Monday, February 04, 2013

Palme d'Or



Last Thursday, half of Atlanta- literally- turned out for Miles Redd's lecture. Looking at the packed pews of the Cathedral of St. Philip, one could be forgiven for thinking that it was Easter Sunday. Well, the talk was most interesting, and Miles was most charming. I think that I could have listened to him speak for an additional hour, especially considering that Miles packed his slide presentation with numerous photos of interiors and swells of yesteryear.

One memorable part of the talk was when he referenced the photo, above. As you can see, it's the dust jacket for the highly coveted book, Jansen Decoration. According to Miles, that photo shows the Jansen decorated dining room of designer Mary McFadden's grandmother. But connections aside, what struck Miles were those plaster palms, so much so that he chose to indulge his home's entry hall with plaster palms too:



If you look through Miles' book, The Big Book of Chic, you'll see a black and white photo of his entry hall where you can just barely make out the plaster palm to the right side and at the end of the hall.

Miles mentioned that the plaster palm trees of the Jansen Decoration photo reminded him of those at Spencer House. Now that he mentioned it, they do look similar to those at Spencer House, the magnificent 18th century London house built by John, First Earl Spencer.  What makes the palm trees and fronds of Spencer House so spectacular is their lavish gilding, as you can see below.




I consulted my guide book to Spencer House, and it notes that The Palm Room was designed by architect John Vardy and was intended for use by gentlemen after retiring from dinner. (The ladies retreated upstairs to Lady Spencer's Room.) According to this guide, the design for the Spencer House Palm Room was based on the King's Bedchamber at Greenwich Palace, conceived by John Webb. Vardy's interpretation can also be seen in the c. 1755 drawing, above. One interesting tidbit about the palm motif with which I wasn't familiar is that the palm tree symbolized marital fertility.

Funny enough, just days before Miles' talk, I was reading through Biedermeier to Bauhaus, a wonderful book suggested to me by Quatorze, a very knowledgeable reader of this blog.  Quatorze advised me not to let the book's rather dry title dissuade me from buying it. I am still going through the book, but so far it is very interesting. And one of the book's beautiful photos portrays yet another Palm Room, this one at Neues Schloss in Bayreuth, Germany. Don't you think it's beautiful:



This particular Palm Room dates to 1757. Here, carved and gilded palm trees stand alongside walnut veneer walls and a ceiling dotted with gold stucco dragons.

I am sure there are many more Palm Rooms in some of the great European palaces and houses, and if you are familiar with them, please tell me about them. I did find a few more photos of rooms in which palm trees- of the decorative kind, of course- play prominent roles.




The private dining room of the ocean liner Ile-de-France was decorated by Atelier Martine around 1927. The walls were decorated with some type of mural or, possibly, wood veneer or inlay. You can just make out the palm trees that appeared on the room's walls.




Here, an American room from 1938 captures the design trends of that time, from the Serge Roche-type plaster palm floor lamp to the zebra upholstery.



And finally, the Palm Room of Schloss St. Emmeram, the Bavarian estate of the Thurn und Taxis. The striking palm tree was inspired by Brighton Pavilion.


Miles Redd photos from The Big Book of Chic, Paul Costello photographer; Neues Schloss photo from Biedermeier to Bauhaus; Atelier Martine photo from The Decorative Twenties and the following photo from The Decorative Thirties, both by Martin Battersby. Thurn und Taxis photo from Private Splendor: Great Families at Home.

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:05 AM

    Hello Poc, I have got Jansen book and am ready to sell it if you are interesed, best regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon, would you mind emailing me the details? My address is jennifer@thepeakofchic.com. Thanks!

      Delete
  2. Hello!

    I've been following your blog for quite a while and absolutely love it -but find this post especially exciting -I'm a sucker for palm tree motifs! These Palm rooms are absolutely magnificent - thank you so much for the information - and how i wish i could get hold of a copy of Jansen Decoration!

    I recently managed to acquire a rather lovely palm tree floor lamp which the seller had listed as 'attributed' to Maisen Jansen - but it seems quite unlike most of their other palm tree lamps. I was wondering if you could shed any light on it? I would be fascinated to find out any back-story to a wonderful thing that thrills me so much!

    I've got a (rather badly taken) photo of it here for your perusal:

    http://camberwell-cottage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/large-brass-palm-tree-lamp-and-other.html

    Thank you for such a lovely post!

    -Selina

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Selina, thank you for your comment! I looked at your photo. It is a beautiful lamp. Lucky you! I feel as though I have seen a similar floor lamp, but can't decide where I saw it. Have you perused 1stdibs to see if you can spot something similar? That might help.

      I'll keep you posted if I can remember where I saw a similar lamp.

      Jennifer

      Delete
    2. Hi Jennifer, thanks so much for your reply -and I'm very glad you like it! I literally spend hours each week completely mesmerised by it!

      There are indeed a couple of variations of it on 1st Dibs, but without anything much in the way of descriptions. One dealer does describe it as French, but sadly that's all. I did once see a lot of two polychrome versions of the lamp at Christie's, but again with no description to speak of sadly.

      Thanks so much for taking a look -its very much appreciated! I'm sure one day I'll happen upon some information on it. My inner boffin is dying to know more!

      -Selina

      Delete
  3. I am so glad that you are enjoying the book.

    While i am not exactly sure when the palm first made its way into use in European interior decoration, but I have read that the possible first recorded use was at Versailles, specifically on the organ case in the Royal Chapel. The organ is still in situ, unlike the pulpit, and historians claim it as the inspiration for the palm motif frames for countless overmantel mirrors and the bronze mounts of some commodes in the Regence period in France and its more lavish use in the following Rococo period of Louis XV. Of course, from there the palm would grow wildly throughout Europe, growing ever more lavishly in the hothouse environment of the German Rococo. A resurgence came in the French Art Deco Period, which is how it migrated by transatlantic liners to America, possibly influencing Dorthy Draper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Quatorze. I will try to find photos of the organ at Versailles. I think you're quite right about the lineage of the motif.

      Delete
  4. Jennifer, the photo of Mary McFadden's grandmother's dining room gives me an idea of how McFadden may have been influenced in her taste for the exotic. MMF always did lean towards African and Far Eastern influences in her interior designs and her fashion designs.

    I've always admired Jansen-designed rooms. Didn't the French designer Henri Samuel study under Jansen? Samuel, as you know, had a great influence on American francophiles like Jackie Kennedy, and more recently Susan Gutfreund.

    April

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. April, you may very well be right about McFadden's grandmother playing a role in her granddaughter's aesthetic. Very interesting observation!

      Delete
  5. These are fabulous-I would go hear Miles Redd read the phone book + guess I adore him, ya think. thank you xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peggy, You're so right! He would make the phone book sound so interesting!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:45 PM

    I remmber an issue of Architectural Digest from the 70's that had a palm tree inspired room that I beleive was decorated by the late Joseph Braswell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous, Thank you for telling me and I will try to find that issue. I always enjoy seeing the work of Braswell. He was very talented!

      Delete
  7. Here's a link to a picture of the organ case at Versailles, with the palms (gilded, of course...) at the corners of the case:
    http://pleasuresofthepipes.info/Versailles-ChapelleRoyale.html

    ReplyDelete