Robert Adam transformed British architecture. With his brother, James, he created a new style based on an inventive use of classical ideas which appealed to rich patrons for both country and town houses. Interiors designed by Robert Adam typically include ceilings with decoration in low plaster relief around painted panels. In Edinburgh, Charlotte Square, Register House and the Old College of the University are all examples of their work.
James Tassie (Scottish, 1735 - 1799)
Tassie was born in Pollokshaws, Glasgow. He trained first as a stone mason and then attended the Foulis Academy in Glasgow. Tassie moved to Dublin in 1763, where he learned how to make imitations of antique cameos. He invented a formula for a type of glass paste which he used for the rest of his life to make gems and portrait medallions. Tassie moved to London in 1766. His reproductions of antique gems were avidly collected by patrons as distinguished as Catherine the Great of Russia. He was also the leading portrait modeller in Britain, making around five hundred medallions of his contemporaries.
