Scanned image of watercolour of a stone lamp.

Description Scanned image of watercolour of a stone lamp.

Date c. 1895 to 1920

Collection Papers of John Nicolson, antiquarian, Keiss, Caithness, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 875664

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Watercolour of a stone lamp from Caithness, Highland Caithness, the most northerly county in mainland Britain, is incredibly rich in prehistoric and historic monuments and landscapes. Despite its rich and varied nature, only a few sites have been excavated in modern times, the majority were excavated between 1890 and 1920. John Nicolson (1843-1934) produced this watercolour, probably around the end of the 19th century. The watercolour shows a stone lamp. Although we cannot be sure where the object was found, it looks similar to objects found on other broch sites. The object would have been used for light and heat. The large hollow would have been filled with wax and would have functioned in the same way as we use a candle today. Nicolson lived at Nybster and was a skilled artist who helped a local estate owner, Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907), excavate a number of sites across Caithness, including brochs, between 1890 and 1904. He also recorded many of the structures and artefacts recovered through his paintings and sketches. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/875664

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap