H. Blairman & Sons Ltd

Designed by George Walton (1867-1933)

Oak, with the original leather upholstery (that on the backs restored)

94 x 65.4 x 63.5 cm

Scottish, circa 1900

[…]; with Haslam & Whiteway; H. Blairman & Sons, 1993; Ann Getty; Stair Galleries, March 2024

‘George Walton Designer and Architect, Glasgow and Brighton, 1993-94, no. 2.1 (one chair only)

Karen Moon, George Walton Designer and Architect (Oxford, 1993), p. 105, fig. 139 (one chair illustrated)

H. Blairman & Sons, Furniture and Works of Art (1994), no. 21

The ‘Abingdon’ armchair is a variant of the wooden-backed and rush-seated ‘Abingwood’ armchair designed by Walton in 1896 for the billiard room at Miss Cranston’s Buchanan Street tea rooms, where he worked with C.R. Mackintosh.  At the same date, the ‘Abingwood’ was used in the café Walton designed for John Rowntree and Sons in Scarborough.  Walton also used the armchair in the series od showrooms designed for Kodak from 1898 onwards.

The ‘Abingdon’ armchair first appears around 1900.  Two were shown at the Glasgow International Exhibition, 1901.  Through his work for Kodak, Walton became friendly with George Davidson, head of the firm’s European division.  ‘Abingdon’ armchairs were used at Davidson’s Plas Wern Fawr, Harlech.  The model also appears in several other contemporary Walton interiors.

Walton kept records of his furniture designs in a ledger, which now belongs to the Royal Institute of British Architects (acc. no. 1965-23).  Under a drawing of the ‘Abingdon’ armchair Walton noted: ‘made in oak, with green leather upholstered seat and metal studs.’