Until Next Week

I had hoped to write a bevy of posts before I left for New York, but, well, that didn't happen. I'll be back next week with regularly scheduled posts. And for those of you who are planning to attend my talk at Leron on Wednesday, I look forward to seeing you there!

The photos above are a sneak peek of my Leron presentation. For more info, click here.

Let's Talk Linen

If you plan to be at next week's Fall Market 2011 at the D&D Building, Leron Linens and I would like to invite you to join us at the Leron showroom next Wednesday at noon. We will be hosting a casual get-together where I will present a slideshow of how linen and other accessories has inspired designers through the decades. (I've found some terrific photos of linen from the 1930s onwards...and most of the photos have not yet been seen on my blog!) You can also view the latest Leron collections. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, please see the invitation above or feel free to email me. I hope to see you on Wednesday!

Weekends at Winterthur

The Dining Room at Winterthur


I hope that some of you are planning to attend next week's Chic It Up! event at Winterthur. Seriously, you will be so glad that you did. When I toured Winterthur a few years ago, I was absolutely fascinated by Mr. du Pont's connoisseurship in all matters of living including decorating, collecting, and entertaining. His efforts at designing a home that was both historically accurate and aesthetically dazzling helped to cement his reputation as one of this country's most esteemed tastemakers. But what has especially intrigued me is the way in which H. F. du Pont approached entertaining. It seems that a night or a weekend at Winterthur was absolute perfection with no detail overlooked. I asked Maggie Lidz, Estate Historian and Curator of Garden and Estate Objects at Winterthur, to send me some archival information about du Pont's style of entertaining. I have to say that some of the anecdotes blew my mind. This is the kind of entertaining that one doesn't experience today.

If you were invited by the du Ponts to be weekend guests at Winterthur, you would arrive on a Friday afternoon, just in time for tea. As Mr. and Mrs. du Pont greeted you, footmen would take your coats while the houseman would deposit your luggage in your room. A maid would then unpack your suitcase. After tea, you would retreat to your room so that you could dress for cocktails and dinner. Cocktails began at 7:30 with dinner served at 8:00.

Brooke Astor recalled that the cocktail hour at Winterthur was most special. du Pont would have small card tables set up outside of the drawing room or in the hall at which guests could enjoy caviar and iced vodka. This was a seated affair where, according to Astor, "one could enjoy the delicious treat comfortably and to the full, which one cannot do standing up with a plate in one hand and a glass in the other." Susan Mary Alsop was also impressed by "the caviar on the pink covered card table outside the conservatory on our cozy Friday evening."

Afterwards, it was into the dining room where dinner was served á la russe with one footman to every two guests. By all accounts, the food was delicious. Mr. du Pont also paid much attention to his table settings. A few days before the dinner, he would start to plan the setting with the head gardener who would bring a selection of flowers to Mr. du Pont. Once du Pont chose flowers for the table, he then selected the proper china which best matched the flowers.


A Butler's Pantry filled with candelabra and Battersea candlesticks

After dinner, the male guests would retire to the library or the Marlboro Room where they would enjoy cigars and drinks. The ladies went to the Chinese Parlor for coffee. But even then, the evening was not over. Guests would then play bridge, watch a movie in the Court, or even tour the house.


The Chinese Parlor

Breakfast was served in one's room. You would fill out a menu card the night before, one which read: "M__ (name)___, Hour, Coffee, Tea, Hot milk, Cream, Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Fruit, Remarks". The next morning at the requested time, a footman would deliver a tray with your breakfast, a copy of the Herald Tribune, and a rose in a silver bud vase.

The day's activities included an informal lunch, tennis, swimming, golf, bowling, touring the gardens, and at times trips to Longwood Gardens and Eleutherian Mills.


The Enclosed Porch

And in terms of the guest rooms, it seems that they never ceased to impress guests. They were beautifully appointed with the finest antiques. One guest, Joe Kindig III, recalls that a "period textile was present on the bed upon your arrival, but was replaced when you retired to your room. A valet was available for my needs and a maid for my wife's." Antiques dealer Bernard Levy was quoted as saying that H. F. du Pont "had a staff that gave you the feeling that when you turned over at night they fluffed the pillow." And Walter Heacock said, "One [footman] checked the labels in the clothes of the guests to find out how much service they were accustomed to." Heacock went on to say that during one of his visits, he retired to his bedroom one evening to find that his shoelaces had been pressed and toothpaste had already been applied to his toothbrush.

Like I said earlier, I can only imagine the cosseting that the du Pont's guests must have felt during a weekend at Winterthur. It's no wonder that people like Jackie Kennedy, no slouch herself, were enthralled by Henry Francis du Pont. I didn't know the man but I am enthralled by him as well!

