Marguerite Kirmse (American, 1885 -1954 ) Born in Bournemouth, England in 1885, Kirmse trained as a harpist and graduated from The Royal Academy of Music. Offered a position as a harpist with an orchestra in America, Kirmse emigrated to America. She had studied both music and art in England, but it was in America that she developed her talent for the visual arts, creating drawings, pastels and oil paintings. Her love of dogs and her artistic talent were a winning combination and by the 1910’s she had established herself as a canine artist of note. Kirmse’s love of the Scottish Terrier was solidified when she met and later married George W. Cole in 1924. Cole was an avid Scottish Terrier fancier and for a time the president of The Scottish Terrier Club of America. While Kirmse eventually maintained an artist’s studio in New York City, the married couple also had a farm near Bridgewater, Connecticut. It was here at Arcady Farm that she bred dogs for the show ring, under the kennel name of Tobermory. It is uncertain what prompted Kirmse to start working in three dimensions, but in the late 1920’s, she had produced a series of dog bronzes: a Dachshund, English Pointer, Sealyham, Setter and of course a Scottish Terrier. Of the smaller Scotties, three versions were made: the seated, the crouching and the more rare of the three, the standing show pose. There were evidently thirty produced of each model. Finely modeled, they only rarely come on the market and are considered among the most desirable of her works. Size: 2 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches