Stickley Willow Bed

III
'O ye, all ye that walk in Willow-wood,
That walk with hollow faces burning white;
What fathom-depth of soul-struck widowhood,
What long, what longer hours, one lifelong night,
Ere ye again, who so in vain have wooed
Your last hope lost, who so in vain invite
Your lips to that their unforgotten food,

Ere ye, ere ye again shall see the light!
Alas! the bitter banks in Willowwood,
With tear-spurge wan, with blood-wort burning red:
Alas! if ever such a pillow could
Steep deep the soul in sleep till she were dead, —
Better all life forget her than this thing,
That Willowwood should hold her wandering!'

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s, The Four Willowwood Sonnets, third stanza

Stickley Willow Bed

Where does inspiration come from? From the heart. Let me explain.

Stickley's Willow Bed, part of the Metropolitan Collection, a solid wild black cherry lattice headboard - graceful, elegant, and serene, like the spreading branches of a Willow tree.

Mary Macdonald and Charles Rennie Mackintosh

The design is inspired by the Willow Chair, that Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Mary Macdonald Mackintosh created for the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow, Scotland. The Willow Tea Room in turn took its name from its location on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, two Scottish words meaning Willow Meadow.

That is half the story.

Willow Tea Room

At the heart of the Tea Room, overlooking the street, the Mackintoshes created a special dining room, the Salon de Luxe. Among the beautiful stained glass works designed by Margaret is the panel titled All Ye Who Walk in Willowood. Its theme is based on the third stanza of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s, The Four Willowwood Sonnets from The House of Life.

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. O Ye, All Ye Who Walk in Willowood

O Ye, All Ye Who Walk in Willowood

The sonnet opens with The Poet sitting with personified Love by a ‘woodside well.’ Upon Love’s touching of his lute, The Poet recalls the voice of his Lost Love, and begins to weep. His tears fall into the well, and the rippling of the water creates a vision of Love Lost. The poem continues, with contrasting themes of passion and sorrow, love and loss. Rossetti who, in turn, was inspired by the loss of his wife, and Dante Alighieri, who famously wrote about unattainable Love, personified by the real life Beata Beatrix.

The willow tree itself symbolizes the need to adjust with life, rather than fighting it, surrendering to the process. To sleep, perchance to dream of spring and love again.

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. O Ye, All Ye Who Walk in Willowood