And by the way, the relationship between H. F. du Pont, Jackie Kennedy, and the Fine Arts Committee of the White House is just one of the topics that will be covered next week at Winterthur. If you do attend, please let me know. I want to hear all about it!


I would like to thank Maggie Lidz for providing me with the information used to write this post. The first and last photos are courtesy of Winterthur. The middle two were taken by me.

T. Gordon Little Redux

Auction catalogues are a wealth of information. Obviously, they are an invaluable resource for both budding and seasoned collectors. But what I find intriguing is that oftentimes interior photos are included alongside the lot photos. So, for example, if an estate is being auctioned off, photos showing the lots in situ are included. It's like taking a peek behind closed doors to see how somebody lived.

I recently purchased a 2005 Christie's catalogue that included the estate of the late Atlanta designer T. Gordon Little. You might remember that I posted photos of his former apartment on my blog a few months ago. The photos seen below show Little's last apartment as it appeared at the time of his death. If the lots that were up for auction weren't tempting enough, then surely the photos of Little's gorgeous apartment helped to entice potential bidders. They certainly would have done so for me.



The Study



The Guest Bedroom



The Master Bedroom



The Living Room



A vignette in the Dining Room



The Guest Bedroom



The China Cabinet

Michael Devine on MYHABIT

If you haven't already done so, make sure to visit the MYHABIT website today to see my friend Michael Devine's sale. Michael is selling some fabulous pillows, trays, and coasters, all of which are made from his very popular fabrics. I purchased a set of Dottie coasters in graphite. Oh, and did I mention that the prices are very reasonable? The sale ends tomorrow morning at 9am, so you need to be quick!

Click here to visit the sale site.

Dreamy Beds

As I was reading my copy of Architectural Digest Designers' Own Homes, it struck me that a third of the thirty designers profiled slept in fabric shrouded beds. Some, like Leonard Stanley and Lee Radziwill, had more formal canopies and bed curtains, while others went for simple panels hung at each bed post. And one designer- Michael Taylor- had a rather grandiose 17th c. Spanish gilded bed hung with voluminous curtains. (You can see it above.)

The book was published in 1984, and perhaps poster and canopy beds were in vogue at that time. What I find interesting is that this type of bed found favor amongst both the devotees of traditional design as well as those who worked in a more contemporary idiom. Even Albert Hadley got into the act with his version, one that was simply dressed so as not to obscure the beauty of his antique bed.


Designer Leonard Stanley's bed was draped in antique velvet bed hangings.



Lee Radziwill's early 19th c. English four-poster bed appears to have been decorated with a printed glazed cotton fabric.



The bed of designers Loyd Ray Taylor and Charles Paxton Gremillion, Jr. was a blend of tailored, masculine bed draperies and frilly bed linen.



As one might expect, Sally Sirkin Lewis took a more modern approach to her bed, wrapping each poster with contemporary brown bed curtains.



Albert Hadley allowed his late 18thc. English lacquered bed to be the star of the show by crowning it with a very simple canopy.




A rather elaborately outfitted canopy bed, this one in the home of the late designer Rubén de Saavedra.




Diane Burn's lit à la polonaise was draped in two hundred yards of gauze.



Joseph Braswell's tranquil bed was simple and luxurious: neutral colored panels gathered at each corner. The headboard wall was covered in mirror.



The late Kalef Alaton chose tailored draperies for the corners of his headboard only.


All images from Architectural Digest Designers' Own Homes.

Man's Best Friend

It was while reading a book recently (or was it a blog?) that I first came across the image of the Meissen Bolognese Dog, above. (For the life of me, I can't remember in which book I first saw the dog.) Anyway, I later discovered that the dog, or a similar one, is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Modeled by Johann Gottlieb Kirchner around 1733, the porcelain figure is really very striking and fascinating too. I admit that it's a little odd that such a gnarly and rather ferocious looking dog could capture my attention.

Certainly, he (or possibly she?) is not as handsome as a proper English Staffordshire spaniel nor as refined as a Meissen pug. But isn't that the beauty of the dog? His pedigree is a little questionable yes, but that lack of provenance doesn't make him any less attractive in my eyes. In fact, his mutt-ish appearance is what I find so intriguing. And you know what they say about mutts- they make the best dogs. (Sorry, Alfie.)

Yes, there are a lot of pretty porcelain puppies out there, but I think it's time to give a less-fortunate looking one a good home.





Figure of a dog, painted Porcelain, Chinese, c. 18th c., collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum




Figure of a dog, glazed porcelain, Chinese, c. 1662-1722, collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum




Porcelain dog, Chinese, c. 1750-70, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.




