House for an Art Lover vase

House for an Art Lover 16-inch prestige vase

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald designed the ‘House for an Art Lover’ in 1901 as an entry for a competition set by a German magazine. The rules stated that “it is permissible and even desirable that an Architect and a Decorative Artist of modern tastes develop and submit the design jointly”. This meant that Charles and Margaret could work together on their submission.

Unfortunately, their design was disqualified because of the late entry of its interior views. For more than 80 years, the competition entry existed only on paper, until in 1989 the idea to build the House for an Art Lover finally took shape. Over the next seven years builders strove to achieve the “pronounced personal quality, novel and austere form and the uniform configuration of interior and exterior” for which the Macintoshes’ design had been lauded.

In 1996, House for an Art Lover opened and today visitors journey to see this modern creation of the Mackintoshes’ design. Moorcroft Pottery designers Emma Bossons and Kerry Goodwin were bowled over not only by the size and scale of the building itself, but also by the crisp, white modern interiors and the colourful gardens that surround the house.

Moorcroft’s prestige House for an Art Lover vase sees both Emma and Kerry as joint designers, just as Charles and Margaret were 121 years ago. Kerry began work on the design, recreating the building with its numerous windows, and ornate frontice panel of two women carved in stone. Emma then took over, adding the flowers, Scottish thistles and blue birds, to bring colour and movement to the Mackintoshes’ architectural gem.

The final result – a prestige vase that celebrates both architecture and the decorative arts in equal measure – is the very thing that the original 1901 competition set out to achieve.

Adapted from Moorcroft’s description 

House for an Art Lover comes in a numbered edition.