Anstruther, Caroline; Mackay, Caroline (1888-1895)
Anstruther, Caroline; Mackay, Caroline
Glasgow, Scotland; woodcarver (fl.1888-95)
After showing her work at the 1888 International Exhibition in Scotland, she resigned from the Edinburgh Social Union executive committee in March 1889 and moved to Glasgow. On arrival she apparently signed up at the Glasgow School of Art. She had published two articles in Scottish Art Review on ‘Women’s Work in Art Industries’ and encouraged printers to use local labour to make their woodcuts, rather than sending them to women in London. To provide the necessary training for locals she set up her own workshop at 138 Holland Street, also the home of the Home Arts and Industries Association. One of her apprentices in Glasgow was Alec Miller, whom she not only trained in her workshop but encouraged to attend classes and social events at the Kyrle Society, then the Glasgow High School and the School of Art. Some of Miller’s work was sent to an Arts and Crafts Exhibition by his employer, now Mrs McKay after her marriage in 1892. Mrs Mackay found a design for narrow-backed spinning stools in Fife and these were decorated in her workshops with a ‘Jacobean interlacing pattern’. She regarded woodcarving as ‘a delightful recreative employment for amateurs… both interesting and remunerative’ and during the 1890s her workshops were apparently successful and daily classes for mostly female pupils were held between 10am and 4pm.
Source: Carruthers, The Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland (2013).