Silver Jewellery and Decorative Objects from Arts & Crafts to the Present Day

with Gordon Foster

VISIT TO ARNISTON HOUSE, GOREBRIDGE AND ROSSLYN CHAPEL & GROUNDS
Wednesday 20 May 2026

We will visit Arniston House, Gorebridge where we will have a tour of the house by the owner, Althea Dundas Becker, and her daughter. .  There is something rather special about the actual owners showing us around their home.The house was designed by William Adam and is well known for its collection of paintings - Raeburns, Nasmyths etc.  

Coffee on arrival will be served in the dining room.

In the afternoon we will visit Rosslyn Chapel where we will have a tour of the chapel and grounds.

We will travel by coach from Broxden Park and Ride with a stop at Kinross if required..

Further information and an application form will be available in due course. Guests of members will be welcome to join this visit.

(photo Rosslyn Chapel by Ali Constable)

Due to unavoidable circumstances we have had to exchange our February lecturer since we published out programme pre-Season. We are delighted to say that we have invited Clare Phillips to also lecture on Tiffany. Her title is ‘American Glamour:150 years of Tiffany Jewellery’.  From a modest fancy goods store on Broadway in the 1830s to the global brand of the 1980s, Tiffany & Co.’s story is a glittering tale of entrepreneurial vision brought to life through a dazzling succession of magnificent jewels.   

(Photo credit: Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore)

TAYSIDE ARTS SOCIETY WINTER LECTURES 2026

TO DRAW OR NOT TO DRAW: SIX GREAT PAINTERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

THREE LECTURES ON THURSDAY MORNINGS IN JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2026

The six painters in question are among the best-loved artists of the whole European tradition, and yet some aspects of their creative processes remain somewhat mysterious.   In particular, while for three of them – Rubens, Poussin and Rembrandt – drawing played an essential role in their visual thinking, as testified by the many drawings of theirs that have survived, for the other three – Caravaggio, Velazquez and Vermeer – we have no surviving drawings at all, and drawing in the conventional sense may well have played no part in their picture-making strategies.   What explanations could there be for this fundamental divergence of technique?   These lectures will go beneath the surface of a small selection of these artists’ best known works – many of which happen to be united by the theme of eating and drinking, and many of which can be seen at first hand in Edinburgh – to explore how these paintings were actually made, and what meanings they would have carried for their first audiences.

Two Lectures by Guy Peploe, grandson of Samuel Peploe and Director of the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

at West Carse Hall, Glencarse. Includes lunch at the Glencarse Hotel

10.30 for 11.00 am start Finish around 3.30 pm

Cost £40 per person

Open to all Members and their guests

Application forms will be available in September

On Wednesday 21st May 32 Members visited Aberdeen Art Gallery & St St Machar's Cathedral on a beautiful day.  

On a stunningly beautiful Day over 60 Members of TAST visited Machany Garden, Auchterarder, by kind invitation of John Robertson. 

The Arts Society Tayside has continued its summer programme of house and garden visits. On 23 May, 65 members travelled by coach from Perth to the Borders to visit Marchmont House Sculpture and Statues Garden. After a very welcome introduction to the history of the house over coffee in the Music Room, we divided into two groups and embarked on a tour of the sculptures.

 On 13 June, 35 members enjoyed our first summer 'garden' outing after the end of our Season 2023 - 24 lectures: a very interesting visit to The House of The Binns, a National Trust for Scotland Property near Linlithgow. We were very fortunate to have, as a tour guide, the curator Antonia Laurence-Allen who introduced us to the history of Scottish portraiture through the Dalyell family portraits dating back over 400 years. 

 On 27 June, nearly 50 members visited Burntisland Parish Church (The Kirk of The Bible) where The General Assembly of Scotland gathered in 1601 with King James VI of Scotland. It was there that the Scottish Presbyters proposed to King James that the Bible should be translated into English to make it more accessible, to which he agreed and it was unanimously approved.  We then visited Wemyss Castle Gardens. The 6 acre gardens are simply stunning with the clematis, roses ornamental trees, herbaceous planting, sweeping lawns, sculptures and architectural features. Tea in the wild garden followed after our walk through the gardens. A perfect end to a lovely day out.

 On 3 July, 21 members visited Hospitalfield House in Arbroath, home of artist Patrick Allan Frazer and his wife Elizabeth.  Ably informed by our guide Caroline, they had a fascinating tour of the many artworks and glorious early Arts and Crafts interiors, before tea and cakes and a tour of the garden.

65 enthusiastic TAST Members travelled by coach from Perth to the Borders yesterday to visit Marchmont House and Sculpture Garden. We were divided into two groups and, after a very welcome introduction to the history of the house over coffee in the Music Room, embarked on a very soggy tour of the sculptures. It is astonishing that the garden sculptures were only collected and installed by father and son, Oliver & Hugo Burge, within the past 12 years following their acquisition of the House. A splendid two course lunch followed, with our group divided between two dining rooms, as we were so many. In the afternoon we toured the House, and again every item, including furniture, paintings and decorative pieces had been introduced into the house since 2012. A remarkable story. Thanks to Dillon and David and their teams who were so welcoming and cheerful and our valiant guides who walked every step of the garden with us in the pouring rain and engaged us with information about the statues under our brollies and with our very wet feet!

Last but not least, the grand finale of our day, and a lovely and unexpected treat, Claire had asked Simon Leach, the House Organist, to play a short recital for us on the harpsicord. Thank you so much Simon.

It was the perfect end to our visit. We returned to Perth in the coach, arriving back a little late but our heroic coach driver, Michael from Docherty's drove us safely there and back home through a thick pea soup 'haar' on Soutra Hill, and extremely wet weather!

Many thanks to our 'Visits' coordinator, Claire Paton, for all her planning and organisation for the day.

Thanks to Dinah Fok for some of her photos too!

Brian Whitten with some of the Church Recording team presenting the record of St John's Episcopal Church, Perth, to the Church Warden David Willington and Rector the Very Revd Graham Taylor.   Click here

A two lecture Study Day with lunch from antique furniture expert Dr Sebastian Pryke, FSA (Scot) – At The Sign of the Pelican, Cupar, Fife.

Friday 27th October 2023, 10.30 am for 11.00 am start.  Expected finish around 3.30 pm at West Carse Hall, Main Street, Glencarse, PH2 7LX

For further information click here

VISIT TO

THE HOUSE OF THE BINNS, BY LINLITHGOW - THURSDAY, 19TH OCTOBER, 2023 – 11.00 a.m.

The subject of our Winter Lectures in January, 2024 will be ‘The National Trust for Scotland’- with categories to include Care and Maintenance of the properties and displaying of Collections.

With this in mind, we have arranged a short morning visit to THE HOUSE OF THE BINNS – seat of the Dalyell family from the early 17th century – and home of the late Tam Dalyell until his death in January 2017.

The House of The Binns was the first COUNTRY HOUSE to be handed over to The National Trust for Scotland in 1944 – with the wish that ‘The Binns be preserved for the benefit and enjoyment of the nation’.

The cost for the visit is £10 per person to include coffee on arrival and a Guided Tour of the house. NOTE:  NTS members go free.

We plan to CAR SHARE on this occasion but if there is demand, a Minibus has been reserved and Claire will confirm arrangements and extra costs when numbers are known.

To reserve your place for the visit please contact Claire on 07702582905 or email tastvisits@gmail.com

*SPECIAL EVENT*

An Evening with Bertie Pearce

Monday 11th October 2021, 6.30pm for a glass of wine, 7.00pm start

At Wester Carse Hall, Main Street, Glencarse, PH2 7LX

'We Are Amused!' - A panorama of Victorian leisure from the parlour to the seaside, via the nursery.

Bertie Pearce is well known to TAST members, and his talks on magic, with astonishing live demonstrations, have delighted audiences in recent years.  In this talk, Bertie tells how Queen Victoria's reign saw the greatest upsurge in leisure pursuits ever witnessed.  It was a golden age for the art of entertaining oneself and being an amateur, in the true sense of the word.

