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Drawing

1904 (made)
Artist/Maker
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (maker)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

A design for a wardrobe for the Blue Bedroom. In the top right hand corner the front elevation and a fragment of the side elevation are depicted [part torn away], scale 1 inch to 1 foot. Below this there is a truncated elevation of decorative panels at the corners of the cabinet, with cross sections of details at intervals, and roughly rendered details of construction of the carcase, showing joints in section, full scale.

Object details

Categories
Drawings
Designs
Furniture
Scotland
Object type
Drawing
Materials and techniques
Pencil and watercolour
Paper
Pencil
Watercolour
Drawing
Brief description
Drawing by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, design for a wardrobe for the Blue Bedroom, pencil and watercolour, Great Britain, 1904
Physical description
A design for a wardrobe for the Blue Bedroom. In the top right hand corner the front elevation and a fragment of the side elevation are depicted [part torn away], scale 1 inch to 1 foot. Below this there is a truncated elevation of decorative panels at the corners of the cabinet, with cross sections of details at intervals, and roughly rendered details of construction of the carcase, showing joints in section, full scale.
Dimensions
  • Height: 88.5cm
  • Width: 33.2cm
Dimensions taken from Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1994
Style
Art Nouveau
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed in pencil 'Ebony inlay [deleted] omit' and with notes and a scale.
Gallery label
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)
Design for a wardrobe, 1904
Pencil and watercolour

Mackintosh designed this wardrobe for the Blue Bedroom at Hous'hill, Nitshill,
Glasgow, the home of Mrs. Catherine Cranston, teashop owner and Mackintosh patron.
Miss Cranston gave Mackintosh an almost free hand with the decoration of
the house which included far more furniture than the better-known Hill House.
The simple geometric shapes and dark colouring of the Blue Bedroom furniture
established the prototypes for Mackintosh's later pieces. Although Hous'hill was
demolished in the 1930s, this wardrobe, which was made by Francis Smith, was
sold at auction at Sotheby's.

The drawing shows the front of the wardrobe and a fragment of the side elevation
at the top right corner. An enlarged detail of the decoration of the left hand edge
appears below which incorporates glass inlays and wood panels. According to an
inscription, Mackintosh once considered ebony for these inlaid panels. The
drawing is in fact a rare example of a Mackintosh furniture design representing
both the whole object and details of the decoration. It is fully annotated by
Mackintosh with notes on construction. Indeed, the built wardrobe corresponds
very closely to the drawing, the joinery and dimensions varying slightly from the
design.
Credit line
Purchased with Art Fund support
Subjects depicted
Design
Elevations
Wardrobe
Association
Glasgow
Bibliographic references
  • Billcliffe, Roger. Charles Rennie Mackintosh : the complete furniture, furniture drawings & interior designs. London: J. Murray, 1986. 272pp, ill. ISBN 0719543185.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints, Drawings and Paintings Accession Register for 1994
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.109-1994

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Record createdApril 1, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O214124/drawing-charles-rennie-mackintosh/
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