Up, Up and Away

So, what do we think of balloon shades?

I ask myself this question whenever I ride in a taxi down Park Avenue, because as you might have noticed, there are quite a few apartments that have windows festooned with balloon shades.  In fact, there was a time when balloon shades made appearances quite often in both homes and in shelter magazines. But today, they are rarities, perhaps owing to the fact that they require expensive fabric yardage and labor.  Then again, their scarcity might be explained by the gradual paring down in decor that has occurred over the past few decades.  Whatever the reason, I do think that there are some balloon shades that still have appeal today.  (Take a look at those by John Stefanidis, seen both above and below.  He did an excellent job designing balloon shades.)

So, what do you think? Blast from the past? Or classic window treatment?

The three photos above show rooms decorated by John Stefanidis.

In the home of Manuel Canovas

Room by Mark Hampton

David Mlinaric decorated the three rooms above.

A room by Keith Irvine. Appropriate that the chapter title reads, "Park Avenue Perfection".


Photos: #1-3, Rooms by John Stefanidis; #4 from The French Touch by daphne de Saint Sauveur; #5 from Mark Hampton by Duane Hampton; #6-8 from Mlinaric on Decorating by Mirabel Cecil and David Mlinaric; #9 from Keith Irivne: A Life in Decoration by Keith and Chippy Irvine.

The Modern Venetian Style

I watched the movie Top Hat on Turner Classics the other night for what has to be the twentieth time.  Of all of the Fred and Ginger movies, this one has to be my favorite for two reasons.  First, there is that silly little Irving Berlin song, The Piccolino, with its catchy lyrics like "Dance with your bambino, To the strains of the catchy Piccolino, Drink your glass of vino, and when you've had your plate of Scallopino..."  (I swear, that song will get stuck in your head for days.)  And the other reason that I adore this movie is its fantasy Venetian setting with fanciful gondolas floating in glamorous canals, topped by bright white gingerbread bridges.  Yes, there is something about Venice that seems to inspire over the top, theatrical decor.

Take, for example, this Manhattan dining, which was in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Richmond Parry Kennard.  According to the 1934 House & Garden issue in which it was featured, the dining room, which had white walls and ceiling and a black and white linoleum floor, was decorated in the "modern Venetian" style. (No mention was made of the room's designer.)  So, what made it Venetian?  Well, a mirror-topped table, mirrored panels above each window, and a Venetian mirror all lent a shimmery note to the room.  Venetian glass sculptural pieces dotted the space, perhaps intended as a note of authenticity.  And the room's doors were supposedly Venetian, too.  They were painted brown with gold monograms and were fitted with old, wavy mirror.

But my favorite decoration in the room has to be its dado, which was painted with architectural motifs.  This touch of pastiche looks like it came straight out of the Venice featured in Top Hat.  I don't know if it's modern or if it's Venetian, but it looks like just the room in which to drink your vino and eat your Scallopino.

Dining with the Decorators

It seems a good time for another tablesetting post, especially considering that  these photos might be the closest I get to an elaborately set table for the next month or so.  Who knew that summer would turn out to be so busy and that I wouldn't have time for any proper entertaining?

The photos seen here, which ran in the September 1977 issue of Architectural Digest, feature the stylishly-appointed dining tables of top designers including Angelo Donghia, Albert Hadley, Thomas Britt, and a few others.  Overlook the not-so-great photographic quality and study these tables, because I think you'll find that most of them look pretty swell even today. 

(I do hate to say it, but the exception might be the table set by J.P. Mathieu.  Those dining ottomans are best left in the late 1970s.)  

Photos at top: In the living room of Donghia's New York townhouse, a table was set with a Haitian cotton cloth and striped napkins, antique crystal soup bowls, Wedgwood plates, and Chinese pear boxes, which held condiments.  The table's undercloth was antique, while the raw silk slipper chairs were by Donghia/Martin Associates.  Donghia was a master editor, and I think this table sums up his style perfectly.

Los Angeles designer Val Arnold set a luncheon table on the patio. His table was set with a terracotta-colored felt cloth, 19th century crystal plates, antique salt shakers, and Gorham flatware.

Albert Hadley also set a luncheon table, this one located in his Manhattan apartment. The ceramic plates were custom made, while the French pitcher in the form of a female was 18th century. Note the classic Van Day Truex-designed Baccarat decanter.

Don't you just love Thomas Britt's tortoiseshell table? If any of you have a boring brown wood dining table (reproduction, not antique), consider having it decoratively painted in the spirit of Britt's table. Those crystal plates, by the way, were designed by Rose Cumming.

Photographed at the San Francisco home of designer Billy Gaylord, a table was set with guest trays wrapped in antique Chinese texts. My favorite accent is that mass of green onions, placed on a white platter.  That head of cabbage in the foreground is pretty chic, too.

