“Mary’s Garden” Scottish Exhibition Floral Still Life by Dan Ferguson ROI (1910–1992)

“Mary’s Garden” - Scottish Exhibition Floral Still Life by Dan Ferguson ROI (1910–1992) Documented Scottish floral still life retaining its original Paisley Art Institute Exhibition label, signed by Dan Ferguson ROI and presented in an ornate gilt frame under glass. Highlights: • Original Paisley Art Institute Exhibition label retained verso • Exhibited title “MARY’S GARDEN” • Exhibit No. 2 • Original exhibition price £40 • Artist recorded as “DAN FERGUSON, R.O.I.” • Redyett, Motherwell, Lanarks recorded as the artist’s address • McClures, Glasgow recorded as agent • Signed “DAN FERGUSON” lower right • Oil on board • Documented McTear’s Glasgow auction history • Ornate gilt moulded frame • Presented under glass Introduction: A substantial Scottish floral still life by **Dan Ferguson ROI (1910–1992)** depicting an abundant arrangement of mixed garden flowers gathered within a grey-green metal tankard or jug. Entitled *Mary’s Garden*, the work combines strong decorative presence with unusually informative surviving exhibition documentation. Against a restrained neutral background and dark tabletop, Ferguson brings together brilliant yellow, white, blue, mauve, purple, burgundy and warm orange flowers in a densely layered composition. Catalogue Details: Artist: Dan Ferguson ROI Nationality: Scottish Dates: 1910–1992 Title: *Mary’s Garden* Date: Post-1958 / second half of the 20th century Medium: Oil on board Signature: Signed “DAN FERGUSON” lower right Subject: Mixed garden flowers / floral still life Orientation: Portrait Presentation: Ornate gilt moulded frame, under glass Catalogue Note: *Mary’s Garden* belongs to an established floral strand within Ferguson’s practice. Recorded compositions by the artist include *Mixed Bouquet*, *Flowerpiece with Peaches* and *Summer Flowers*, demonstrating his sustained interest in substantial arrangements of garden flowers. Particularly noteworthy is the recurring format. *Summer Flowers* is recorded at approximately 61 × 46 cm, essentially identical to the image dimensions of *Mary’s Garden*. This close correspondence provides useful comparative evidence that Ferguson repeatedly employed an approximately 24 × 18 inch format for major floral compositions. Within the present work, Ferguson constructs the bouquet around a broad pyramidal arrangement. Tall flowering stems establish the upper silhouette, while substantial yellow, white and purple blooms create visual weight through the centre. Smaller flowers, buds and foliage extend beyond the principal mass, softening the outline and giving the arrangement a freshly gathered quality. Individual stems weave behind and in front of neighbouring flower heads, creating convincing spatial depth. The restrained neutral background and dark tabletop further concentrate attention upon the saturated colours of the bouquet. The grey-green metal vessel is handled with particular sensitivity. Graduated half-tones, reflected colour and carefully positioned highlights give it convincing volume and weight while providing a restrained tonal counterpoint to the flowers. The survival of the original Paisley Art Institute Exhibition label adds an important documentary dimension to the work, establishing its exhibited title as *Mary’s Garden* and connecting the painting directly with Ferguson’s professional exhibition career. The Flowers: Detailed examination indicates that the bouquet is best understood as a mixed garden and cottage-garden arrangement rather than an exclusively native Scottish wildflower display. The most distinctive forms are steel-blue **sea holly (Eryngium-type)** flower heads with sharply radiating spiny bracts. The bouquet also contains white **Leucanthemum-type daisies**, finer-rayed **aster/Michaelmas daisy-type flowers**, warm orange **Gladiolus-type blooms**, substantial golden-yellow daisy or Chrysanthemum-type flowers and a prominent dark-purple double bloom with elongated curling petals consistent with a cactus/semi-cactus Dahlia or spider/quill Chrysanthemum-type form. Mauve flowering sprays, blue garden flowers, delicate clustered white blossoms, unopened buds and varied foliage complete the arrangement. These botanical identifications are based upon the morphology represented in the painting and are expressed at genus or flower-type level where an exact species cannot responsibly be established. The Artist: Dan Ferguson ROI (1910–1992) was a Scottish painter and printmaker associated with Motherwell, Lanarkshire. Published biographical records state that Ferguson attended Dalziel High School before studying at the Glasgow School of Art. He was elected to the **Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1958** and exhibited with prominent Scottish institutions including the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. Published biographical material additionally records a silver medal at the Paris Salon in 1961 and a gold medal at the Italian Academy in 1980, while works by Ferguson are represented in public collections in Glasgow and Paisley. Exhibition History: *Paisley Art Institute Exhibition, Paisley, Scotland* The original completed exhibition label retained verso records: Exhibit No.: 2 Title: “MARY’S GARDEN” Artist: “DAN FERGUSON, R.O.I.” Address: Redyett, Motherwell, Lanarks Agent: McClures, Glasgow Original exhibition price: £40 Founded in 1876, Paisley Art Institute developed a longstanding role within Scottish exhibition culture. The survival of the completed label provides particularly valuable documentary evidence, establishing the painting’s exhibited title and recording Ferguson’s professional designation, contemporary address, exhibition number, agent and original asking price. As Ferguson was elected ROI in 1958 and the label already identifies him as R.O.I., the painting is conservatively catalogued as **post-1958 / second half of the 20th century** pending identification of the precise Paisley Art Institute exhibition year. Provenance & Recorded History: Paisley Art Institute Exhibition, Scotland — original exhibition label retained verso. McClures, Glasgow — recorded as agent on the original Paisley Art Institute Exhibition label. McTear’s, Glasgow, *The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction*, 20 June 2024, Lot 194. At the 2024 auction the painting was incorrectly associated with the different Scottish artist Danny Ferguson RSW RGI (1925–1993). The present attribution follows the stronger primary documentary evidence physically retained with the painting, which explicitly identifies the exhibiting artist as **Dan Ferguson, R.O.I., of Redyett, Motherwell**. Subsequently Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution: The artwork will be supplied with a Certificate of Sale & Dealer Attribution issued by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®, recording the artwork’s catalogue details, attribution, provenance as stated, and details of the sale. This document accompanies the work as part of its ongoing ownership and provenance record. Attribution and Research: The historical observations, provenance research, attribution analysis and contextual commentary presented within this catalogue entry represent the professional opinion of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD®. They are offered in good faith as informed scholarly assessments based upon the available evidence, comparative research, published reference material and our experience within the international fine art market. These observations should be understood as professional opinions rather than definitive statements of fact or guarantees of authorship, attribution, date, origin, provenance or historical interpretation. As with all historic works of art, future documentary discoveries, technical examination, conservation analysis or advances in academic research may refine, expand or revise current interpretations. Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD® Specialising in carefully curated British and European fine art, antiques and historic works of art. Every artwork is professionally researched and catalogued using comparative scholarship, published reference material and more than two decades of experience within the international fine art market. 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