This event is free for TAST Members. We would welcome guests at a cost of £8 each. 

Please apply to Rosemary at TASTlectures@gmail.com

The Arts Society Torbay
Handel's Musical Adventure in London.
A Study Morning and Live Concert with Peter Medhurst
on Monday and Tuesday 12th and 13th July, 2021; a Webinar Presentation.
Encouraged by the success and support we received for our Mozart occasion in March we have pleasure in inviting you to our next musical adventure with Peter Medhurst.
We hope you can join us on the 12th and 13th July 2021 to discover the music of Handel and the cultural influence he had on this country.
Programme
Monday 12 th July 2021
10.30 – 11.30am Handel – his boyhood years in Germany, his Italian travels as a young man, his settling in London in
1711 and remaining for the rest of his life.
Handel's Life Story illustrated with images and recorded music.
11.30 – 11.45am Break
11.45am - 12.45 Session 2 takes place at the piano with an analysis of Handel's musical style.
Peter will play a range of pieces and discuss them.
Tuesday 13 th July, 2.30 – 3.30pm
A LIVE CONCERT on organ or harpsichord: a recital of music by Handel and his contemporaries (John Stanley, Thomas Arne, J.S.Bach etc.).

PEASE DOWNLOAD THE FORM FROM OUR DOCUMENTS PAGE TO SIGN UP FOR THIS EXCITING OPPORTUNITY CLICK HERE

For further details please visit the Members News and Members Documents pages

Members - if you do not have the password click here

Following the latest Scottish Government announcement, I am pleased to confirm that Birnam Arts plans to re-open in the week beginning 26th April. Taking into account all restrictions, the café, gallery, shop and Beatrix Potter Exhibition will open on a similar basis to last summer. Our hope is that the situation with Covid will improve rapidly, allowing us to open 7 days a week as soon as we are able to do so. Depending on the course of the pandemic, we plan a fully functioning Birnam Arts by autumn 2021. It is over a year since lockdown required Birnam Arts to close. In that time, we achieved a phased and partial re-opening between July and December 2020, followed by a return to total lockdown.

It has been a difficult time for everyone, and we are acutely aware of how important Birnam Arts is as a venue for many in the community. We are desperately keen to re-open the doors and welcomepeople back as they meet family and friends again. Despite being closed to the public, Birnam Arts has been working hard behind the scenes on implementing improvements to the premises and developing our arts and community programmes. Back in March 2020 we were very fortunate to be awarded £162,000 by the SSE Griffin & Calliachar Community Fund to realise a number of projects focussed on improving the operation and efficiency of Birnam Arts. I’m pleased to say that many of these are scheduled to be completed for our re-opening in late April.

The most significant of these projects includes a major upgrade to the general and theatre-lighting to adjustable, LED units that will reduce both our environmental footprint and running costs. This will enable us to meet incoming legal theatre lighting requirements as well as providing much greater versatility for performances whilst significantly reducing power consumption. Funding from Creative Scotland has enabled the acquisition of a modernised projector to enhance film screenings and presentations for talks and conference events. Alongside this, installation of superfast, fibre-optic broadband throughout the venue will offer greater Wi-Fi connectivity.

To improve functionality, accessibility and reliability, we are building a new website allowing us to keep you updated and informed with the offerings at Birnam Arts. We are developing our branding and signage to improve our visibility and marketing materials. To enhance accessibility and better support visitors with autism, we are working to create an interactive map of the building. As part of this refresh, we will be installing new furniture to our café and gallery areas. Our Catering Team are working on reopening in late April, as well as continuing to develop approaches to establish an evening menu and expand our catering capacity throughout the summer and beyond. Before lockdown intervened, the quality and professionalism of the menu and service was refreshing and very well received. We look forward to their being able to drive this forward in the future.