Dog, Chinese, c. 18th c., collection of Les Arts Decoratifs




A pair of Chinese Export dogs, c. 1780-90, available through George Subkoff Antiques.




Chinese Export dogs, one with a puppy on its back, c. 1850, available through Kentshire Galleries.

Fabric Hall of Fame: Chinese Leopard Toile

Thank goodness for those great old prints that keep on keepin' on, and we have Brunschwig & Fils to thank for many of them. There is Le Lac, Les Touches, La Portugaise, and another print whose name does not begin with a le, la, or les: Chinese Leopard Toile. I've long admired this peculiar print, one in which in Chinese scenes are surrounded by intertwining red garlands, all set against a backdrop of leopard spots. I think that this eccentricity is what makes the print so charming.

I did a bit of digging, and thanks to a 1966 New York Times article, I found out that Chinese Leopard Toile was not only a favorite of Elsie de Wolfe but of Billy Baldwin too. (In the article, Mrs. Brunschwig said that Baldwin used "lots and lots" of this fabric.) I have consulted all of my books that contain de Wolfe and Baldwin interiors, and unfortunately I can't find a single photo which shows their use of the fabric. I did manage to find a McMillen Inc. designed interior in which the fabric was used on chairs and curtains, and I also uncovered a photo from an old House & Garden book.

According to the Times article, the original colorway for Chinese Leopard Toile was shades of red and blue, though a version with a yellow background was later added. Fortunately for us, both are still available. In both the McMillen and House & Garden photos below, it appears that the colorway used is different from what Brunschwig currently offers.

While I get that this print isn't for everybody, it has such an interesting history that it should be admitted to Fabric Hall of Fame- if there was such a thing. Oh, and cost of Chinese Leopard Toile in 1966? $5.80 a yard!


Chinese Leopard Toile as used by the designers at McMillen Inc.



Designer Rhoda Bright chose the print for window shades and a mattress cover.



You can see a close-up of the two colorways currently available. I pulled these two samples at the Brunschwig & Fils/Lee Jofa showroom at ADAC.

Party Touches to Wow Your Guests

Speaking of jazzing up one's style of entertaining (I'm referring to yesterday's post on Peter Callahan), I found this timely article in the February 1960 issue of House & Garden. The article was titled "Party touches your guests will talk about". Truthfully, some of the suggestions were either corny or far too time-consuming. Case in point: "At each place set a tiny basket filled with a bouquet of radishes cut in the shape of flowers, plus watercress for foliage and stalks of celery and olives for added greenery. To be admired, then nibbled while the first course is being served." Um, I don't think so.

But some of the ideas weren't half bad. I'm especially taken with the idea of using vintage ice-cream molds to turn out a good looking dessert. (See below.) Anyway, here are some of the better suggestions that I can see using at future dinner parties. I even added my thoughts on how I might interpret these ideas for my own parties.


Cards or flowers to match up make a game of dinner seating. As your guests go into the dining room ask them to pick a playing card from one of two baskets- the men's containing Kings and Jacks, the ladies', Aces and Queens. Guests find their places by matching their cards to those you've put on the napkins, alternating ladies and men. If you are serving at small tables, ask everyone to choose a flower from a basket containing blooms in as many different colors as you have tables. Each guest looks for the table with a centerpiece in the same color as his flower.

Okay, it's a little silly, but I kind of like this tip. Since my dining room is small, I might forgo the cards in favor of a basket of colored flowers.




Picture markers for trays of sandwiches are both decorative and informative, guiding your guests to the fillings they like best. You can buy French parchment markers like these or make your own. If you're no artist cut out appropriate pictures from children's coloring books or seed catalogues. Or if pretty printing is your forte, skip the pictures and write out the contents of the sandwiches in colored inks. Fix markers to the sandwiches with long Japanese bamboo skewers so that they are easily visible.

For a tea or ladies luncheon, I would absolutely use markers like these. They're easy to make, and with the aid of a computer and printer, you could use all kinds of chic motifs. I'm just trying to figure out what drawing to use for Pimento Cheese sandwiches.




Molded ice with embedded fruit and leaves makes a romantic cooler for a punch bowl. Use any lidless mold, or, lacking that, a cardboard ice-cream container. Fill partly with water and freeze. Then place on top of the ice a layer of whatever you'd like to look at (we used strawberries and rose geranium leaves for this fruit punch), fill to top with water and freeze again. Here the design is repeated by wool felt roses and berries taped to cloth.

I'm not crazy about the way the ice mold looks in the punch bowl in the photograph, but in the right sized bowl, a bombe of ice would look really nice.




Flower-shaped ice-cream molds turn out your desserts in style, ready to be garnished with a chocolate leaf cookie. You can get many designs in old or new ice-cream molds, any of which will be a refreshing change from the standard scoop. Just pack the molds with softened ice cream or sherbet and re-freeze. Loosen the contents before you open molds by wrapping them for a second or two with a hot dish towel.

