Lot 318
SIR ROBERT MATTHEW
PAIR OF SIDE TABLES
Auction: 22 April 2009 at 12:00 BST
Description
birch, each with rectangular tops above projecting supports (2)
Dimensions
91cm long, 61cm high, 52cm wide
Footnote
Provenance; Sir Robert Matthew and thence by descent
Lyon & Turnbull Decorative Arts sale, November 3rd 2004
Note; Robert Matthew was brought up in Edinburgh, the son of John Matthew who was the partner of Sir Robert Lorimer (1864 - 1929) and who had built several buildings for the University of Edinburgh on their King's Buildings campus. Matthew was educated at Edinburgh College of Art and was apprenticed with his father's firm in the 1930s. In 1936 Matthew joined the Department of Health in Scotland, where he rose to become their Chief Architect by 1945. In 1946, he was appointed Architect to London County Council, but returned to Edinburgh to become the first Professor of Architecture at the University there (1953-1968). At this time he was responsible for advising the University on the redevelopment of George Square, together with designing of some of the buildings ( the David Hume Tower is one example).
He established the architectural practice of Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall (RMJM), with Sirrat Johnson-Marshall, in Edinburgh and London in 1956. The company now operates internationally, with more than 400 employees, and remains the largest architectural practice in the UK. The company has recently been involved in projects such as the Scottish Executive offices at Victoria Quay in Leith (1995), the Millenium Wheel, between the Union and Forth and Clyde Canals, (2002) and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood (2003).
Matthew is perhaps best known as the designer of London's Festival Hall and of Pakistan's new capital of Islamabad. He served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the International Union of Architects and the Commonwealth Association of Architects.