John Workman (painter)

Last updated

John Workman or Warkman (died 1604) was a decorative painter working in Edinburgh.

Contents

A family of painters

He was a son of David Workman, who was himself an Edinburgh painter and burgess of the town, and Margaret Schortess. [1] There were several painters of the Workman family in Edinburgh. John Workman provided decorative painting, gilding, and heraldic work. There is no record of him making portraits.

John and other members of his family probably painted some of the Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings but documentary evidence is sparse. David Workman painted the "roof of the inner tolbuith of the lordis and above the chymnay thairof" in November 1581 for the town council for 24 merks. [2]

Royal entry in 1590

Workman's brother James painted a ship, the Angel of Kirkcaldy, which was hired from David Huchesoun to join the convoy bringing Anne of Denmark and James VI back from Denmark in May 1590. He was paid £8 Scots. [3] Painting and decorating the James Royall of Ayr for the king's outward voyage in 1589 had cost more, and an anonymous painter had received £20. Red and yellow, the Stewart colours, seem to have predominated. [4]

Workman and his brother James painted and gilded several items for the Entry and coronation of Anne of Denmark in 1590, including; heraldry for the gates of Edinburgh, imitation stone work in the pends of the gates, decorating the mercat cross, the globe, tabards for actors in the drama, some of them pupils of Edinburgh high school, a bed at the Salt Tron, and a baton and rod for Hercules. The accounts mention "painting the young men". These men escorted the queen on the royal mile in a pageant known as the "convoy of the moors". They wore masks and the skin of their arms and legs was painted to dress them as imagined African people. [5]

James Workman's paintwork within the arches or pends of the city gates was called "drawing of alschellar draughtis", the imitation of ashlar stonework. [6] William Fairlie paid James Workman to paint the six staffs used to carry the canopy above Anne of Denmark used during the Entry and Coronation. [7]

Herald painter

In 1592 John Workman was made a herald painter by privy seal letter. [8]

He painted items for the funeral of the Bonnie Earl of Moray, but not the famous portrait of the dead earl at Darnaway. [9] In March 1595 he painted a new loft for scholars in Trinity College Kirk with sundry colours of oil paints. [10]

He decorated a coach used by Anne of Denmark when she left for England in 1603 at the Union of the Crowns. [11]

John Workman died of plague on 31 October 1604. [12] His will includes a stock of colours for painting, with orpiment and azure. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal</span> Scottish politician

George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal (c. 1553–1623) was a Scottish nobleman and Earl Marischal. He succeeded as earl on 7 October 1581, upon the death of his grandfather, William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings</span>

Scottish renaissance painted ceilings are decorated ceilings in Scottish houses and castles built between 1540 and 1640. This is a distinctive national style, though there is common ground with similar work elsewhere, especially in France, Spain and Scandinavia. An example in England, at Wickham, Hampshire, was recorded in 1974. There are records of over 100 examples, and a much smaller number of painted ceilings survive in-situ today. Some salvaged painted beams and boards are stored by Historic Environment Scotland. The paintings at Crathes Castle, dating from 1597 and 1602 are probably the best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Vanson</span>

Adrian Vanson was a portrait artist who worked for James VI of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John MacMorran</span> Merchant and Baillie of Edinburgh

Baillie John MacMorran (1553-1595), a merchant and Baillie of Edinburgh, was killed during a riot at Edinburgh High School. His house at Riddle's Court is a valued monument on Edinburgh's Lawnmarket.

Janet Fockart was a Scottish merchant and moneylender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entry and coronation of Anne of Denmark</span> Scottish ceremony in 1590

On 17 May 1590, Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen of Scotland. There was also a ceremony of joyous entry into Edinburgh on 19 May, an opportunity for spectacle and theatre and allegorical tableaux promoting civic and national identities, similar in many respects to those performed in many other European towns. Celebrations for the arrival of Anne of Denmark in Scotland had been planned and prepared for September 1589, when it was expected she would sail from Denmark with the admirals Peder Munk and Henrik Gyldenstierne. She was delayed by accidents and poor weather and James VI of Scotland joined her in Norway in November. They returned to Scotland in May 1590.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Nisbet</span> Scottish merchant

Henry Nisbet of Dean was a Scottish merchant and Provost of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques de Bousie</span> Flemish confectioner

Jacques de Bousie was a Flemish confectioner known as a "sugarman" working in Edinburgh, Scotland, employed by James VI and Anne of Denmark.

Robert Jameson was a Scottish shipowner from Ayr.

Apollonia Kickius was a painter working in Scotland in the 17th century. She is one of only three women painters known to be working in Scotland prior to 1700 and is the sole woman in Scotland documented as working in the building trades from the 17th to mid 19th century.

William Fairlie or Fairley was an Edinburgh merchant and burgess.

Walter Binning, or Bynning was a painter in 16th-century Edinburgh.

Thomas Annand was a Scottish goldsmith based in Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Barroun</span>

James Barroun or Baron was a wealthy Scottish merchant based in Edinburgh and supporter of the Scottish Reformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valentine Jenkin</span> English decorative painter

Valentine Jenkin or Jenkins was an English decorative painter working in Scotland in the 17th century.

John Provand was a Scottish merchant in 16th-century Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Oustean</span>

Alexander Oustean or Oustian or Austin was a Scottish tailor and member of Edinburgh burgh council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Rannald</span>

Peter Rannald was a Scottish tailor who worked for Anne of Denmark, the wife of James VI of Scotland.

Adrian Damman of Bysterveldt a native of Ghent, He was an ambassador of the Dutch Republic in Scotland in the 1590s. He was an author, and taught at the University of Edinburgh.

John Sawers was a Scottish decorative painter based in Edinburgh.

References

  1. ↑ Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Painters in Scotland: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 107.
  2. ↑ James David Marwick, Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1557-1571 (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 226.
  3. ↑ Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1589-1603 (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1927), pp. 17, 330.
  4. ↑ Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 30.
  5. ↑ Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1589-1603 (Edinburgh, 1927), pp. 328-32
  6. ↑ Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1589-1603 (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 328.
  7. ↑ Edinburgh City Archives MS 'Bailies Accounts, Unlaws 1564-1664', pp. 285-289, see external links.
  8. ↑ Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Painters in Scotland: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 110, citing National Records of Scotland, NRS PS1/65 fo. 48.
  9. ↑ Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Painters in Scotland: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 111 citing NRS RD1/43 fo. 104
  10. ↑ Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1589-1603 (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 353.
  11. ↑ Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Painters in Scotland: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 111 citing NRS E21/76 fo. 276.
  12. ↑ Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Painters in Scotland: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 110, citing NRS CC8/8/41 p. 336.
  13. ↑ Will, NRS CC8/8/41 p. 337.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.