Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Frederick P. Victoria & Son and the Famous Billy Baldwin Bookcase



Last week I posted about Ventry Ltd. and their Billy Baldwin Collection. I mentioned the Porter étagères- those famous brass bookcases that Billy Baldwin designed for Cole Porter's Waldorf apartment.

Tony Victoria of Frederick P. Victoria & Son was kind enough to provide me with the history of this piece. The brass étagère originated in the workshop of F.P. Victoria as a collaboration between Baldwin and the venerable furniture studio. The piece was inspired by an English Regency shelf unit that was owned by F.P. Victoria (the Baldwin étagère was obviously designed on a larger scale than the shelf unit). According to Victoria, what made the design of the étagère unusual was the fact that "in order to give the structure the maximum rigidity, there were half round moldings that formed an “X” attached to the underside of the shelves AND soldered to the leg post knuckles. This was no mean feat, requiring a specially tooled and conforming element to be made in order to permit the crossing member to get over the other one without a break. This design factor is, by the way, how one can tell originals from later copies: the latter just have moldings that butt up against each other on the underside and that are not soldered to the posts (if they have anything underneath the shelves at all), it being much too costly to do that work in more recent times."

The bookshelves were handmade in the F.P. Victoria studio by a craftsman named Julius DaSilva. Owing to the retirement of DaSilva , F.P. Victoria decided to give the patterns to Guerin, of which the owner was a close personal friend. And now in 2008, you can buy this design (or some semblance of it) from Frederick P. Victoria & Son, Inc., Guerin or Ventry Ltd .


Tony also emailed me various images and sketches of the original Regency piece and variations of the Porter étagère. If you didn't already want one of these before seeing these images, I think you will become a convert now!

(Image at top: Photo of the famous Billy Baldwin brass étagères in the apartment of Baldwin)


The piece that started it all: English Regency dumbwaiter that had been in the collection of F.P. Victoria and which inspired the Baldwin/Porter étagère. The shelves are made of rosewood.


A variation of the standard Porter étagère that was taller and held more shelves.


Another variation, this time made for Gary Stephenson, a noted antiques dealer. Victoria notes that this photo shows the versatility of the étagères.


A reference sketch of the Regency piece in the files of F.P. Victoria & Son, Ltd.

(All images were provided by and are in the collection of Frederick P. Victoria & Son, Ltd.)

18 comments:

  1. I did want them before and do, now, times two. The supports under the shelf are part of the appeal, don't you think?

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  2. Patricia- I know; after seeing these photos I wish I could have walls and walls of these étagères.

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  3. There's something pleasing and satisfying about tracing the origins of an iconic design. One realizes once again that nothing of is made from whole cloth. It all has to do with an evolved style based upon practical requirements. All great decorators work this way, or ought to.
    Great subject matter Peak, and excellent post! Might we have more of this kind of thing?

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  4. Toby- I'm glad you like this topic. I thought we might have lost you after yesterday's post. And yes, I think you will be seeing some future posts on this very subject.

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  5. How interesting. Thanks for this information.

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  6. These bookshelves have always held a fascination for me but I never envisioned the etagere that Baldwin referred to as looking quite like that. This is really interesting. In addition, I thought that I'd seen every photograph of this apartment but I have never seen this particular view with the blinds!

    Didn't Baldwin also design some wrapped willow bookshelves, similar to the Jean Michel Frank chair that he and Van Day Truex used so often? (Sister Parish had them in a study in one of her NYC apartments, during one of her more modern moments).

    Great post.

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  7. Fascinating. Perhaps the greatest bookcases of all time. Thanks for sharing more background. Oh and yes, I want some!

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  8. An interesting design evolution, but I must be alone in not being sold on these -- nice for someone else, not for me.

    Now the dumbwaiter, with its more faithful take on Regency elements, is really fine, and much superior to the bookcases -- unless maybe you have a post-war apartment with low ceilings and dark lacquer walls and great skyline view and a Jeeves on hand with his squeaky, brass-wheeled trolly, offering up Manhattans and whisking away the spent Pall Malls.

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  9. You're welcome Patricia!

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  10. Morris- The top photo was new to me too. I also like those willow wrapped bookcases and tables. Maybe I can get us some info on those.

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  11. Robert- After your description, I think I want that post-war apt with Jeeves and the drinks cart. Sounds pretty good to me ;)

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  12. I like the larger variation, but about 15 years ago in a French design magazine (can't remember which one) there was an article on a local artist and his studio was lined with 4 or 5 rows of similar, monsterous retro steelcase style custom shelves and ohhhh, I wanted them so bad and his clutter on them too!

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  13. These etageres are such a classic! Fun to see the original sketch. Thanks for the information!

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  14. Thank you! This was a wonderful post. Bravo.

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  15. Robbie K12:37 PM

    I think these pieces would be perfect for a project of mine. The only issue I've found is I don't have $10,000 + to purchase each piece. Do you have ideas on similar pieces in terms of style are a more reasonable price?

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  16. Yea, I just had a pair of the real deal delivered from a west coast auction house. I love reading about these to learn more about the history of the design. Lisa of Martensen jones interiors

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  17. Lisa, Lucky you! I bet they're gorgeous!

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