Open necked blue vase
- Reference:GB 1694 NMC/1388
- Dates of Creation:01 Oct 1935
- Name of Creator:
- Physical Description:1
Scope and Content
Open necked blue glazed ceramic vase with hand-painted white decorative patterns. Bottom of vase has engraved marking "ST" (creator's initials) and another engraved marking of a circle with an X through it (maker's mark).
Administrative / Biographical History
Painter, draughtsman, potter and teacher, born and lived in Glasgow. While at Allan Glen's School there aged 16 a rugby injury prompted leg amputation, always to cause pain and inconvenience. During World War II served as a dispatch rider - he was obsessed by motorcycles - in 1941 going to Glasgow School of Art to study drawing and painting under Hugh Adam Crawford. While teaching in the High School, Thomson, a fine potter who erected his own kiln at home, taught pottery in the evening at the School of Art. He created large pottery murals for Lanarkshire schools. Thomson also arranged art classes in his home, which brought together students such as Joan Eardley, Margot Sandeman and his first wife Florence, a painter. One of his pottery students, Barbara, became his second wife. Thomson was a well-liked teacher of drawing and painting at the School of Art from 1960 until ill-health prompted his retirement in 1975. He was elected associate of RSA in 1952, four years after winning the Guthrie Award, was a member of RSA and showed regularly at Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. For many years he painted in the summer at his cottage at Ballantrae, Strathclyde, where he died. Blythswood Gallery, Glasgow, held a show in 1989. Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Museum, Kendal, holds his drawing of Joan Eardley.
Acquisition Information
Gifted by Rosemary Paterson (artist's step-daughter).
Note
Painter, draughtsman, potter and teacher, born and lived in Glasgow. While at Allan Glen's School there aged 16 a rugby injury prompted leg amputation, always to cause pain and inconvenience. During World War II served as a dispatch rider - he was obsessed by motorcycles - in 1941 going to Glasgow School of Art to study drawing and painting under Hugh Adam Crawford. While teaching in the High School, Thomson, a fine potter who erected his own kiln at home, taught pottery in the evening at the School of Art. He created large pottery murals for Lanarkshire schools. Thomson also arranged art classes in his home, which brought together students such as Joan Eardley, Margot Sandeman and his first wife Florence, a painter. One of his pottery students, Barbara, became his second wife. Thomson was a well-liked teacher of drawing and painting at the School of Art from 1960 until ill-health prompted his retirement in 1975. He was elected associate of RSA in 1952, four years after winning the Guthrie Award, was a member of RSA and showed regularly at Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. For many years he painted in the summer at his cottage at Ballantrae, Strathclyde, where he died. Blythswood Gallery, Glasgow, held a show in 1989. Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Museum, Kendal, holds his drawing of Joan Eardley.
Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements
Glazed and hand-painted ceramic.
Dimensions: 185 x 170 x 170 mmCustodial History
This item is currently on display at The Glasgow School of Art's Archives and Collections at The Whisky Bond. For access information please email archives@gsa.ac.uk.
Additional Information
Published
Subjects