Our Arts Development Team have been actively looking for ways to improve access, flexibility and adaptability to the Visual Arts Workshop. This will enable us to support a wider range of arts and community classes. We are progressing with plans to offer new and meaningful opportunities to practicing and emerging artists; practice development; open-call exhibitions; additional community workshops; and, to build an arts legacy to facilitate future engagement. I am really pleased that we have been able to create an opportunity for our first studio-access Artist Residency which has been filled by artist and researcher Rowan Lear. The programme will be developed going forward into a more regular offering.
Upon reopening, we will launch a rescheduled exhibitions and artist talks programme in the gallery. As restrictions ease, we will work to return the Birnam Arts Ballet School and all movement and dance workshops to the Dance Studio and auditorium.

It will take time for performances to return but we are continuing to explore potential shows that can come to life on the stage as soon as circumstances allow. Meanwhile, our staff are looking at how we can provide a series of community-based activities over the summer as restrictions are relaxed.

We have a lot to do over the coming months and it is going to be an enormous challenge rebuilding Birnam Arts as a busy community and arts centre again. The building blocks are there for us to provide a much improved and more versatile venue and with the support of the community and our customers I am confident that we will get there. Our Crowdfunder last October showed the level of support that underlies Birnam Arts, not just in the sums raised but in the many encouraging comments accompanying donations. As we return to normal operations the amount raised by the Crowdfunder will prove essential in priming the resumption of activities.

On behalf of everyone at Birnam Arts, our sincerest thanks go out to everyone who has contributed towards the survival of Birnam Arts through the crisis of this pandemic.

John Anderson, Chair, Birnam Arts

A link to The Dundee Arts Home Cinema is provided in the Members Area 'News'

WEDNESDAY, 10th FEBRUARY 2021 at 5.30p.m.

Our speaker will be

John Fulton – author  

‘66 – The House that Viewed the World' 

Set in 66 Queen Street in Edinburgh, a house in Edinburgh’s New Town, the book tells the story of the people and events associated with the House over 210 years from 1790.  Their lives were empowered by the Scottish Enlightenment.  The diverse characters range from heroes to villains, and from people of conscience to subjects of tabloid scandal and moral prurience!  Edinburgh emerges to become the intellectual, banking, and professional capital of a modern Scotland.  This is a story of how the city has been shaped but above all it is about the people – some masters of their circumstances – and others, prisoners. 

This is a fascinating book recounted by John Fulton, a lawyer, who worked at Number 66 for 27 years. 

Dear Member(s)

Our Christmas decorations have come down, the baubles and tinsel packed away for another year - and the vastly different Festive Season is behind us. Despite the stricter regulations I do hope that you were able to celebrate Christmas Day with some of your families.

At home we certainly missed the usual noisy banter round the dining room table.  However, the unusually quiet Paton household was interrupted by the arrival of our (now ten-week-old) black Labrador puppy called Ailsa – a most appropriate name for a keen curler like me!  (Ailsa Craig being the source of the granite from which curling stones are made). As you may imagine, most of the time Ailsa occupies herself by shredding dozens of newspapers – rest-assured, the TAST Minute Book is well out of her reach!  I attach a photo of Ailsa for your perusal.

Now - looking ahead to the month of January, we have a full programme of Lectures beginning with our regular monthly lecture on Monday 11TH January 2021 at 11.00 a.m. when we will have David Wright’s lecture on ‘A Brief Story of Wine’ – a subject chosen by our very own expert – David Cox. 

Our Winter Lectures take place on Thursday, 21st Jan. Thursday, 28th Jan. and Thursday 4th February – all at 11.00 a.m.  If you have not already booked your place, please send in your Application Form to David Cox at tastwinterlectures@gmail.com. Guests are most welcome – so if you think any of your friends would like to attend, please get in touch with David!

I shall look forward to welcoming you to any – or all - of the lectures.

Meantime, my Committee joins me in sending you our very best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and an enjoyable New Year with TAST.

Claire Paton

Our Members' Gallery can be found in the 'Gallery' tab on the top banner.  Photos will be published for the enjoyment of our Members, and the wider members of the public, who access our website.

