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Carpet
Woven by Templetons, Glasgow?
Ref: Juliet Kinchin, ‘The Thomson Twins?’ in ATSN no.15 January
1996
Design with anthemions and palmettes in black, buff, rose-red and
blue. Gildard observed of Thomson that, "Of the classic honeysuckle
which he trained on the doors of warehouses and city dwellings, sprays
were to be found on the desk or on the carpet. His system is
comprehensive, all-embracing." And, writing of Holmwood, q.v.,
that, "Besides the decoration, much of the furniture, solid and
textile, was designed by Mr. Thomson."
In the obituary in the Building News, probably by Gildard, it
was recorded that "Furniture, even carpets, are indebted to a
pencil that charmed alike by its novelty and grace."
Only this one carpet, measuring 9ft 1inch by 11ft 4 inches and
attributed to Thomson on stylistic grounds, is known to survive in a
private collection. Juliet Kinchin observes that while this carpet might
have been designed by Thomson, he had imitators including Thomas Gildard
and (another) Alexander Thomson as well as Thomson’s son John, while
there were other designers trained at the Haldane Academy making similar
textile designs.
Kitchen dresser, for Alexander Thomson, c.1861
Ref: Juliet Kinchin in S&McK*
Pine dresser fixed in kitchen at 1 Moray Place, removed and sold by
owner of house c.1986-90.
Fireclay urn, for the Garnkirk Coal Co., 1850
Sculpture modelled by George Mossman
Ref: Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations...
Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, London 1851*;
Gildard; Thomas Gildard, 'The late John Mossman' in Proceedings of
the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, 1891-92; note by Frank
Worsdall in G. Quail, Garnkirk Fireclay, Strathkelvin District
Libraries & Museum, 1985*; The Word and the Stones, Glasgow
1990*; ATSN no.11 October 1994*
The Garnkirk Urn, 4 foot 3 inches high, was designed for the Garnkirk
company's stand at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 (in the Art
Journal's illustrated catalogue, this is misattributed to Messrs
Ferguson, Miller & Co. of Heathfield); this was coloured and is
probably the one now held by Glasgow Museum & Art Galleries. Another
was exhibited in the window of the Garnkirk Fireclay Co.'s showroom in
Buchanan Street, q.v., and another was in the Caledonia Road Church,
afterwards rescued and repaired by Worsdall and since destroyed by fire
in 1994; it is not known how many were manufactured in all. The frieze
depicting a bridal procession was modelled by George Mossman (1822-63),
brother of John Mossman. The individual chimney pots designed by Thomson
for many of his buildings were also made by the Garnkirk company.
The Garnkirk Urn is not to be confused with the Garnkirk Vase, also
exhibited in 1851 by the Garnkirk company, but not designed by Thomson.
For more on the two objects go here.
Made and carved by J. & G. Mossman
Ref: Mossman
The order book for J. & G. Mossman recorded the repeated use of a
design for a monument in granite which may have originally been by
Thomson, e.g., for Provost Archibald Cowie at Airdrie, for N.B. Miller
at Beith, for Henry Kerr in the Necropolis, 1875. It is likely that
Thomson provided designs for J. & G. Mossman which continued to be
produced by the firm long after his death.
Also see Glasgow
Necropolis, Sighthill Cemetery, Craigton Cemetery, &c.
Cast by the Oak Foundry, Glasgow
Cast-iron lamp-post in Thomson manner in Marywood Square (formerly
Princes Square) Strathbungo and in Queen’s Drive between Maybank
Street and Victoria Road (railings on terrace of houses behind also to a
Thomson design).
For another monumental lamp-post design, cast at the Saracen Foundry,
see Glasgow: 84-100 Union Street.
Bronze medal for the Trustees of the Haldane Academy of Fine Art
Similar in design to the Seal for the Glasgow Institute of
Architects, q.v., with a figure of Athena presenting a wreath to her
attribute, an owl; on one side is a portrait of James Haldane and the
inscription ‘Glasgow School of Art and Haldane Academy’ and, verso,
‘Awarded by the Haldane Trustees.’ Thomson delivered the Haldane
Lectures in 1874.
For images, go here.
For the 1862 International Exhibition in London
Ref: Gildard; McFadzean
It is not clear for whom this obelisk was designed, or from what it
was made, as it is not mentioned in the Official Catalogue to the
Exhibition. Thomson used the obelisk form for several grave monuments,
notably for the Revd Dr Middleton in the Glasgow Necropolis, q.v. In his
third Haldane Lecture, he wrote how
“the obelisk excites our surprise and admiration at the
mechanical skill required to transport so large and long a stone from
the distant quarries, and set its lofty form erect upon its base. We
have the idea of duration repeated in the hardness of the granite of
which it is composed... and the air of stability with which it stands
upon its stepped base. The carefully adjusted proportion, and the
thickness diminishing as the height increases, deprives the mass of
any idea of weight or tendency to fall. Its poise is perfect, and we
regard it as an imperishable thought, a symbol of truth and justice.”
