Is this really the way to treat Mackintosh’s musical masterpiece?
MoS tracks down priceless organ...left lying in dozens of pieces in a dusty lock-up on a grim industrial estate
IN his long career, artist and architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh only designed a single musical instrument.
Crafted from mahogany in the ‘Glasgow Style’ for which he was famous, the magnificent pipe-organ was built for a tycoon’s mansion.
Priceless and unique, the 1897 organ is hailed by experts as being an ‘internationally important’ example of the designer’s work.
Yet far from being given pride of place in a museum, The Scottish Mail On Sunday can reveal that the Mackintosh organ has suffered an extraordinary fate. Dismantled and covered in bubble-wrap, it is gathering dust in a lock-up on a Glasgow industrial estate.
Mackintosh designed the organ for Craigie Hall in Pollokshields. The A-listed mansion was the residence of Sir Thomas Mason, the Victorian building entrepreneur whose company constructed Glasgow’s City Chambers.
When the house fell into disrepair, officials from Glasgow City Counyesterday: cil and Historic Scotland said they had to step in and rescue the organ, using ‘emergency’ powers to remove it. They feared it faced ruin, having suffered serious dry rot and vandalism while the building lay unoccupied.
But little has been seen of the organ for the past three years. In 2014, a senior official at Historic Scotland announced the intention to remove it from the building and restore it, before installing it in the redeveloped Kelvin Hall.
It was hoped it could provide a focal point for CRM 150 next year, a celebration of Mackintosh to mark the 150 years since his birth.
However, it is currently still in storage.
Niall Murphy, chairman of the Pollokshields Heritage Trust which opposed the organ’s removal, previously described it as ‘one of the key pieces of the Glasgow Style, of European, if not international, importance’.
Told of the organ’s plight, he said ‘It would be tragic if this instrument was to be lost for ever.
‘We originally wanted it retained in the house but we moved on once we lost the argument and welcomed the news that it would be looked after and turned into the centrepiece of an exhibition.
‘Frankly, this is something we should be showing off to the world – and now we discover it’s sitting in pieces at the back of an industrial unit. This is a thoroughly depressing outcome.’
The unit is owned by an organ restorer, but we have chosen not to identify him or the location for security reasons.
But he assured us the instrument was not in danger of deterioration as its parts had been wrapped in acid-free paper and bubble-wrap. He said: ‘It is a lovely organ. It’s just a shame it is not on display. When we got it, there were spores and red dust all over it.
‘I had never seen one like it. It has a lot of features I’ve not seen anywhere else. It’s just a pity it’s lying at the back of our store.’
Stuart Robertson, president of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, said: ‘We still have an issue with the organ’s removal from Craigie Hall in the first place.
‘You create a precedent when you remove important fixtures and fittings from an A-listed property. It would be nice to see it restored so it can go on display.’
Local MSP Nicola Sturgeon opposed the organ’s removal in 2014 – but backed down when she received assurances that it would go to a museum.
Last night, the First Minister’s spokesman said: ‘She is concerned to hear the Mackintosh organ has not yet found a permanent home where it can be protected and enjoyed by the public. She will be contacting Historic Scotland and [cultural body] Glasgow Life to find out their plans.’
A spokesman for Glasgow Life, said: ‘Work has not been commissioned or procured on the restoration of the organ. It is currently in storage and we would prefer not to give a precise location for security reasons.
‘Our current plans for the celebration of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 2018 will not see the organ on display. It is our hope the restored organ will be on display at Kelvingrove in 2019.’