George Walton (1867–1933) was an architect and designer, who had no formal architectural training. He left school early, became a bank clerk and attended evening classes at Glasgow School of Art, and in 1888 started his own interior decoration and design firm, George Walton & Co. He was much admired in mainland Europe, promoted alongside Baillie Scott and C.R. Mackintosh. Most of Walton’s textile designs have special relevance to the interiors he designed and were used, like the stencilled linen seen here, as wall hangings. This example was used in Elm Bank House, a house that Walton decorated for Sidney Leetham on the Mount leading to Knavesmire in York.