Description

Free-standing wrought iron lamp, located beside steps to main church doorway, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and erected around 1895.

Shaft comprises vertical rails with wider base and twisted ornamental tendrils; circular ornament and collar below raised lantern.

Statement of Interest

Skelmorlie Parish Church (LB7269) was designed by John Honeyman and opened in 1895. Although Honeyman was responsible for the design of the church, the style of some of the furnishings and fittings bear the stamp of Mackintosh who was working as an assistant in the architecture firm of John Honeyman & Keppie during this period. This wrought iron lamp standard and the session house stair are both designed in a distinctive style suggestive of Mackintosh's involvement.

The wrought iron lamp standard is very similar to the one shown in Mackintosh's 1896 perspective drawing of Martyrs Public School, Glasgow (LB32619). It is therefore considered that Mackintosh is the likely designer of this specific feature (Mackintosh Architecture).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was born in Glasgow and is regarded internationally as one of the leading architects and designers of the 20th century. He became known as a pioneer of Modernism, although his architecture took much inspiration from Scottish Baronial, and Scottish and English vernacular forms and their reinterpretation. The synthesis of modern and traditional forms led to a distinctive form of Scottish arts and crafts design, known as 'The Glasgow Style'. This was developed in collaboration with contemporaries Herbert McNair, and the sisters Francis and Margaret Macdonald (who would become his wife in 1900), who were known as 'The Four'. The Glasgow Style is now synonymous with Mackintosh and the City of Glasgow.

Mackintosh's work is wide-ranging and includes public, educational and religious buildings to private houses, interior decorative schemes and sculptures. He is associated with over 150 design projects, ranging from being the principal designer, to projects he was involved with as part of the firm of John Honeyman & Keppie (Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh from 1901). The most important work during this partnership was the Glasgow School of Art (LB33105), which was built in two phases from 1897 and culminated in the outstanding library of 1907.

As a draughtsman and later senior assistant at Honeyman & Keppie in the 1890s Mackintosh began designing significant features within larger schemes. The lamp standard at Skelmorlie Parish Church is an excellent example of Mackintosh's rising status within the practice as he was given the freedom to express his distinctive modern style in the design of individual fixtures.

Mackintosh's key works include the Willow Tea Rooms (LB33173), the Glasgow Herald Building (now The Lighthouse) (LB33087) and Hill House (LB34761), which display the modern principles of the German concept of 'Gesamtkunstwerk', meaning the 'synthesis of the arts'. This is something that Mackintosh applied completely to all of his work, from the exterior to the internal decorative scheme and the furniture and fittings.

Mackintosh left Glasgow in 1914, setting up practice in London the following year. Later he and Margaret moved to France, where until his death, his artistic output largely turned to textile design and watercolours.

Listed building record updated in 2019.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17569625

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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