Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Details
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
An important white oval side table, 1902 originally designed for 14 Kingsborough Gardens, Glasgow
the oval top with two inlaid ivory rose motifs, on four flat legs, each with pierced and craved details and supporting a single shelf
92.7cm. wide; 61cm. high; 49.5cm. deep
Provenance
Nancy Mackintosh, artist's sister
University of Glasgow
Literature
The Studio, Vol.XXVI, 1902, p.97 & 92, Rose Boudoir, Turin Exhibition; Edinburgh, 1968, p.52; (9) Howarth, p.12, interior of Main Street; (1) Billcliffe, 1901-02 & 1902.1; (2) Billcliffe, p.86
Exhibited
Toronto, 1967, no.32; Toronto, 1978, no.110; Washington, 1985, no.37

Lot Essay

A deceptively simple design, where Mackintosh has made great play on the simple oval shape of the table top. The flat legs extend the oval down to the ground and are pierced by similar ovoid shapes, in each of which is fixed another oval piece of wood which is also curved across the vertical axis. The undershelf is set back from the perimeter of the upper oval by elegant curves away from the legs. In the top two inlaid ivory roses echo the glass roses inlaid the doors of the two cabinets also designed for the room and the briar-rose wall stencils which encircle the room.

As with other pieces designed for 14 Kingsborough Gardens, Mackintosh reproduced this design for his own use and also made a third example without the ivory rose (Huntarian Art Gallery, Glasgow).

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