An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection. When the dividing partition between the reception and music rooms was removed, these two elevations would have faced each other. The piano with its fantastic superstructure, is on of Mackintosh's most elaborate inventions, based on the organ at Craigie Hall (Roger Billcliffe). 'This instrument is before everything else a piece of decorative art, and is designed to match the rest of the room... four tall corner posts, crowned with groups of figures and reaching to the ceiling, form a sort of baldachin round it. The front is composed of an oval framework containing a tall thin female figure flanked by roses, with a pair of doves meeting overhead. This fanciful composition is supported artistically by two large decorative panels on the walls on either side of the piano, representing two highly spiritualised Astarte-like figures.' (Muthesius). The large projecting fireplace on the opposite wall is a more elaborate version of that in the Mains Street drawing room. Its decoration consists principally of a pair of tall upright candelabra; the inlaid panels above are by Margaret Macdonald.
