Iona Celtic Art

This is the first book to record the achievements of Alexander and Euphemia Ritchie who, from 1899 until 1941, set up shop on the celebrated Hebridean island of Iona. There they designed a huge range of finely wrought metalwork, carved wood, tooled leather and embroidered linen, drawing inspiration from the interlaced patterns on Iona’s carved stones and crosses.

The couple had met at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1890s, the decade of the Celtic Revival in art and literature. In her book, Hand Heart and Soul The Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland, Elizabeth Cumming cites the Ritchies’ unique handiwork as ‘a key example of dedication to craft mixed with small-scale entrepreneurship’, combining beauty and practical use. Their work remains highly sought after by collectors to this day.

Around 200 individual items are pictured, some from hitherto unpublished archive photographs. The book also mentions several later Scottish silversmiths with a direct link to the Ritchie tradition.