SCOTLAND.- A mahogany framed Lovat chair by George Walton, one of the leading furniture designers of the Arts and Crafts movement, is expected to sell for £2,000-3,000 at the Sale of Design from 1860 to the Present Day. The sale, to be conducted by Bonhams in Scotland, will be held in The Mackintosh Museum of The Glasgow School of Art on Thursday 28 November.

George Walton’s Lovat chair was one of the most elegant designs of the time: within the mahogany frame, the seat, back and single arm are of cane. The chair was exhibited at The Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1903 and contemporary photographs of Walton’s display at the Exhibition show the Lovat chair in the foreground.

In the 1890s, Walton decorated Miss Cranston’s tearooms in Glasgow, working with Charles Rennie Mackintosh, for whom he made some early furniture. Walton moved to London in 1897, where his business flourished internationally and he designed houses, furniture, carpets, glass and wallpaper. The Lovat chair came from the collection of the flamboyant and colourful architect Roddy Gradidge, who died last year, aged 71. Gradidge was a great connoisseur of art and design whose interests ranged through art, antiques and collecting.

In both his private and his professional life Gradidge tended towards the romantic, the decorative and the excessive. He was well known for his avant garde ideas and his outlandish dress, including the wearing of an English kilt. In his lifetime he designed everything from petrol stations and elaborate pub interiors to country house libraries and art galleries.

From 1873, the Martin brothers had a studio in Fulham where, true to the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement, they were responsible for the conception, design, production, decoration and marketing of their pottery. A series of bird figures were their best known work and these were produced from the 1880s. They are in fact tobacco jars, with detachable heads. One of the brothers had been a stonemason at the

Houses of Parliament and he was inspired by the gargoyles and gothic carvings he encountered there. Some of the birds have disconcertingly sardonic expressions and some of the ‘judge’ birds are known to be satirical representations of members of the legal profession at the time.

William de Morgan hand-painted circular bowl, made about 1890 to 1900, is expected to sell for £3,000-5,000. The strong colours and design demonstrate the Persian influence on de Morgan’s work. A Tudric Liberty & Co pewter clock, possibly designed by Archibald Knox, is estimated at £2,000-3,000, while a Lalique opalescent glass vase, moulded with birds in fruiting vine, should make £400-600.

The Glasgow School of Art, founded in 1845, is one of the oldest and largest art schools in Britain. Its reputation for quality and innovation is complemented by its magnificent location - the Mackintosh Building. For this reason, Bonhams in Scotland holds the sale of Design from 1860 to the Present Day in The Mackintosh Museum of The Glasgow School of Art every year.

The Design Sale encompasses work ranging from the Aesthetic Movement to Art Deco, including ceramics, glass, furniture, textiles, works of art and paintings. The work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and of many of his contemporaries will be featured.



Gradidge was heavily involved in the Art Workers’ Guild and the proceeds from the sale of his collection, most of which was sold at Bonhams’ London salerooms in September, will go to the Guild.

A low beech Windsor armchair by Mackintosh is estimated to sell for £4,000-6,000. This is one of the chairs made originally for The Dutch Kitchen in Miss Cranston’s tearooms in Argyle Street, Glasgow. It has a traditional, sturdy design and a half height wrap-around back with 14 spindles over a traditional seat. All the chairs in the tearooms were originally enamelled in green, but this example has been painted blue and should make £4,000-6,000.

The Design Sale includes a gargoyle-like Martinware bird dating from about 1900 and estimated at £4,000-6,000. The four Martin brothers made some of the earliest art pottery produced in Britain and their work was highly distinctive and quite eccentric, making it very appealing to collectors today.