International studio (56.1915)

In Memoriam: Charles > Edward Mallows


of purely artistic work. Like Turner, who might
have become one of England’s foremost architects
had he continued his earliest studies, Mallows
would have won a different sort of immortality by
changing his ground. One can speculate, as he
used to do, on the direction in which his fancy
would have led him. Lithography would have
appealed to him and so would pastel. He would
have preferred water-colours to oils, probably,
and landscape painting would have attracted him
more than figure work. His love of Nature
would have taken him to the country and the
sea, where his sense of colour would have found
expression in countless charming records. But
it is useless to carry this train of thought any
further. What Mr. Mallows did not do is only
an exercise in imagination, a matter of some
regret, perhaps, in view of his artistic abilities :
what he actually accomplished was worthy of
him and that is the first consideration.
At the Royal Academy Schools, Mallows was
a promising student of architecture, and though
he did not attain foremost rank there he gained

COTTAGE AT BIDDENHAM:
STAIRCASE WINDOW. DE
SIGNED BY C. E. MALLOWS,
F.R.I.B.A.
were made primarily with
the object of explaining
his ideas for the benefit of
clients. That they hap-
pened to be beautiful in
themselves was satisfactory
to him as well as to those
who saw them; but it was
the fundamental design
they embodied which came
first in his estimation.
Had this not been so he
would have been draughts-
man first and architect
afterwards, a thing con-
trary to his scheme of life.
It is easy to see what would
have happened if he had
not been sure of his
mission. He would have
followed the promptings
of his pencil and the per-
suasions of some of his
friends and would have
put aside the practical
purpose of architectural
draughtsmanship in favour
228


INTERIOR OF A HOUSE IN KENT, FROM THE DRAWING-ROOM, ACROSS THE HALL
TO THE DINING-ROOM. DESIGNED BY C. E. MALLOWS, F.R.I.B.A.