Rose Cumming Design Inspiration

Start clearing out space on your bookshelves. It's time for the new fall book releases! First up is Jeffrey Simpson's Rose Cumming, due to be released by Rizzoli on September 4.

For someone who was once a prominent figure in American design, Rose Cumming has become something of an enigma. I think that most of us know her as the purple-haired decorator who had a remarkable if at times strange sense of color and who slept in a bedroom with silver lamé curtains. But oh, there is so much more to Cumming than that. Thankfully we now have Simpson's book to help flesh out who Rose Cumming really was.

Some of the mystery that surrounds Cumming may have to do with the fact that few of her interiors were ever published. In fact, rarely do I come across her work in my old design magazines. Fortunately, this book remedies that problem. There are many black and white and color photos depicting Cumming's work, and I think it's interesting to see how her style evolved over the decades. You can see a few photos below, although there are many other treasures in the book. Additionally, Cumming's fabric designs figure prominently in this book, something that is fitting considering that Cumming may best be remembered for her iconic chintzes like Delphinium Stripe, Sabu, and Royal Swag.

While photos are obviously an important component of a designer monograph, I think that what makes this book such a gem is the text. Simpson has written a compelling, fascinating, and downright entertaining biography of Rose Cumming. Even if you tend to not read text in design books, I think you'll make an exception here. Cumming's story is like that of no other, but I think it was a story that only could have developed in the first part of the 20th century. Characters like Rose Cumming are unfortunately a rarity today, but thank goodness we have Simpson's book to remind us that magical things can happen if we chart our own courses, no matter how unusual they might be.



A Cumming designed interior replete with satin and a bear skin rug. (Photograph by G.W. Harting, Dessin Fournir Collections.)



One of Cumming's client files includes fabric swatches. (Photograph by Jayson K.T. Schwaller, Dessin Fournir Collections.)




Draped curtains in a Cumming designed room. (Dessin Fournir Collections)





One of Cumming's most famous prints, "Delphinium Stripe". (Photograph by Jayson K.T. Schwaller, Dessin Fournir Collections.)



The stairway in Cumming's own home featured a Chinese inspired mural. (Photograph by Harold Haliday Costain, Dessin Fournir Collections.)


All images copyright of Rose Cumming by Jeffrey Simpson, Rizzoli, 2012.