Wood, Memory, and the Human Form: Craft in the Scottish Galleries

#hellohalloween Among the paintings and portraits in Edinburgh’s National Galleries, there’s a quieter corner where wooden craft and painted objects speak with a different kind of voice. Here, ancient tables, carved boxes, and sculptural forms reveal the artistry of Scottish makers—where utility meets imagination, and the human figure becomes a motif of memory. Some pieces resemble heads or faces, carved into lids, corners, or decorative panels. These aren’t portraits in the traditional sense—they’re symbolic, stylised, sometimes abstract, echoing Celtic traditions and medieval craftsmanship. A box might carry the curve of a brow, the suggestion of eyes, or the solemn geometry of a mask. These forms evoke ancestry, ritual, and identity, as if the object itself remembers who made it. The materials are rich and tactile: - Dark oak and polished pine, worn smooth by time. - Painted surfaces with faded reds, ochres, and earthy greens—colours that feel rooted in Scottish soil. - Tool marks and hand-carved details, left visible as part of the story.