About this artwork
This is one of the first of Maclean's works in which he explores the bardic poetry of Gaelic culture. Like many of his works it has a strong narrative element. The piece is inspired by an eighteenth-century poem called 'The Ship of Women', by The Bard MacIntyre, which refers to the magical ships of folk tradition. On the deck of the ship are three strange and grotesque women; on close inspection it is possible to see their faces and the shapes of their bodies. In the black water below, fish swim ominously like circling sharks.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Will Maclean (born 1941) Scottish
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title:Bard Macintyre's Box
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date created:1984
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materials:Mixed-media assemblage
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measurements:60.00 x 45.80 x 7.30 cm (base material size); Framed: 60.00 x 46.40 x 7.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1986
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accession number:GMA 2973
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Will Maclean
Will Maclean
Will Maclean was born in Inverness into a family of fishermen. After spending two years in the Merchant Navy from the age of fifteen, he studied at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen, from 1961 to 1967. In 1973 Maclean was commissioned by the Scottish International Education Trust to make a detailed...