BY WILLIAM ATKINSON, CIRCA 1820, IN THE MANNER OF GEORGE BULLOCK

Following an early career as a Durham carpenter, William Atkinson (d. 1839) trained in the London office of the celebrated architect James Wyatt, eventually succeeding him as Architect to the Board of Ordnance. By circa 1800, Atkinson had achieved independence and went on to become a prominent country house architect, receiving prestigious commissions, including to design and furnish a residence at St. Helena for the defeated Emperor Napoleon. Some of Atkinson's undertakings in furniture design are documented in drawings held in the family archives at Scone Palace, Perthshire, which he reconstructed for the 3rd Earl of Mansfield. The drawings demonstrate a translation of Atkinson's baronial antique Gothic architectural style into furniture design; several were published in the sale catalogue from Christie's London, 'Scone Palace and Blairquhan', 24 May 2007. The use of brass mounts and inlay and rosette-headed bolsters to articulate the ornament of the side cabinet supports the supposition that it was influenced by, or the product of a collaboration with, the cabinet-maker George Bullock (d. 1818). Bullock's influence is further seen in the architectural composition, which is prominently less Gothic than the majority of Atkinson's designs. Atkinson and Bullock certainly collaborated on the interiors of Abbotsford, Roxburghshire, home of Sir Walter Scott, where letters demonstrate a close working relationship between the pair.