Lyon & Turnbull
Lot 75
* CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928) STAINED BIRCH DAY BED, CIRCA 1910 the rectangular seat having open arms at either end and with loose squab cushion upholstered in dark grey corduroy, the whole raised on rectangular block feet with applied panels to the front (replacements and restorations) 214cm long, 49cm high, 76cm deep Literature: Mackintosh Society Newsletter, 1993 Billcliffe, Roger, `Charles Rennie Mackintosh: The Complete Furniture Drawings & Interior Designs`, Moffatt 2009, page 260, illus. D1910.14A Note: The original design for this day bed survives in the Glasgow University Collection bearing the title `Couch in Ladies Common Room`. The wood is to be `in birch stained dark and waxed` and the upholstery of `mouse grey corduroy`. The design shows a fixed upholstered back, but is annotated by Fra Newbery with the comments that ` with a seat this width a stuffed or even padded back is not necessary at all / cushions can be hung along the wall at the back (from a little moulding) and movable cushions as many as are needed can be placed on the seat`. Once it had served its time in the Ladies` Common Room the couch was transferred to the Sculpture Room where it served as the model`s couch. In the mid 1960s the couch was briefly set alight by the heater which warmed the models, and banished to the basement of the School were it was saved from being thrown out by George Parsonage, a student at the time. Mr Parsonage used it in the boat shed of the Glasgow Humane Society on the banks of the Clyde, where it served as a stand for his rowing sculls.
