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The library at Shambellie House

Library

The library tells the story of the arrival at Shambellie of Charles Stewart, who donated his costume collection to National Museums Scotland in 1977 and loaned Shambellie House to be used as a Museum of Costume.

Charles Stewart came to live with his aunt and uncle on the Shambellie Estate in 1918 at the age of three. A portrait of Charles’s uncle, Captain William Stewart (1879 -1930), hangs over the fireplace. It was commissioned from David Alison in about 1913.

The library bookcase was made for this room from pine taken from the Shambellie estate; the glazed doors were added in 1982. On either side of the fireplace are portraits of William Craik of Arbigland, by an unknown artist and his wife Elizabeth Stewart of Shambellie, by William de Nune, painted in the 1740s.

 

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What are these links?

Rocking horse

Rocking horse in the library at Shambellie House.

Portrait of Charles Stewart's uncle

Portrait of Charles’s uncle, Captain William Stewart.

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  • History of the National Museum of Costume

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National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130