Side Chair (for Luncheon Room, Miss Cranston's Tea Rooms, Argyle Street, Glasgow, Scotland) (Primary Title)
Chair (for Catherine Cranston's Argyle Street Tearooms, Glasgow, Scotland) (Former Title)
Side Chair (for Luncheon Room, ‘Miss Cranston’s’ Tea Rooms, Argyle Street, Glasgow, Scotland) (Former Title)
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish, 1868 - 1928 (Designer)
Francis Smith and Son, Scottish (Glasgow), 1893 - 1952 (Maker)
This chair, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Catherine Cranston’s Argyle Street Tearooms in Glasgow, is one of his most important and famous models. Its unusual form and design place it among the noteworthy pieces of furniture of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. The Argyle Street Tearooms were Mackintosh’s first significant commission for interior design. A series of these chairs was made for the Luncheon Room at the Argyle Street location. The high back of the chair, which provided privacy for the sitter, also served an architectural function within the space. Mackintosh possessed eight or nine examples of this chair that he used in his own residences. He also displayed an identical chair in the Scottish section of the Eighth Vienna Secession Exhibition in 1900.
Marked on bottom of slip-seat: 12
Sydney and Frances Lewis Art Nouveau Fund
(similar example), Eighth Exhibition of Vienna Session, Vienna, 1900 (Nov. 3 - Dec. 27);
A related chair, like the VMFA example, was displayed at the Arts & Crafts Exhibition, London, 1899;
A related chair, like the VMFA example, was displayed at the Arts & Crafts Exhibition, London, 1899;
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
