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Miss Catherine Cranston c. 1903
In 1875 Stuart Cranston, who was a seller of fine teas offered customers the opportunity to sit at tables and try some of his blends for twopence. Cakes and bread were extra. Three years after this, his sister Kate opened the first Glasgow Tea Room at Argyle Street. " Tea Room" wa the quaint Glasgow term for an establishment that served light refreshment that elsewhere might be called a cafe, coffee shop, or refreshment room.
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The Vienna Cafe, London 1897
To understnd the vision of Mackintosh's work today one needs context. This image of the Vienna Cafe in London from 1897 provides a window into the preferred Late Victorian style of the period. When compared to the next image which is a recreation of the Ladies Luncheon Room of the Ingram Street Tea Rooms, one can better appreciate Mackintosh's great leap forward.
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Ladies Luncheon Room Ingram Street Tea Rooms - Reconstruction
The Ingram Street Tea rooms existed in some fashion until 1950. From the 1950's on the rooms were owned by the Glasgow City Council where they were used for storage and also served as a souvenir shop. The rooms were dismantled in the early 1970's prior to the building's demolition by a team of experts including a group from Mackintosh's old firm of Honeyman and Keppie. The city transferred the tearooms to Glasgow Museums in 1978.
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Willow Tea Rooms Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
In 1903 Miss Cranston opened tea rooms on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow's street of swank shops and large department stores. They were called the Willow Tea Rooms and Mackintosh was given the total task of exterior and interior renovation.
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Willow Tea Rooms Exterior Detail
Above the front entrance (which is now a jewelry store on the ground floor) is a horizontal curtain of windows that defined the exterior of the Salon de Luxe. In 1983 Anne Mulhern recreated the Salon de Luxe in the original location and the Willow Street Tea Rooms was reborn. Further restoration brought the building back very close to what it had been when it opened for business in 1904.
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Chair For The Order Desk
This particular design has become one of the iconic symbols of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It was made in ebonized oak and had a removable seat so that ladies could store their hats underneath. The grid pattern forms a subtle stylized willow tree.
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Willow Tea Rooms Main Gallery
Today one can enjoy coffee, tea and cakes in the restored Tea Gallery. Originally on the ground floor there was a Ladies Tea Room and beyond that a Luncheon Room for both men and women. Off the Tea Gallery and through beautiful leaded glass doors one enters the Salon de Luxe facing Sauchiehall Street. This was exclusively a Ladies Room.
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Willow Tea Rooms Salon de Luxe
This is an exquistely feminine space and probably designed with much input from Margaret. In this image we can see the curtain of windows that was visible from Sauchiehall Street. The room was met with some derision by the press and art critics after it first opened. Non plussed, Catherine Cranston continued to commission Mackintosh for further work even after he was falling out of favor.
