Taking afternoon tea at the Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) had previously produced design work for Catherine Cranston (1849-1934) for her tea rooms in Buchanan Street, Ingram Street and Argyle Street before being commissioned in 1903 to design her new tea rooms in Sauchiehall Street. The architect/designer made substantial changes to the front of the building which included installing the curved "fenetre en longeur", a room-wide window which spanned the Room de Luxe (shown here). He also changed the interior layout. He designed the decor, the fixtures and fittings, the furniture, the cutlery and even the waitresses' dresses.
Kate Cranston's sold her tea rooms after the First World War and the buildings were put to other uses. In 1983 the Room de Luxe was recreated using Mackintosh's designs and re-opened as the Willow Tea Rooms. In 1996 another of the original rooms, the Gallery, was also recreated.
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Reproduced with the permission of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board
Keywords:
afternoon teas, Art Nouveau, Glasgow Style, interior design, Room de Luxe, The Gallery, Willow Tea Rooms, women
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