WILLIAM MCTAGGART RSA RSW (SCOTTISH 1835 - 1910),
THE PORTRAIT OF JAMES TEMPLETON, FOUNDER OF TEMPLETON CARPETS, GLASGOW
oil on canvas, signed and dated 1877
75cm x 62cm
Framed.
Label verso: Frost & Reed, 41 New Bond Street, London. Inscribed with Stock No. R12845 and dated 4-10-60
Note: William McTaggart was born in the Campbeltown area (Mull of Kintyre), as was James Templeton who was a farmer's son born in 1802. In his youth Templeton came to Glasgow to work in a draper's shop and by 1823 he had moved to Liverpool, and soon after obtained a lucrative post in Mexico where he made enough money to return to Scotland and start his own business. Initially he opened a shawl factory in Paisley, in 1829. In 1837, through contact with another shawl manufacturer, William Quigley, a new process was invented for processing chenille, a standard fabric for shawls, into compact C-shaped tufts which were both very soft and preserved their shape very well, enabling complex patterns to be created. Templeton immediately saw this as ideal for carpet manufacture. The ensuing carpet firm of "James Templeton & Son" was established in Bridgeton in 1839. The original factory was on King Street (now Redan Street) but burned down in 1856. In 1857 a new factory was built on William Street (later renamed Templeton Street). The factory specialised in "picture carpets", such as the Twelve Apostles Carpet which they exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. James Templeton died in 1885 and is buried in the upper part of Glasgow Necropolis.