Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the White Dining Room

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH for the White Dining Room in Glasgow
Chair. Edition unknown.
Ash wood and leather.
Shows slight scuffs on the edges of the legs.
Measurements: 84 x 45 x 47 cm.
Chair crafted from black-lacquered ash wood and leather, based on the famous model designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the White Dining Room at the Ingram Street Tea Rooms in Glasgow, known as Ingram 834. This version, with a lower backrest, retains the characteristic slender structure of the original design, in which the rigorous geometry of the frame takes on a distinct architectural quality. The Glasgow School of Art’s own archives identify different versions of these chairs for the White Dining Room.The understated elegance of the black wood is a hallmark of Mackintosh's design, contrasting with the warmth of the seat upholstered in a rust-orange hue. The stylized proportions and minimal ornamentation foreshadow some of the principles that would make Mackintosh a key figure in design.
Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, and watercolorist who played a pivotal role in the Arts & Crafts movement and was also the leading exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He decided to pursue architecture at the age of just sixteen, and throughout his life he devoted himself to transforming the buildings, furniture, and art of Glasgow. He rose to fame after exhibiting his works at the 1900 Vienna Secession exhibition. Most of his work is housed at the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Design Museum, the Tate Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, among others.