Charles Rennie Mackintosh writing desk returns home to the Hill House

A writing desk designed at the turn of the 20th century by Charles Rennie Mackintosh has returned to the Hill House, its original home.

The elegant drawing room writing desk was commissioned by publisher Walter Blackie, the first owner of the Mackintosh-designed and built Hill House in Helensburgh. 

Like much of the furniture in the drawing room, it was designed by Mackintosh and constructed by Alex Martin.

Designed in 1904 and made the following year from ebonised mahogany with insets of mother of pearl, ivory, and glass, it is referred to by some as the kimono desk due to its shape. 

It reflects Mackintosh’s interest in Japanese design and incorporates delicate rose petal details and a beautiful steel and enamelled leaded-glass panel that may have been designed by Mackintosh’s wife and collaborator, Margaret Macdonald.

The desk is jointly owned by the National Trust for Scotland, which cares for the Hill House, and Glasgow City Council. 

‘We’re delighted that through this partnership, visitors to the Hill House will be able to view this iconic piece of furniture back in its original home once more,’ Louise Baker from NTS said.

‘Research by Mackintosh experts shows that there were several alternative designs for the desk, which suggests that Blackie and Mackintosh had many conversations about the shape and style. 

‘Mackintosh also made himself a replica so it must have been a piece he particularly liked. It’s a beautiful piece that fits so well in the Hill House, and we hope that visitors enjoy seeing it as part of our collection here.’

In recent years, the desk has been on display in the Mackintosh and Glasgow Style gallery at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which is operated by Glasgow Life Museums.

It will be at home in the Hill House for approximately two years, until it moves back to Kelvingrove when the comprehensive restoration project of the interior of the house is expected to begin in 2027.

A £1.1 million package of development funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund has been pledged to the National Trust for Scotland as the first step towards the ambitious Mackintosh Illuminated project, which aims to celebrate the genius of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald. 

With both the Hill House and Mackintosh at the Willow in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, the conservation charity has two of the couple’s most important surviving, publicly accessible masterpieces of design in its portfolio.

Mackintosh Illuminated will help make Mackintosh and Macdonald better known and appreciated both internationally and at home through the creation of an online learning resource, as well as an expanded programme of property-based community and education work in both Helensburgh and Glasgow. 

The project also aims to encourage more people to visit the Hill House and Mackintosh at the Willow to get a richer picture of the couple’s skill and versatility, and importantly, it supports the vital conservation work at the Hill House which, since the property’s completion in 1904, has been afflicted with chronic damp. 

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