| Sponsor, if appropriate | 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival Visual Arts Programme |
| Type of object | Sculpture or other artwork |
| Current situation | Known |
| Current location, if known | At headquarters of Scottish & Newcastle plc (as at March 2021); since takeover of S&N. appears to be at the Hew Lorimer collection at Kellie Castle, Fife. Restored 2001. |
| Notes | Images from the Garden Festival might show the statue at two different locations (one at rear of Israel Friendship Garden, the other an unknown location). |
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As the author of a book on the life and work of Hew Lorimer RSA (1907-1993) (forthcoming, Birlinn &Co Ltd), and a catalogue of his work, I would be most grateful for any further information on Ceres, the more than life-size figure of the Roman goddess of harvests and plenty, commissioned by Sir William McEwan Younger for the atrium of the headquarters of Scottish and Newcastle Breweries at Holyrood in about 1964.
Your entry suggests that there was a link to Scottish& Newcastle as late as 2021. Is the return after the Festival to S&N documented ? Can you give me any information on this?
I have been looking for Ceres for over a decade, and S&N were unable to help, and had no record of the sculpture being lent for display at the Festival, or what had happened to the statue after the site was sold to make way for the new Parliament Building.
Further, your entry surmises that the plaster figure in the Lorimer workshop at Kellie Castle, Fife, is possibly one and the same as that exhibited at the Festival. This is probably unlikely as both I and the family consider that a plaster cast would probably not have been lent, as plaster does not withstand outdoor conditions.
However, the colouring and surface finish of the figure in the photograph credited to Evelyn R., is odd, and perhaps the stone had been coated with a finish for exhibition. Equally the colouring in the photograph credited to Jean Reid/NGS is quite different, and certainly has the appearance of an applied finish. Do you have any contacts for these two photographers?
Finally the entry mentions conservation. What is the documentation for this, where was it carried out and by whom ?
I would be most grateful for any information you can give me, as the stone version is still unlocated.
Just leaving a note to the effect that correspondence on this matter is ongoing directly – will update the entry here as and when the whole situation is resolved.