Please email your photos to tastwebmanager@gmail.com.  Photographs should be taken within Tayside and include the location and a title.  The name of the photographer must be included and by submitting you agree to TAST publishing the photo here on this website.  Please don't send photos which show identifiable induviduals without their permission.  We hope, in due course, if this initiative is well supported, to vote for a 'favourite photo of the month' (or year).

In front of a packed Cathedral the results of over four years work by the Church Recording team of The Arts Society Tayside was presented to the Minister the Rev'd Fraser Penny by Brian Whitten the Group Leader. Following the presentation the Recorders were entertained to lunch by The Friends of the Cathedral in the Duchess Anne Hall.

Visitors to the Cathedral on the second or fourth Wednesday of the month from 2013-2017 may have encountered a team armed with clipboards, binoculars, cameras, magnifying glasses and tape measures walking around the Church. These were the Church Recorders of The Arts Society Tayside.

Church Recording promotes the recognition and preservation of the rich artistic heritage in places of worship by recording the contents of churches of all religions. Later this year the 2000th record will have been completed in the UK, 54 of which are in Scotland

The system of Church Recording was set up by those who realised how much precious heritage and history was contained in our churches, but was in danger of being lost due to church refurbishments, theft, general decay and church closures. The first record was completed in 1973 and the records now form the national inventory of church contents held by the V & A.

The information is recorded in museum standard under nine headings: Memorials, Metalwork, Stonework, Woodwork, Textiles, Paintings etc., Library, Windows and Miscellaneous. Every item is measured and recorded in detail, and includes information on the maker and the names and families of donors where these are known and memorial inscriptions. In addition to local help The Arts Society has a large team of UK wide experts on whose advice teams can call.

On completion of a record, the Church is presented with an illustrated hard bound book detailing each item and its history. A digital copy is sent to The V & A in London and bound copies are also sent to national institutions: National Library of Scotland, the County Archive in the A. K. Bell Library in Perth and the head office of the Church of Scotland at 121 George Street.

CHURCH RECORDERS’ PRAYER

We thank you, Lord, for the rich heritage of ancient Churches of this Land: for the gospel they silently proclaim and the living history to which they bear witness.  

Help us to care for them aright, to adapt them wisely to their continuing task and to preserve the spirit of those who built them:  that generations yet unborn may find in them the rock from which they have been hewn and themselves be born again as living stones In the church of God eternal, through Christ our Lord.

Louise Morgan, Young Arts Chairman, hosted a very successful Christmas Workshop at her home on Friday 21 December.

It was a very popular day, split into morning and afternoon groups - about 20 children in each; all going home with the most beautiful and colourful Christmas decorations.

View more photos on the Young Arts section of the Gallery.

We celebrated the Golden Jubilee of Nadfas at Broomhall House by kind permission of the Earl of Elgin. Members were entertained to a lunch or dinner and a tour and talk by Lord Bruce. As a cake was cut with a ceremonial sword by Lord Bruce a toast was given by the Chairman to the achievements of Nadfas in the last 50 years and in an era when the arts matter more than ever, to the future of The Arts Society. In appreciation a pair of flowering cherry trees were presented to Lord Bruce who will plant them in the park. Our thanks go to Claire Paton for organising such an exciting and memorable occasion.

A Christmas Craft Workshop led by Lisa Earl was held at the Forteviot Village Hall Forteviot.

Lisa Earl arrived at Forteviot Hall with a treasure trove of crafting goodies, and she proceeded to demonstrate to our little group what they would be creating. First up were sock snowmen, with jumpers, scarves, hats, buttons down the front, and pink cheeked faces. Next were 2D Christmas trees made from sticks held together with ribbon and decorated with bells, jewels, oranges and wooden shapes (stars, snowflakes, bells etc). Then Lisa created 3D conical paper trees with overlapping discs punched from old Christmas cards. The children were very diligent and had great fun creating lots of lovely Christmas decorations before everyone went hope after a marvellous day! 13 children attended.

