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Come and visit us in storeWe'll bring HSL to you Request a visit and a highly experienced HSL Comfort Specialist will come to your home and assess you to find your perfect chair, tailored to fit your individual needs. Watch these videos to learn more about our commitment to great quality and service How our chairs are made What our customers say about us “Excellent service, no pressure to buy. All of my questions were answered to my satisfaction. Quality of goods were of a very high standard. Having shopped around we decided to buy and look forward to receiving our suite. Thank you so very much.” “My husband was very impressed with the quality and workmanship of the Linton chair.” “My elderley mother was treated with great respect and kindness by Garth. He explained everything about the chair and bed to us and was a credit to the company. She purchased both a bed and chair and we are delighted with the service that received.” “On each of our two visits we were dealt with with courtesy and efficiency.
We were put undo no pressure at all to make a purchase. We were able to take our time and make our own decisions. The advice we were given was both informative and helpful. It was a lovely cup of tea also!!” “We were very pleased with the speed of delivery, and the delivery men were very polite and helpful.” Mr. and Mrs. Swanborough “The assistant couldn't have been more helpful. I didn't feel pressured into anything, and felt very relaxed, “My husband who is recently out of hospital was shown a comfortable seat. I must commend your assistant, having been in the trade all of my working life I know good service when I see it. The suite we ordered came quick enough. “Very satisfactory, very welcoming, nice cuppa and biscuit. Could not fault the manner and obligingly helpful staff. Thank you, will recommend you to family and friends.”Mackintosh, Charles Rennie, born 1868 - died 1928 Place of origin:Glasgow (made)Date:1897-1900 (designed)Artist/Maker:Mackintosh, Charles Rennie, born 1868 - died 1928 (designer)Credit Line:Given by the Glasgow School of ArtMuseum number:CIRC.130:1, 2-1958Gallery location:British Galleries, Room 125, Edwin and Susan Davies Gallery, case 3 []
Object TypeThis high-back chair is one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's best-known designs. The parts are carefully shaped so that they alter in plan or section: most extraordinary are the back legs which are rectangular in plan at the base and then curve and taper upwards until they are circular in plan at the top. An explanation of the chair's appearance and design sources is not simple.PlacesThe chair was originally designed by Mackintosh for the Luncheon Room of the Argyle Street Tea Rooms in Glasgow. The owner, Kate Cranston, commissioned Mackintosh and the interior designer George Walton to decorate and furnish the rooms in 1897.Ownership & UseMackintosh used the same chairs in his own flat, which was designed by his wife, Margaret Macdonald, at 120 Mains Street, Glasgow in 1900. This example may have come from the dining room. It was one of six that remained in the collection of Margaret Macdonald upon her death in 1933.Design & DesigningMany of Mackintosh's designs for the Argyle Street Tea Rooms had their roots in traditional furniture types - ladder-back chairs, deep settees, wing chairs.
Although high-back chairs were fashionable around 1900, there is no obvious historical precedent for this particular design.Physical descriptionHigh backed stained oak chair with drop-in seat. The top rail is in the form of an oval splat pierced with a crescent shape suggestive of a bird in flight. The splat pierces the uprights of the chair, which are themselves shaped from oblong at their base to circular section at the top. The back of the chair is attenuated so the top rail is above the head of the sitter. The elongated back uprights, continuous with the back legs, together with the long back splats that extend below the seat rail to the low stretcher, accentuate the height of the chair. The drop-in seat is upholstered and rests on corner blocks within the frame. The rear stretcher of the chair is a large oak block, straight above with a crescent shaped curved base. This contrasts with the pairs of narrow dowel stretchers on the sides and between the front legs. The construction of the chair has been altered subtly in a way that affects its appearance.
Originally the back splats were screwed to the back rail of the seat from below the seat. This effectively pinched the splats into the seat invisibly, giving them a slight curve into the lumbar region of the sitter. At some point, probably to relieve associated pressure on the mortices securing the splats into the oval top rail, these screws have been removed. The back splats are now about 1cm behind the back rail of the seat, and have no inward curve.Place of OriginGlasgow (made)Date1897-1900 (designed)Artist/makerMackintosh, Charles Rennie, born 1868 - died 1928 (designer)Marks and inscriptionsThe frame of the chair is stamped or inscribed with a number. However, at the time of writing this catalogue entry, the chair is not available for inspection. Gareth Williams, 17 June 1999.DimensionsHeight: 136.5 cm, Width: 50.3 cm, Depth: 45.5 cmObject history noteMackintosh originally designed this chair as part of the commission to furnish and decorate the Luncheon Room of the Argyle Street Tea Rooms in Glasgow.
The owner Catherine 'Kate' Cranston commisioned Mackintosh and George Walton to decorate the rooms in 1897. The spatial arrangement of the Luncheon Room was undertaken by Walton who divided the long narrow room with 1.5 metre high partitions. Billcliffe suggests Mackintosh designed the high backs of the chairs so as not to be overwhelmed by the architecture (Billcliffe, 1979, p.47). Sixteen chairs of this design are visible in contemporary photographs of the Luncheon Room, although more chairs are known to have been made at a later date as a additions or replacements. In 1900, shortly after completing the Luncheon Room, Mackintosh married Margaret Macdonald and the couple set up home in a flat in 120 Mains Street, Glasgow. A contemporary photograph of the interior of the dining room shows a chair of this model. This chair was one of six that remained in the collection of Margaret Macdonald upon her death in 1933. This provenance suggests that this is one of the chairs used by the Mackintosh's in their home in Mains Street around 1900 (and at later homes), rather than a chair used in the Argyle Street Tea Rooms.
Billcliffe records that Mrs Napier inherited the chairs from Margaret Macdonald, or acquired them from her estate. She presented them to the Glasgow School of Art in 1933. This chair was given to the V&A by Glasgow School of Art in 1958.Descriptive lineHigh-backed oak chair, drop-in upholstered seat, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Britain, 1897-1900Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)Billcliffe, Roger. Charles Rennie Mackintosh: The Complete Furniture, Furniture Drawings and Interior Designs. Lutterworth Press, 1979 256p., ill. ISBN 0 7188 2376 1Western Furniture 1350 to the present day. London: Philip Wilson and V&A, 1996. ISBN 1 85667 443 5 Baker, Malcolm and Brenda Richardson (Eds.). A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Baltimore: Harry N. Abrams and The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1997, 432p., ill. ISBN 0 8109 3399 3 Baker, Malcolm and Richardson, Brenda, eds. A Grand Design : The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
London: V&A Publications, 1997. Greenhalgh, Paul Ed., Art Nouveau : 1890 - 1914. London: V&A Publications, 2000. Labels and dateCHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH The Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh was celebrated in Europe in the early 1900s, but his significance was overlooked in Britain until the 1950s (the V&A's first acquisition of his work was in 1956). A widespread recognition of his importance came only with the V&A's Centenary exhibition in 1968, ten years after the acquisition of this piece. Mackintosh had designed chairs of this rectilinear, elongated form for Miss Cranston's tearooms in Glasgow. When he married fellow artist and designer Margaret Macdonald in 1900, the couple re-used the design for their own dining chairs (of which this is probably an example). Production NoteNo maker is recorded for this model of chair. Roger Billcliffe suggests Francis Smith may have made replacement and additional chairs for the Argyle Street Tea Rooms, which are distinguishable from the first group of chairs (like this one) as they are of thicker construction.