CR Mackintosh - Dining room

Charles Rennie CR Mackintosh The Drive dining room furniture and interior design scheme for the Drive

By Mackintoshs' well published standards this is a forgotten interior, designed late in his career. While working on his last major commission in 1916, at Derngate in Northampton, he was asked to redesign a dining room for another house in the town.

The result is this beautifully restrained interior scheme in late Mackintosh style in what is a typically Victorian high ceilinged room. Most of the main Mackintosh touches are still to be found here ;- The plate rack forms a continuous horizontal line around the room, the emphasis on verticals in the bookcase doors, fireplace, the wall stencils and back wall panels. The use of inlay on the furniture, the dark stained furniture of his later years. Stylistically this is close in style to the dining room at Derngate.

Mackintosh is too often seen as apart from the rest of the Arts & Crafts Movement, which is not the case, and interiors such as this prove he was still working close this style to the end - with his own stylistic touches. This room feels close to other Arts & Crafts designers, such as Lloyd Wright, etc, especially with the use of Oak for all the interior furniture and woodwork. The stencils feel closer to Frank LLoyd Wright, with their abdstract, almost Art Deco styling & colours.

We had the rare treat to actually visit this interior and measure all of the pieces, and we are now able to reproduce any aspect you require, or a complete recreation of the room. From the furniture to the woodwork, painting and stencilling.

Charles Rennie CR Mackintosh dining room furniture and interior design scheme for the Drive Charles Rennie CR Mackintosh The Drive dining room furniture and interior design scheme for the Drive

The two cupboards either side of the fireplace are very elegant. The central door in the base conceals a coal scuttle, LH, or a wine cooler, RH. With display or bookshelves above. Mackintosh integrated these cupboards with the central fireplace section to produce a single unified design. The cupboard on the right still has the service bell in-situ. One of the real treats in this room are the 4 wall lights, hidden behind semi-circular doors with amber fasceted glass to provide a warm subdued light.

Charles Rennie CR Mackintosh The Drive dining room furniture and interior design scheme for the Drive Charles Rennie CR Mackintosh The Drive dining room painted stencil, furniture and interior design scheme for the Drive

The decoration in the rest of the room is typically superb. Mackintosh created a panelled effect with the use of vertical boards ( recalling the hallway at Hill House ), stencils and the horizontal plate rack. The hessian wallpaper in between was painted a warm yellow.

But it is the stencilled designs that really lift the whole room visually. The design is modern abstract in the extreme, looking like Aztec or modern computer art ( it even recalls the ladder back chairs at Hill House ). The colours pick out the fireplace tiles. It is guessed that Mackintosh had blinds fitted in the Victorian bay windows, and that these were also painted and stencilled to match the walls. The effect must have looked stunning, creating a totally visually panelled room in such a striking fashion. Again, we will produce the stencils should you wish to do a complete room in this style.




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