£20,000 discovery leaves other designs in the shade

KERRY Wallace checks over a rare re-discovered candlestick, valued at £20,000, which is to be sold at auction by Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh.

The candlestick was designed by Margaret Macdonald, later wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and her sister Frances at their studio in Glasgow. Mackintosh was reported to have said of his wife: "Margaret has genius, I have only talent."

John Mackie, director and decorative arts specialist at Lyon & Turnbull said: "This is an impressive artefact in its conception and construction.

"The candlestick embodies many of the stylistic innovations that would contribute to and characterise the influential Glasgow Style. It is an exceptional example of what has been referred to as 'the poetic metalwork of the Macdonald sisters'."