Basket of Flowers Coaster

A melamine drinks coaster with cork back featuring the Basket of Flowers textile design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which is in the Hunterian collection.

This design was produced during the years the Mackintoshes were living in London, 1915-1923. Mackintosh produced a series of these stylised bouquets of flowers, painted on a black background. Boldly simplified, vividly coloured and set against black backgrounds, these densely patterned compositions were exhibited as works of art in their own right, and also intended for use as textile designs. They combine the deliberation of the later flower paintings with the formal patterns and stylisation of flowers of his textile designs.