Designed for the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow. 'A very sturdy but not particularly comfortable chair, used in the ground floor saloons, the Gallery and the Smoking room... Their boxy shape contrasts with the taller and more open ladder-backs arranged alongside them in the layout of furniture which Mackintosh devised.' (Roger Billcliffe). Reupholstered in blue horsehair 1984 (the original upholstery on these and the Willow settle was a green and gold striped horsehair). This item was assessed for conversation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access project (2006-2010), and then again in 2018 following the fire in the Mackintosh Building in June 2018.
This item was lost in the fire in The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art on 23rd May 2014. Designed for the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow. These chairs do not appear in any contemporary photographs but the provenance suggests that they came from the Willow Tea Rooms as the Grosvenor Restaurant owned Willow furniture. Reupholstered in blue horsehair 1985. This item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).
Designed for the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow. This clock does not appear in any of the contemporary photographs of the Willow Tea Rooms, but the materials suggest that it was designed for the Billiards or Smoking Rooms, or the Black Saloons, which all had dark schemes of decoration. The projecting panels at the back are identical with those on the clock designed for the Ball dining room in Berlin. The front is hinged and opens to show shelves. This item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).
Designed as the order desk, at the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow. 'One of the most impressive and novel of Mackintosh's chairs, it stood in the centre of the ground floor saloons, isolated and defining the point at which the white Front Saloon became the dark Back Saloon. Designed six months before the curved screen at Hous'hill, it plays the same role in acting as a transparent division between two spaces which are actually part of the same room... The front of the seat also serves as a small locker or chest... The chest was provided for the supervisor who took orders from the waitresses and passed them to the kitchen by dropping coloured balls, coded to each dish on the menu, down a tube to the kitchen below.' (Roger Billcliffe). Reupholstered in brown horsehair 1984 (the settle was originally upholstered in a green and gold striped horsehair, matching the Willow armchairs). This item was assessed for conversation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access project (2006-2010), and then again in 2018 following the fire in the Mackintosh Building in June 2018.
