Charles Rennie Mackintosh Oak Armchair

An original oak high back armchair by the renowned designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. From the arts and crafts period and more specifically the Glasgow school as pioneered by Mackintosh. Well made in solid oak with all of the characteristic design features you would expect. The " C R Mackintosh" stamp is located on the back rail at seat height. This is a rare opportunity to acquire an original Mackintosh piece. The armchair is in very good original condition, with a good mellow colour and patina. It stands well, free from all wobbles.

Dimensions:

Width 57cms

Depth 47cms

Overall height 107cms

Seat height 46cms

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928) was one of the most significant figures in the history of Arts & Crafts Furniture, and a major influence on the Art Nouveau movement. A talented architect, designer and artist, he was central to the development of the Glasgow Style of design. He had few clients, yet his distinctive stained glass panels elegant Victorian dining chairs are known the world over.

Mackintosh was apprenticed to architects Honeyman and Keppie in 1889, also studying at the Glasgow School of Art. His first major architectural commission was the Glasgow Herald Building (1894), which showed amazing innovation and maturity.

Antique bookcases and the Glasgow School

Mackintosh believed that designers and architects should have freedom of expression, and began experimenting with design, aided by his friends Herbert MacNair and Frances and Margaret Macdonald (who he later married). Dubbed the Spook School, they established the Glasgow Style.

In 1896 Mackintosh, was awarded a major commission to design a new wing for the Glasgow School of Art. Constructed in two stages, it was Mackintosh’s most important work, containing baronial Scottish, rustic Japanese and many other elements. The Library is a complex geometry of timber posts and beams, complemented by dark slender antique bookcases and elegantly pierced chairs.

The Victorian dining chairs of the Cranston tearooms

Mackintosh’s best-known works were for Catherine Cranston, who commissioned him for her tearooms between 1896 and 1917. He was allowed complete freedom of expression, providing everything from the light fittings to the cutlery. The dramatic high-backed Victorian dining chairs, so prized by collectors, are still copied by designers today.

Another important commission was Hill House, for publisher Walter Blackie. However, Mackintosh had only a few patrons, his ethic of total design making him unpopular with clients. His last public commission was a Glasgow school, in 1906. Further work followed, but it was largely met with indifference.

Mackintosh moved to London, where he began working in a bold new abstract style. However, it largely went unnoticed. Today, of course, his genius is recognised.