Heirlooms by Lawrence

Description

An 18th century iron Donegal bread iron or harnen stand, also known as an oatcake warmer.
The harnen stand was used to slowly dry, rather than bake a tradition oat bread bannock. These were know as moon and stars due to their rather crumbly consistency, beside a peat fire. This one has been well used and has had running repairs to it over the centuries as you would expect from and utilitarian item, one old foot rebuild, crude welding to one side and various extensions to the support stand which all add to give it a fantastic rustic charm.
This one was from the Richard Kingston collection.

Richard Kingston
1922–2003
Irish School
Richard Kingston was born into a farming family, and he left school at the age of nine to work on the farm. He was a self-taught artist, and studied arts and engineering at Trinity College before moving to London, where he worked as a teacher and designer. In the late 1950s he returned to Ireland and took up painting full time. He was a sensitive artist who was mostly inspired by nature and the Irish countryside where he grew up.

Kingston exhibited at the Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, and the Leicester Galleries, London, and represented Ireland in several international shows. In the 1970s he founded his own gallery, the Wellington Gallery in Ballsbridge, where he held numerous solo exhibitions. His Causeway series of paintings were shown in Dublin at the RHA Gallagher Gallery and the Solomon Gallery in 2001. He has been an active member of the Royal Hibernian Academy since 1980, and also served on the board of governors of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1982 to 1989. His work is held in major public and corporate collections, and private collections in Ireland, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States.