Restorers hope Mackintosh silver serves up tasty price

Trust recreating Glasgow tea rooms to benefit by up to £20,000

A silver fork and spoon designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh will be auctioned to help restore tea rooms he also created.

The cutlery, valued at £15,000-£20,000, will go under the hammer at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh later this month, with the proceeds going to The Willow Tea Rooms Trust in Glasgow.

The fork and spoon were part of a 12-place setting of dining cutlery commissioned by artists Jessie and Fra Newbery in 1902 as a gift from her parents.

Each set contained a

“I admire the work to ensure the legacy of Mackintosh”

soup and dessert spoon, dinner and dessert fork, withknives suppliedfroma stock pattern.

The silver forkandspoon were donated by Celia Sinclair, founder and chair of The Willow Tea Rooms Trust, which has been created to restore the building in Sauchiehall Street.

The Willow Tea Rooms opened in October 1903, with Mackintosh at work designing it from the start of that year, if not earlier.

The trust bought the premises in 2014 and as well as the restored tea rooms, it plans a Mackintosh visitor centre.

It will also highlight the achievements of Catherine Cranston, widely known as justMiss Cranston, anearly female entrepreneur who ran another three cafes.

John Mackie, decorative arts specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, said: “I greatly admire the work the trust has undertaken to ensure the legacy of Mackintosh will be here for future generations to enjoy.”

Jessie Newbery was a Scottish artist and embroiderer, and was one of the artists known as the Glasgow Girls. She created the department of embroidery at the Glasgow School of Art, and married Fra Newbery, director of the school, in 1889.

Under Mr Newbery’s leadership, the school developed an international reputation and he helped commissionMackintosh as architect for the famous School of Art building.

The cutlery was made by DW Hislop, a Glasgow silversmith who worked with Mackintosh.

CRANSTON CUTLERY: Money from the auction of the Mackintosh fork and spoon will benefit The Willow Tearooms Trust in Glasgow