28 October https://scottish-gallery.co.uk/exhibitions/place-makers1