Yes, yes, and yes. I plan to find a vintage ice-cream mold in the shape of a flower or a fruit. I found one online in the shape of an asparagus stalk. How about molding some pistachio ice cream and then drizzling it with Crème Anglaise (to resemble a Hollandaise sauce.) Kind of weird but kind of fun.




Tiny cocktail trays are the simple solution to cocktail party juggling. On each tray place an individual plate of hors d'oeuvre, a cocktail glass and napkin and an ashtray with matches. Fly-weight Japanese lacquer trays come in just the right size- and in wonderful colors (have a different color for each guest).

This seems a little cumbersome and not as handy as the magazine claimed. But, if you're doing heavy hors d'oeuvres, it might work. Pearl River would be the place to go for small lacquer trays. Of course, most of us can forgo the ashtray and matches.





Italian brandy warmer on a liqueur tray adds an extra touch of pomp and circumstance to the brandy-and-cigars pleasance. You might include two kinds of brandy-perhaps a fine and an Armagnac- for discriminating brandy drinkers, and, for non-brandy drinkers, a white fruit liqueur like kirsch or framboise.

I might skip the brandy warmer, but I do like the idea of putting out a tray of after-dinner drinks. (Sometimes, I skip dessert in favor of a glass of B&B.) It's a nice way to keep the conversation going.

Peter Callahan & "Bite by Bite"

As I have already mentioned numerous times before, I like to keep my entertaining simple. I have always believed that there is an elegance inherent in simplicity. And yet, I'm starting to think that from time to time, an event could benefit from a dramatic flourish or two. I suppose that I can attribute this reconsideration to Peter Callahan's new book Bite By Bite: 100 Stylish Little Plates You Can Make for Any Party.

Callahan is one of Manhattan's top caterers, counting Martha Stewart and Kate Spade as fans and clients. He is also the person responsible for the popularity of serving passed mini-hamburgers at parties, having been the first caterer to do so. In fact, Callahan is the king of bite-sized, comfort food hors d'oeuvres, having managed to craft Lilliputian versions of Spaghetti and Meatballs, Lobster Rolls, and Croque Monsieurs.

Now, to those of you who are purists when it comes to food, miniature sized hot dogs might seem a little silly. I have to admit that I too was a little skeptical. But Callahan makes a good point throughout his book: these novel hors d'oeuvres not only taste good and are easy to eat, but they add to the festive atmosphere of an event. They help to set the tone for a fun party.



Because of my travel schedule, I have not yet had the chance to test drive any of the book's recipes. There are some appetizers that I could see serving to guests at a small cocktail party like the mini Croque Monsieurs or Salmon Tarts. Other recipes require more time and effort, so I might save those for a large event or, better yet, I might have my caterer make them.

What I like about this book is that it made me realize that perhaps it's time for me to kick up my style of entertaining a notch or two. If you're going to the trouble and effort of hosting a soiree, why not serve something that will get your guests talking...and talking in a good way. If you need a little more convincing, I asked Peter to share his thoughts on his signature style of catering.







For those of you who might want to prepare a recipe or two for a small, casual cocktail get-together, Peter suggests trying the Caprese Tea Sandwiches as well as the Mac and Cheese. "You can make the tart shells ahead and they are so delicious." Peter also recommended rounding out the menu with cones of frites.





Peter's favorite recipe in the book is that for his mini burgers. "We were the first to do this size, and it still never ceases to amaze guests who haven't seen them the size of a quarter before. With my tip of punching out the burger buns with a cookie cutter, you now can do this in a jiffy."





Food presentation is important to Peter. After all, it needs to live up to the novelty of the hors d'oeuvres. Many of his serving pieces have been custom designed specifically for the hors d'oeuvres they hold. However, Peter does give the reader suggestions for ways that we can serve the tidbits at home. "If you are serving any of my lollipops, use a tray that has blocks of florists oasis in the bottom and then cover the top with m+m's in whatever color looks best; then stick the [lollipop] stick in the oasis. Perhaps use some dried green lentil beans for savory lollipops. A simpler tip is to always space hors d'oeuvres evenly on the tray and have one kind per tray- it makes them look dressier."




For those of you who are still unsure about these tiny appetizers, I asked Peter to name the one recipe that will win you over. "Mini grilled cheese and be sure to put in aged gruyere. There is so much flavor in that one biteful and then it becomes addicting and you need more. Everyone will be begging for these again!"


All images from Bite By Bite: 100 Stylish Little Plates You Can Make for Any Party by Peter Callahan. Con Poulos photographer; Clarkson Potter publishers.