Also see ‘Obelisk’ under Ideal
Schemes and Unidentified Designs
Cast at the Saracen Foundry of Walter Macfarlane & Co., Glasgow
Ref: Illustrated Catalogue of Macfarlane's Castings, Glasgow
1882 &c.*; Glasgow Herald, 17th December 1994*
Designs by Thomson for his buildings cast at the Saracen Foundry were
placed in the catalogues of Walter Macfarlane & Co., so that
examples may be found outside Glasgow. The cast-iron railings on the
balconies of Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad, India, are of the same pattern
that Thomson used inside no.4 Great Western Terrace, q.v.
In his illustrated survey of Masterpieces of Industrial Art and
Sculpture at the International Exhibition, 1862 (vol.ii, p.183,
1863), J.B. Waring commented that Macfarlane's
"taste also is not confined to Italian or Gothic; he seeks to
advance in every way, and one of the best works exhibited by him was
in the Greek style."
Reginald Blomfield, in 1904, wrote that
“Thomson appears to have begun with the baser forms of modern ‘Gothic,’
and it will probably be news to some of his admirers that several of
the most deplorable iron castings advertised in trade catalogues were
due to his design.”
Bronze [?] medallion, for the Glasgow Institute of Architects, 1870
Modelled by John Mossman
Ref: Building News 17th June 1870, p.449
The round metal seal, or medallion, bears the legend 'Glasgow
Institute of Architects Incorporated 1868' and the seated figure of
Athena on one side only. The Building News recorded that
"The Institute of Architects is having a seal engraved for it.
It is Classic in its design, the subject being Pallas and the
Parthenon. With such men employed on it as Alexander Thomson,
architect, John Mossman, sculptor, and William Wallace, a die-sinker
of rare merit, a result truly excellent may be confidently
expected."
Seals combined with certificates of membership for both Alexander and
George Thomson, signed by James Salmon, President, A. Thomson,
Treasurer, and William MacLean, Secretary, survive, housed in special
small wooden boxes.
Also see Thomson’s Medal for the Haldane
Academy. For an image, go here.
Dining room sideboard, for Alexander Thomson
Ref: Stewart; Juliet Kinchin in S&McK*
This sideboard which stood in Thomson's dining room at 1 Moray Place
was left to Glasgow Institute of Architects in 1934 and transferred to
the Glasgow School of Art in 1938; it is now in Glasgow Museums &
Art Galleries. The mechanism of projecting shelf altered by Glasgow
Museums. Thomson's granddaughter recalled that
"Alexander designed and had made, furniture for the Dining
room and his bedroom... The sideboard was enormous, reaching to the
ceiling, lavishly embellished with Greek key pattern. It had
fascinating cupboards on each end at the back. They were really a set
of pigeon holes which were revealed on opening a tall narrow
door."
In 1952, Douglas Percy Bliss, director of the Glasgow School of Art,
wrote to Peter Floud at the Victoria & Albert Museum that
"we have in the School here what is believed to be a cupboard
designed for keeping his drawings by the Glasgow Architect Greig [sic]
Thomson. It is a vast and forbidding affair, and looks as though it
had been designed by Flaxman or Blake as a mausoleum."
Thomson's dining-room suite has not been traced.
Cast in bronze
Ref: The Contents of Hallrule House, Christie's Scotland,
Glasgow 1995 (sale catalogue: lot 158)*
One example of a tall bronze tripod lamp, almost identical to the
four cast-iron lamps placed behind the pulpit inside the St Vincent
Street Church, q.v., survives in a private collection.
†Bedroom wardrobe, for Alexander Thomson
Ref: Stewart; Juliet Kinchin in S&McK
Destroyed
Thomson's granddaughter recalled that
"the wardrobe stood in my Father's bedroom all my life. It was
enormous and occupied one wall of quite a large room. At each end were
hanging cupboards which enchanted me as they were lined with red
moiré silk and in the centre was a series of drawers with cupboards
above. In my Father's room also was a Spanish Mahogany pelmet
decorated with the greek key pattern from which hung deep red face
cloth curtains with a border of greek key pattern in gold and black.
They were cherished because they came from Moray Place and were only
replaced when they quite literally fell off the windows. When my
father died the wardrobe presented a problem as none of the family
could house such a massive piece comfortably. I therefore decided to
present it to Queen's Park Church where I was told it would fit in
best architecturally. Unfortunately it perished with the
building..."
But Worsdall wrote to Mrs Stewart in 1960 that
"it stood in the hall at the back of the church, which was
only partially destroyed by the bombs. The wardrobe moved, with the
congregation to Titwood Church, Pollokshields. This church was,
however, moved to the new housing scheme at Crookston and the fate of
the wardrobe is still unknown to me..."
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