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Notes
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The work is undated but was painted before 1897. It shows a scene inside a forge with tools mounted on the wall, bellows, furnace and swords. A kneeling male figure on the right, a blacksmith, watches a man on the left, dressed in a black hat and red cloak, examining a sword in his hands. In 1923 when the painting was acquired by the McLean Museum, the work was reviewed by 'The Greenock Telegraph' of 1st July 1923: 'The Orchardson is the well-known picture 'Testing the Blade' and as will be seen by the illustration is a composition of much dignity and interest. It has been exhibited, as a loan picture, at important exhibitions throughout the country. In 1911 it was seen at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition and at Nottingham in 1913 ... Breadth of treatment, unity, fulness of tone, harmony of colour, and exquisite draughtsmanship are the qualities that mark the best of Orchardson's work, and these are all displayed in the canvas now in the Caird Collection.
Title
Testing the Blade
Date
before 1897
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 64 x W 103 cm
Accession number
1977.1067
Acquisition method
gift from the Trustees of the Stuart Anderson Caird Bequest, 1923
Work type
Painting
Signature/marks description
lower left: W.Q. Orchardson