In early November The Arts Society Tayside arranged an evening exploring two major projects in the wider Tayside cultural landscape.  Members had a very special opportunity to preview the refurbished Perth Theatre and its stunning new extension, in the company of Richard Murphy, OBE, whose firm Richard Murphy Architects designed the Perth Theatre project. He was joined by Philip Long, Director of the new V&A Dundee.

Philip and Richard each gave a talk on the design considerations, impact and purpose of their buildings in Dundee and Perth respectively. The evening ended with discussion and a Q&A session chaired by Magnus Linklater CBE.

An outing was arranged for the Committee by Janey Lambie to the Hunterian at Kelvin Hall, They met Mungo Campbell, the Deputy Director and Winter Lectures speaker, who showed them around and explained the ethos of the project.

You will be pleased to hear that the donation we gave to the National Galleries of Scotland at the last Winter Lecture, will be used to help secure for the nation The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer.

During the autumn break a group of children visited the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre in Kelvindale, Glasgow. It was a terrific outing.

After a short talk and tour of the workshop with a most passionate craftsman who started the centre the children saw a short production of Tom Thumb from a Derry based company who are currently touring with their puppet shows.

A "harvest of knowledge" was presented to the Minister and congregation of the Parish Kirk, Fowlis Wester, at their Harvest Festival Service.

Volunteers from TaysideDFAS have recorded in detail and photographed every item of the furnishings, together with the memorials, stonework, woodwork and stained glass. The family history of those commemorated, and those who have gifted items, has also been researched.

The Minister, The Revd. David Denniston, said ‘this was a most significant occasion and the congregation were delighted to receive this record, and we are very grateful to TaysideDFAS for their hard work and dedication in undertaking this.’

Every parish Kirk is a rich source for exploring the social and cultural history of its community, and a NADFAS Church Record preserves this important resource for the congregation, and for posterity.  The scheme for creating a Church Record was initiated by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 1973, when they realised how much ecclesiastical heritage was being lost through age and decay, changes in liturgy and, sadly, theft and vandalism.

NADFAS Societies throughout Britain have to date compiled Records of nearly 1,850 churches of all denominations, an average of 65 being completed each year. 

This is the second Record completed by Tayside Church Recorders. The Group are currently completing Dunkeld Cathedral, before moving on to St. John's Episcopal Church, Perth. In addition copies will be placed in the headquarters of the Church of Scotland, the Art Library of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the National Library of Scotland, and the Archive of Perth Library. 

For three months over the summer of 2016, many Tayside DFAS Members and Committee joined with 120 other volunteers of all ages to become part of a Poppy Partners team when The Black Watch Museum at Balhouse Castle in Perth hosted the stunningly beautiful sculpture ‘Poppies - Weeping Window’ currently touring the country in conjunction with 14-18 Now, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions.

‘Poppies: Weeping Window’ by Paul Cummings (artist) and Tom Piper (designer) was first seen as one of the key elements of the installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ at the Tower of London in 2014. It is a cascade of many thousands of handmade ceramic poppies pouring from a high turret window spilling onto the ground below.

As Poppy Partners we donned bright poppy-red shirts and often rain jackets. We welcomed, informed, directed and enjoyed the company of over 120,000 visitors from all over the world who came to visit the Poppies. So many contrasting reactions from so many different people, from joy and amazement at the beauty of the sculpture to sadness and reflection from those remembering lost ones. One morning an unassuming old gentleman in a wheelchair was helped to the front of the display and looked on in silence before slowly and with difficulty raising himself from his chair to stand and salute fallen comrades. We discovered later he was a Victoria Cross recipient and Australia’s most decorated veteran.

Being a ‘Poppy Partner’ was companionable and hard work at times – it was a privilege to be part of such an iconic project and, foremost, an intensely rewarding experience.

Kate Drummond-Hay

Eva Morgan was joint winner of the 11-13 year old category of the NADFAS National Chairman's Competition for Young Arts with her collage on the theme of Edibles.