Stained glass of Robert Carfrae in Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Robert Carfrae FSAScot (1820–1900) was Curator of the Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. He accumulated a large art and coin collection. By profession he was a furniture maker, having been involved in the firms Bonnar & Carfrae and Moxon & Co. A noted numismologist he left a huge collection of Greek coins. He gives his name to the Carfrae Collection: a number of ancient Greek and Roman coins now held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

Life

He was born on 1 April 1820 the son of Robert Carfrae a jeweller and silversmith living at 17 Union Place at the head of

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the str ...

in Edinburgh. The family were originally from

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

. In 1860 he was in partnership with

Thomas Bonnar Thomas Bonnar (d. 1847) was a Scottish interior designer and architect of note, working in the Edinburgh area. He is particularly remembered for his outstanding ceilings. Thomas was the father of the artist William Bonnar (1800–1853) and t ...

's company, together decorating many fine Edinburgh houses: Bonnar seems to be responsible for plasterwork; Carfrae for decorative ironwork, staircases, fireplaces etc. Larger commissions included the interiors of the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country's national academy of art. It promotes contemporary art, contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy ...

and

National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...

. From at least 1866 he was Curator of the Museum of Antiquities. In 1878 he is noted as acquiring 5 watercolours by

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

. In 1884 he went into partnership with John Moxon of Edinburgh creating Moxon & Carfrae. In 1886 he was living at 3 Osborne Terrace, facing

Donaldson's School Donaldson's School is Scotland's national school for the deaf. Originally situated in Edinburgh, it moved to a new location in Linlithgow in 2008. It is a residential and day school that provides education, therapy and care for pupils who are dea ...

. His huge coin collection was split during his final years: a large proportion was sold to

Thomas Coats Thomas Coats (1809–1883) was a Scottish thread manufacturer. Life Coats was born at Paisley 18 October 1809. He was the fourth of a family of ten sons. His father, James Coats, was one of the founders of the Coats Group of Paisley. In ...

of Paisley; a second section was auctioned at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

; and a third section was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities. He died at Montrave, a villa in the

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

area of West

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 18 September 1900. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in the concealed lower terrace.

Family

He was married to Alison Kinghorn (1833-1905) from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Their children Katherine and Robert both died in July 1869. Their daughter Mary Carfrae lived 1865 to 1927. She married James Hume Notman (d.1934). Alison Carfrae was born in 1876.

Artistic recognition

His portrait in stained glass by

William Graham Boss William Graham Boss (1847–1927) was a stained glass designer most noted for his work at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery: a series of stained glass portraits on the main staircase. This was specifically to mark the adaption of the bu ...

forms one of the multiple portraits of committee members on the main stair of the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

.''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries''; 1990, p. 206

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carfrae, Robert 1820 births 1900 deaths Curators from Edinburgh Scottish art collectors Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland