Charles Rennie Mackintosh silver jewellery



Introduction

Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928) was a Glasgow-born architect who designed a number of famous buildings in Scotland and England. His angular, stylised take on Art Nouveau is world famous. Long after his death, various jewellery makers used Mackintosh as the inspiration for their designs. These pieces of jewellery, many of them made during the 1980s and 1990s, are now becoming collector’s items in their own right, and silver jewellery inspired by Mackintosh’s work is still being made today.

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A sterling silver ring in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Why Charles Rennie Mackintosh silver jewellery?

Like the original architectural designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the jewellery made in his style has several strong themes running through it, which make for extremely attractive and pleasing jewellery shapes. These themes include parallel lines and square cut-outs, juxtaposed with motifs from nature such as ears of wheat and flowers. Most famous among the flowers is the so-called Glasgow Rose (which is actually more of a rosebud than a rose in full bloom).

The sterling silver Mackintosh-inspired pieces are also generally of very high quality, with a very good standard of workmanship.

Another thing worth bearing in mind: although sterling silver is a precious metal, it is very keenly priced compared to gold. If you’ve got any money spare, it can’t do any harm to buy some silver as an investment.

There are/were several designers who have used Charles Rennie Mackintosh motifs in their work. Here is a selection (if you know of any more, please tell me).

Ola M. Gorie

Born in the Orkney Islands in the 1930s, Ola Gorie started designing jewellery in the Sixties and the family-run company – based in the Orkney Islands’ capital, Kirkwall – is still going today. Ola Gorie has received several awards for her services to the British jewellery industry, including the MBE in 1999.

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Carrick

This company is a bit of a mystery. As far as I could find out, it’s no longer trading but if you know different, please get in touch! Nonetheless, I can tell you that if you find a piece of Mackintosh-inspired silver jewellery that’s stamped with the initials CJL, then it’s by Carrick.

Kit Heath

British jewellery designer Kit Heath is still very much in business and is now head of an international company with offices in Devon (UK), Germany and the US. Silver items made by Kit Heath will often be stamped with the initials KH.

Ortak

Like Ola Gorie, Ortak is another Orkney-based company, which was founded in the 1960s by designer Malcolm Gray and is still going today, selling jewellery and giftware via its website and retail outlets in Scotland and the north of England.

Final word

Most pieces of silver Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired jewellery that you find are around twenty years old or less, which means that they can only just be classed as “vintage”, never mind antique. But the craftsmanship with which they’re made, combined with the strong, attractive design, means that they’re sure to become the collector’s items of the future.

© The Silver Snake 2016. This article formerly appeared on HubPages.

PS: I recommend Charles Rennie Mackintosh (the Pitkin Guide) by Fiona Davidson. It’s a fantastically informative guide to Mackintosh’s life and works. There are masses of colour illustrations, plus a timeline on the back. 30 pages long.