International Decorative Art

The Newbery Frame

The Newbery Frame

Design Date 1916

Designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928, Scottish)

Media painted pine wood

Dimensions 25 1/2 x 17 3/4 x 4 inches

The concentric rectangles on the bottom half of The Newbery Frame are similar to those found in Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s 1916 designs for a Glasgow tea room called “The Dug-Out”. The frame was commissioned by Francis Newbery (1855–1946) from Mackintosh for one of Newbery’s own paintings. Newbery was headmaster of the Glasgow School of Art, housed in a building designed by Mackintosh. The present photo in the frame is of Mackintosh’s devoted wife, Margaret Macdonald (1864–1933), a very talented painter and decorative artist in her own right (photo taken c. 1900).

ON VIEW in ON VIEW in Art Nouveau Gallery 4

Markings unmarked

Accession Number 2004.2014