Blackwell – The Arts and Crafts House

photograph © Tony West

refurbishment: 2003
Design: Allies and Morrison Architects

7 Aug 2013

Blackwell, the Arts and Crafts House

The Lakeland Arts Trust is delighted to announce a new acquisition by renowned architect and designer, Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, also the architect of Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House. This imposing oak and ebony inlaid barrel chair with slatted sides is on displayed at Blackwell from August 2013.

Baillie Scott Barrel chair photos ; Baillie Scott sideboard:

pictures © Lakeland Arts Trust

The Chair

Designed by Baillie Scott in c.1900 this exquisite chair has elegant slats inlaid with stylised long-stemmed flowers and the inside and front edge similarly inlaid but also with a geometric motif. The barrel chair form is based on a design by Edward Burne-Jones for the William Morris tapestry Arthur and the Holy Grail of 1896 of which Baillie Scott was aware. The scale of this chair is unusually large. A similar chair appears in Pyghtle Works catalogue as well as in The Studio 1898, for the Grand Duke of Hesse’s Palace in Darmstadt, Germany.

The Designer

Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott (1965- 1945) enjoyed a long and prosperous career as an architect and designer primarily working in the fashionable Arts & Crafts style. When Baillie Scott designed a house he didn’t just think about the fabric of the building but designed it fully furnished with every detail considered. In his book, Houses and Gardens, Baillie Scott states that ‘it has always seemed impossible to consider the matter of furniture and decoration apart from the house building, with which they are so intimately related and the architect who attempts to achieve a satisfactory interior, much necessarily to some extent control these important factors.’

pictures © Isabelle Lomholt

The House

Blackwell, designed in 1898, is one of Britain’s finest houses from the turn of the last century and survives in a truly remarkable state of preservation retaining almost all of its original decorative features. This chair will join many other pieces by Baillie Scott already on display at Blackwell and help The Trust to recreate Baillie Scott’s intentions for the building. The Lakeland Arts Trust purchased Blackwell in February 1999 so that it could be rescued, restored and opened for the public to enjoy.

The MH Baillie Scott Collection at Blackwell

The chair is a welcome addition to the collection which includes:

A High Back Armchair, c.1895
A Bureau, c.1900
A Sideboard, c.1900
A Pair of Armchairs, c.1900
A set of 4 Dining Chairs, c.1900
A Manxman Piano,
Pair of Armchairs, c.1901
House for an Art Lover Competition Folio, 1902
Wall Light, c.1895
Wrought iron and enamel Fire Dogs, (made for Blackwell), c.1889
Barrel Chair, c.1900

pictures © Isabelle Lomholt

A Quote from the Chief Executive

‘The Lakeland Arts Trust thanks Pit and Johnny Rink for their generous gift to Blackwell which will be a wonderful addition to the stunning White Drawing Room and delight our visitors for many years to come. This distinctive piece complements our existing collection of Baillie Scott furniture helping to show the development of this acclaimed master craftsman.’ Gordon Watson, Chief Executive, The Lakeland Arts Trust

Thanks

The Trust would like to thank Johnny and Pit Rink for purchasing this rare chair for the collection. We would also like to thank The Millinery Works Ltd for their assistance in purchasing the piece and Magpie Services for bringing it to Blackwell.

Blackwell, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3JT
Telephone: 015394 46139
www.blackwell.org.uk
Open daily 10.30am – 5.00pm
Admission: Adult – £7.20
Children FREE

Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry, Blackwell, The Arts & Crafts House and the Windermere Steamboat Project are managed by Lakeland Arts (registered charity no 1153001)

pictures © Isabelle Lomholt

More information re Blackwell – The Arts and Crafts House in Cumbria online soon

Baillie Scott

Cumbria Buildings

Key older buildings in Cumbria:

Broad Leys, Windermere by Voysey
Cragwood, Windermere by Frank Dunkerley
High Ground, Manesty, Borrowdale by Baillie Scott
The East window of Jesus Church, Troutbeck by William Morris, Ford Madox Brown and Burne-Jones

Location: Blackwell, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3JT, England, UK

Cumbrian Architecture

Architecture in Cumbria

Furness College, Barrow-in-Furness
Design: Broadway Malyan

Windermere Steamboat Museum

picture from RIBA

Lawson Park, Lake District
Design: Sutherland Hussey Architects

image from architects

Lake District house, Windermere
Design: Sutherland Hussey Architects

image from architects

Grizedale Forest Education Centre, Lake District
Design: Sutherland Hussey Architects

image from architects

Ullswater Yacht Club : Lake District Architecture Contest Entry by studio octopi

image from architects

English Architect

Whitehaven Harbour Architecture Contest, Cumbria

Buildings / photos for the Blackwell – The Arts and Crafts House page welcome

England