Metalwork by 'The Four'
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of over 280 pieces of metalwork that relate to the artists known collectively as 'The Four' – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his future wife Margaret Macdonald, her younger sister Frances Macdonald and her future husband James Herbert McNair. These works date from the late 19th to early 20th century. This collection includes 15 pieces of metalwork designed or made by The Four and 265 items of cutlery designed by Mackintosh for Miss Cranston's tearooms. The emphasis of the collection is on the studio work of the Macdonald sisters from between 1895 and 1898. The museum acquired 10 important early pieces of respoussé metalwork as part of the Alice Talwin Morris gift in 1939 and 1946. This gift includes key works such as the 'Honesty Mirror', a pair of large beaten metal brass candlesticks by Frances Macdonald, a pair of sconces entitled 'Morning' and 'Night', and five bespoke frames for works executed by the sisters: 'Summer and Winter' by Margaret and 'Spring, Autumn' and 'The Sleeping Princess' by Frances. The collection later acquired a pair of beaten metal panels, one by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh and one by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, as part of The Ladies' Luncheon Room at the Ingram Street Tearooms. The collection also holds a pair of candlesticks designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and made by David Hislop for The Hill House, Helensburgh and a cast bronze Mary Kingsley medal part designed by James Herbert MacNair for the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
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