Mackintosh Lady with Rose Pendant

DESIGNER'S NOTES

This classic silver plated pendant features an element from a menu design by the Scottish architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928).

The tea room menu designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for a temporary exhibition around 1900 exemplifies his synthesis of function and symbolism.

The stylised woman and rose motif unites themes of purity, refinement, and renewal central to his visual philosophy. The woman’s elongated form and geometric drapery harmonise with the linear architecture of the page, turning utilitarian design into aesthetic experience.

The rose, often associated with spiritual growth and feminine mystery, recurs as a symbolic counterpoint, softening the composition’s structure. Mackintosh’s restrained palette, mirrors his interiors for Miss Cranston’s tea rooms, where atmosphere shaped emotion. The menu’s design anticipates modern branding, merging art, architecture, and identity within a single decorative language.

STYLING

The pendant is a few centimetres in diameter with a 450mm chain, so style outside high necklines, or against the skin with lower necklines. Wear with jewellery of similar scale, such as a simple silver bracelet.