CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928) FOR MISS CRANSTON'S WILLOW TEAROOMS
PAIR OF EBONISED OAK 'LADDER BACK' CHAIRS, CIRCA 1903
£90,000
Auction: 29 October 2014 at 11:00 GMT
Description
the high back with thirteen gently bowed rectangular horizontal splats, the seat opening out at the front, square section legs joined by five cylindrical stretchers, later oak framed drop-in seat and rushing (2)
Dimensions
104.5cm high, 44.5cm wide, 38.3cm deep
Footnote
Provenance:
Miss Cranston's Willow Street Tea Rooms, Glasgow, Scotland
Private Collection, London
Literature: Billcliffe, Roger, 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh: The Complete Furniture Drawings & Interior Designs', Moffatt 2009, pp 150-165, illus. 1908.8 and in situ at 1903 C; D; E; F; J; H & I
Note: Mackintosh had produced versions of the traditional ladderback chair before, first for David Gauld in 1893 and then as a bedroom chair at Windyhill in 1901. This understated and deceptively simple design of 1903, for Miss Cranston's new Willow Tearooms in Sauchiehall Street, is his most successful treatment of this vernacular form. The dark wood against by the pale walls and tablecloths of the tearoom interiors accentuating the striking lines of this one of Mackintosh's most recognisable chairs.