publications
Publications about Daniel Cottier (1838-91) start with ‘Collection Cottier’. After his death in 1891 Cottier had left an enviable collection of the French and Dutch art from the mid 19 Century that he specialised in and championed. He suffered from repeated health attacks having contracted rheumatic fever in Aberdeen earlier in his career and this made him incapable of insurance. His collection was the financial legacy by which he provided for his family and the sale of his collection was celebrated in a finely presented catalogue in 1892. The catalogue contains his portrait by the artist William Hole and a memorial of his life, character and career by the famous poet William Ernest Henley.
This however was not to be followed by any notable documentation of his achievements. On the contrary, perhaps due to the diversity of his work and the widespread nature of his influence he was not really studied at all except to feature in references to his stained glass in certain buildings or in the provenance of painting that had passed through his hands.
As a result it was not until 1969 that the work of art historians began to touch upon his contribution. This was initially through the Van Gogh connection and took the form of an article by Brian Gould “Two Van Gogh Contacts: E J Wisselingh, Art Dealer; Daniel Cottier, Glass Painter and Decorator”. Further research started to re-establish Cottier’s reputation. Martin Harrison’s “Victorian Stained Glass” published in 1980 identified Cottier’s place within that genre and Michael Donnelly’s subsequent “Glasgow Stained Glass, A Preliminary Study” 1981 became a touchstone by which Cottier’s influence in the field could start to be measured.
At the same time Cottier’s role in the cultural traditions of the other countries was independently starting to be recognised by researchers. In 1977 Mark Girouard identified the role Cottier played as a pioneer of the Aesthetic Movement in USA. In 1987 “In Search of Daniel Cottier: Artistic Entrepreneur”, a thesis for the City University of New York by Margaret Hobler explored Cottier’s influential role in the ‘Gilded Age’. In the same period Donald Ellsmore was drawing attention to the influence of Cottier and other associated Scottish decorators in the houses and commercial buildings of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
Between 1990 and 2010 research papers about Cottier began to appear more frequently and 2011 saw the publication of “Cottiers in Context” by Juliet Kinchin, Hilary Macartney and David Robertson, which explores among other things the important relationship Cottier forged with his contemporary Scottish architects in particular William Leiper.
Several interesting and more recent articles can be found online for example: Daniel Cottier’s Aesthetic of Beauty in Australia by Andrew Montana 2018 and New Discoveries at the Met by Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen 2020
Finally 2021 sees the publication at long last of a definitive monograph on Cottier, one that has been made possible due to a collaboration between scholars across the several geographic regions where he left his indelible mark. This is a Yale University Publication: “Daniel Cottier, Designer, Decorator, Dealer” by Petra ten-Doesschate, Max Donnelly, Andrew Montana and Suzanne Veldink.