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The Cawdor Candlestick
Walton, George, born 1867 - died 1933 - Enlarge image
The Cawdor Candlestick
- Object:
Candlestick
- Place of origin:
Glasgow, Scotland (made)
- Date:
ca. 1903 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Walton, George, born 1867 - died 1933 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Polished iron and copper
- Museum number:
CIRC.124-1959
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 125g, case 1
Object Type
This is a pair with museum number CIRC.124A-1959. The simple, elegant geometric elements of these candelabra, constructed from polished steel and copper are typical of the designs in the Glasgow style at the turn of the 20th century.
People
George Walton was born the youngest of 12 children. Because of family financial difficulties he became a bank clerk for the British Linen Bank in 1881. While working for the bank, he attended evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art (his only formal training), and in 1888 he set up a successful design and decorating business known as George Walton & Co., Ecclesiastical and House Decorators. Wider recognition came in 1896-1897, when he was commissioned to fit out Kate Cranston's Buchanan Street tea room in Glasgow. Walton made the overall interior design for the four-storey tea rooms, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh provided the stencilled mural decoration.
Design & Designing
George Walton has been seen, in parallel with Charles Rennie Mackintosh, as the founder of the Glasgow style. Walton's designs have the simplicity and clarity associated with that group, but they are less effete and more solid than those of Mackintosh. To some extent Walton looked back to the achievements of the Arts and Crafts movement while at the same time moving away from their earthy, rural qualities to a more urban sophistication.