The table that unfortunately didn't age as well as the others. In the home of Pepe Mathieu, an acrylic and glass table was adorned with Japanese gold lacquer chargers, Chinese Lowestoft plates, and French Richelieu flatware.


All photos from Architectural Digest, September 1977.

Peter Coats at Albany

I wasn't familiar with Peter Coats until I recently saw a 1960s-era photo of his charming English country cottage. A little digging around on the internet turned up that he was once Gardening Editor of House & Garden (the British edition), an author of numerous gardening books plus two autobiographies, a garden designer, and a one-time paramour of Chips Channon. All of those roles combined make for one interesting character in the annals of design and gardening.

When I recently featured Coats's Essex country house drawing room on my blog, Luke Honey, antiquarian and blogger (see more about Luke in the post below), mentioned that Coats's set at Albany in London was once featured in an old House & Garden book by Robert Harling. I took a stab and purchased a copy of House & Garden Book of Interiors (by, yes, Harling and published in 1962), and sure enough, there were photos of Coats's city flat.

For those of you who are intrigued by Albany and its dwellers, you might be interested to know that Coats inhabited A1, which had once been the flat of Mr. William Stone. (The late Stone at one time owned almost half of Albany, if you can imagine.) Coats's set spanned three floors, with the hall, drawing room, study, and bath on the ground floor, the master bedroom and bathroom above that, and a dining room, kitchen, guest bedroom, and bathroom in the basement. All that said, though, the set was not terribly large. Only the drawing room was spacious.

From what I've read on the internet, Coats died in 1990 at age 80. Though it seems his achievements are little known here in the States (that's an assumption on my part), his legacy lives on in the books he penned, including Flowers in History, The Gardens of Buckingham Palace, and his two autobiographies, Of Generals and Gardens and Of Kings and Cabbages.  They might well be worth looking into. 

In the ground floor hall, both the walls and carpet were green, while the blue curtains were trimmed in yellow and black saddler's braid. The gilt wood chandelier was once located in William Pitt's study at Chatham House.

The largest room in the home, the drawing room was once part of Lord Melbourne's library. (It was Lord Melbourne who built Melbourne House, which, when it was later converted to flats, became known as Albany.)

The study, also on the ground floor, was more contemporary-looking in appearance. The walls, by the way, were raspberry red.

The basement floor dining room had an arched ceiling, a vestige of the room's former use as a cellarage. Coats had the walls and ceiling painted in faux marbre.

Coats hired artist Martin Newell to paint a trompe l'oeil classical doorway on the wall outside of the dining room window.

Luke Honey

I first knew Luke Honey as the London-based blogger behind The Greasy Spoon, an always-interesting food blog that often includes posts on 1960s and 1970s-era cuisine and cookbooks. (As you can imagine, those posts are my very favorite.) However, Luke also recounts recipes and dishes that both he and his wife have prepared in their recently renovated London kitchen, something that might appeal to those of you who prefer to read about current cookery.

What I only learned somewhat recently is that Luke is also a noted antiquarian, whose background includes stints at such auction houses as Phillips, Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg, and Bonhams. Although Luke's specialty is antique chess sets, backgammon boards, and antique games, he recently ventured into other areas of decorative arts and fine art, all of which can be viewed on Luke's new website, Luke Honey.

On the website, you'll find all kinds of interesting things like the aforementioned chess sets, including a mid-19th c. Indian example carved from ivory.  There is also 18th century blue and white china, out-of-print books, vintage bibelots from Asprey, a screenprint by Martin Battersby, and many other treasures. And fortunately for those of us who live in the U.S., Luke ships internationally.

When you get a moment, do check out Luke's website. And be sure, too, to check out the website's blog, which includes recent posts about Phrenologist's busts, David Bowie's yen for chess, and the garden of David Hicks.

As frustrated as I sometimes get with the internet, the beauty of it is that you get to meet all kinds of interesting people, like Luke, who have unique and varied interests.

An Indian ivory chess set, c. 1840, Delhi

Martin Battersby, "Archaic Smile" screenprint

"The Hunt", mounted wooden lithographic figures, c. 1910.

An Asprey & Co. sea urchin match striker

A Love Letter to the Bamboo Pen

While I was getting myself together the other morning, I was ruminating about bamboo-motif pens.  (Why, I haven't a clue.)  Not only do these pens have a very appealing Chinoiserie sensibility, but they also are ergonomically friendly.  Those knotty bamboo stalks seem made to be held firmly yet comfortably in one's hand.  What a happy coincidence that such pens look good and feel good, too.

Bamboo-motif pens have long been staples on stylishly appointed desks, and most of the major luxury purveyors have at one time or another sold sublime-looking bamboo pens. Cartier produced luxe fountain and ballpoint pens made of real bamboo and gold, while Tiffany & Co. was known for its classic sterling silver ballpoint version.  Both Verdura and Harry Winston made sleek gold examples that might possibly have made signing documents a dream.  And let's not forget how popular those imitation bamboo ballpoint pens were a few years ago, although I would argue that their popularity will never really wane.  The bamboo motif is eternally chic.

But my favorite pen of this genre is not technically a replica of bamboo, though in a way it does resemble it: Jean Schlumberger's gemstone-studded pen that looks like a cross between a worn bamboo stalk and a studded piece of coral.  Some of the versions that I have seen include a gold shaft with hematite, coral, or turquoise studs, while the more exotic rendition incorporated ivory and coral or turquoise studs. (I doubt that the ivory version is still made.)

As efficient as typing is, such luxurious pens make me pine for the days when people actually communicated through handwritten notes and letters, usually penned in cursive, too!

Photo at top: A vignette from the catalogue of the 2008 Christie's auction that featured the estate of the Monseigneur le Comte de Paris and Madame la Comtesse de Paris.  You can see a Cartier bamboo and gold ballpoint pen in the photo.

Another Cartier gold and bamboo pen, which was sold with a c. 1935 Cartier rock crystal fountain pen at a 2004 Christie's auction.

A vintage gold bamboo pen by Harry Winston

Two examples of the Schlumberger ivory writing implements, one with gold studs and the other with coral.

A gold and hematite pen by Schlumberger

Seconds at Christopher Spitzmiller

It's the moment many of you have been waiting for... the annual Seconds Sale at Christopher Spitzmiller, Inc.  The sale begins next Tuesday, July 16 and runs through Friday, July 19.

As if that colorful array of lamps, seen above, isn't enough to whet your appetite, there are even more lamps that will be part of the sale, and all up to 55% off retail price, too.  For a complete list of seconds lamps, email info@christopherspitzmiller.com to be added to their email distribution list.  The complete list will be emailed out on Monday.

Now I must decide which lamp to add to my collection of Christopher Spitzmiller lamps.  Decisions, decisions.

Putting a Space with a Name

I always get a kick out of finding an old article or book that features a home decorated by a friend or acquaintance.  Such was the case the other day when I pulled my copy of Architectural Digest California Interiors from the shelf.  When I first read the book a few years ago, I found the project that is seen here to be quite attractive and elegant.  I was especially taken with the gazebo, which was decorated with an array of blue and white fabrics, furnishings, and porcelain.  But at the time, I wasn't familiar with the home's designer, Jack Lowrance.  Fast forward to today, when I do know Jack.  Now that I can put a space to a name, I find the project even more interesting.  Personal connections have a way of making things more meaningful, don't they? 

The home (more of a cottage, really) was located in Woodside, California, close to San Francisco. Jack's longtime clients, who had spent years amassing a notable collection of porcelain and antiques, purchased the home as a place in which to enjoy their retirement. Accustomed to living in a formal manner, the homeowners were, at first, unsure of how to reconcile their treasures with a desire to live more simply.  Jack's approach was to decorate the cottage in the elegant and refined style that the homeowners had long enjoyed and appreciated, yet he did so in a way that was comfortable and easy to manage. It was the best of both worlds, one in which the couple could continue to enjoy their collections but in a more relaxed fashion.

But still, I have to go back to the Gazebo and patio of this home.  I think it's safe to say that the majority of us love blue and white, trellis, dining alfresco, garden seats, ceramics, and the like, so I think you'll especially enjoy the photos of these spaces. They were chic and snappy when they were decorated thirty-some-odd-years ago, and they're still chic and snappy today.
  

The focal point of the living room was the Edo Period screen behind the sofa. To the left of the sofa was a table upon which a Degas drawing and antique seals rested (seen in the top photo.)

Also in the living room was an 18th-century English lacquered secretary, which held the homeowners' collection of blanc-de-chine figures.

Another Edo Period screen could be found in the dining room, where the table was set with crystal, floral porcelain, and gilt figures.

The well-appointed master bedroom boasted a view of the home's swimming pool.

The Library had mahogany paneled walls, which, along with the blazing fireplace, created a cozy refuge.

Jack employed lattice to create two different living spaces outdoors. Off of the living and dining rooms, a Pergola was added to create an outdoor entertaining space.  Planted flowers helped to soften the edges of the space. (#2, #3, and #4 in the outdoor set of photos.)  A patio, notable for its painted, trompe l'oeil scene of the surrounding area, was used for alfresco dining. (#5)  The gazebo stood at one end of the pool, where it housed a collection of blue and white ceramicware as well as blue and white striped upholstered seating, blue and white planters, and fabulous grotto-like blue and white garden stools. (#1, #6, and #7) 


All photos from Architectural Digest California Interiors, Max Eckert photographer.