Watercolour of four pottery sherds and a piece of bone with two perforations.

Description Watercolour of four pottery sherds and a piece of bone with two perforations.

Date c. 1895 to 1920

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

Catalogue Number SC 876307

Category On-line Digital Images

Scope and Content Watercolour of pottery, object and bone mount from Caithness, Highland During the final decades of the 19th century, numerous archaeological sites were excavated in Caithness, northern Scotland. Many were excavated by Sir Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) and John Nicolson (1843-1934). Together, they excavated brochs, cairns and cists. Nicolson also painted many of the finds that were recovered, often producing the only record of their discoveries. This watercolour by Nicolson shows five artefacts, including three pieces of pottery of different shape and design. The object at the top right is more confusing and may be a piece of decorated stone. That at the bottom is probably a piece of perforated bone, of unknown function. Where these objects are from is not known. Nicolson was born at Stemster, John O' Groats, in 1843. He was a keen artist with an interest in the archaeology of Caithness and sketched and painted many of the buildings and the artefacts that were recovered during Barry's excavations. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/876307

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap