In Which I Make a Scene

When it comes to interior decorating, I'm something of a late bloomer.

I mean, sure, I've always cared what my home environment looked like, and I've always been influenced by my home surroundings, pleasant or bland, light-filled or dark. And I've always been an active participant in painting rooms and setting up furniture layouts. But it was only a few years ago that I really started to actively pour over interiors magazines, and start studying how rooms are put together. I figure it's the design-geek in me since interiors are just one more aspect of design.

And about 4 years ago - pretty far into my so-called adulthood - I finally found myself with the resources to start collecting a few antiques here and there. I say 'antiques', but an expert might question that. All of my favorites are less than a hundred years old. Nothing is especially expensive; I think that with the exception of Ingrid, each piece I've purchased for the house has been less than $500, often quite a bit less, thanks to the joys of Craigslist. I think the key here is collecting pieces over time, and with an eye to what makes you happy.

So, now that I have some understanding of how, and the beginnings of a collection of what, and a definite theme of when (hello, Cottage meets Art Deco!), I'm having a ball putting it all together and ahem, making a scene. (Groan)

This week, images are about putting things together to make a total scene, or, hopefully, at least a coordinated look.

Now in the study....Newly hung gallery wall .
Images are photos, prints, and old sewing pattern envelopes.
It's a work in progress.

This plus...

This, plus...

This, equals....

This grouping

As seen in the previous post, this light fixture should be on it's way to me soon. (Although, given a past experience with the French postal system, 'soon' could be interpreted to be 6-8 weeks!)

I'm pretty sure that I'll hang the light in the master bedroom, where this headboard and footboard will one day be living - once my refinishing project is finally done. I went for it with the light because of the similar floral details. I do have several of these French Deco pieces that all have similar carving, though, so the light goes with any of them.

Footboard details


Headboard with traces of old paint that need to be stripped.

Matching nightstand

Happy Halloween!

From Here, Sexy 1920's witch in Ispwich stockings.

In searching about for some Art Deco-themed Halloween images, I stumbled across the wonderful, saucy Sexy Witch site, and now I'm a fan! The Red Witch really knows her stuff, and has an impressive collection of, duh, sexy witch imagery -think white witchcraft - from the turn of the last century to the present day, as well as interesting information about all things witchy.

(I've only delved into the early witch images from the teens to the 40's so far; I imagine that the pics get a little racier the more modern they are. So, some images may not be safe for work - you've been warned!)

Promotional image of actress Dusty Anderson, 1944, one of several, from Here.

Venus Envy

Is it just me.....

Or does this pair of Belgian Art Deco sconces, found on Ebay...

remind you a lot of this?

The little lady shown above is the celebrated and ancient Venus of Willendorf, who was named after the Austrian town where she was found. SimilarPaleolithic female figurines have been found in many parts of the world, and archeologists and anthropologists are certain that the ladies mean something, but no on can quite agree on what. The ladies are generally referred to as goddess figures or fertility symbols. More HERE.

And even more amusing, the town of Willendorf, Austria, where the first woman was found, celebrated the centennial anniversary of the discovery of the goddess figure with Venus Day at the beginning of August; the celebration includes pancakes and 'Venus jam', and chocolate in the shape of the Venus. Genius! Just in case you have regrets for missing the Austrian revel last month, there is also a chocolatier in upstate NY who offers Venus of Willendorf chocolate, available HERE.

And for what it's worth, I think that the art glass sconces are supposed to be a stylized vase holding a bouquet of flowers. That's just a guess....

Memory Game

Sometimes when you zoom in on a particular time period in design, like oh, say, Art Deco and Art Moderne lighting, and really focus on it, you start seeing connections, or echoes of similar styles. I had one of those fun 'ah ha' moments last night while trolling through my local Craigslist furniture section.

I ran across this listing with these cool white sconces:

I knew that I had just seen those sconces, or something very similar, very recently, so I did a little surfing.

As it turns out, I had spotted them first on the Deco Dame website (all images are copyrighted and cannot be copied from that site). The circa 1955 sconces are attributed to Morris Lapidus, architect of the Eden Roc hotel in Miami. On the Deco Dame site, you can clearly see the hotel's initials in the crest on each sconce. The Craigslist photos don't show enough detail to be certain.

Artnet also had a record of a recent sale of a Lapidus floor lamp and sconces, shown here:

They've got to be the same design, right?!

Here's the fun part:
Craigslist sconces listed at $100.
(Granted one sconce arm looks cracked/broken.)
Deco Dame sconces listed at $4,200 for the pair.

And I believe that there is a relative of Morris Lapidus living here in Atlanta, although that's not necessarily the person selling the sconces. Just an interesting connection.

This is exactly why I love Craigslist: in amongst the dreck, there are treasures to be found!

*By about 1:30 pm today the Craigslist ad has been deleted. I'm guessing someone scored a cool deal on a pair of sconces.

**Later re-listed!

Latest Obsession: Lighting Part II

There are some weeks when eBay is the perfect crack-like addiction. The last two weeks must have been a case of perfect timing, and I've barely come up for air. The dogs are thoroughly bored, and I haven't talked to my mother in a week, but damn if I haven't come up with some fun things to look at!

I've been scouring through lighting listings, looking for the ideal combo of great looks and moderate price. While I'm not trying to recreate some kind of museum vignette in the bathroom remodel, I would like to keep the feel of an older cottage. The house was built in 1917, and believe it or not, it was built pre modern conveniences like an indoor toilet. (There is evidence of the old privy in the basement, but let's not talk about that.) Since there' s no real bathroom to match up to, I figure anything from the 20's to the 40's is fair game for the look I'm going for.

So here' s some more images that have caught my eye....


I shopped victoriously alright, so a few items will be winging their way to me soon via priority mail. I'm really excited about this one:

I think it ties in nicely with the carved flowers on this:



Yes, the painted mounting fixture at the top is garish as hell. I was thinking about painting it white, but Smithy insists that it's been like that for going on 70 years, so I'd probably just screw it up if I painted it. (Thanks for the vote of confidence, Babe.) I'll leave it as is for now; the space is small enough that you may not ever have distance to catch of a view of the ceiling mount anyway. Especially if you're 5'-2" like me.

Due to my eBay addiction, I also got a little carried away, and 'victoriously' landed myself another project.


This one is slated for the bedroom. I think it has great potential, but right now it needs everything: new wiring, new mounting fixture, new sockets, slip shades. Not exactly a smokin' deal. However, the folks at my local lighting store, Lamp Arts, are going to love me soon.

Post brought to you by the latest member of Ebay Addicts United.

Design Love: patent illustrations

In some of my wanderings through the interwebs lately, I've been soaking up some random trivia. You know how it is: you start by looking up one thing, which leads you to another and another....

For example, while looking at outdoor furniture, I learned that my beloved 1940's-ish metal porch glider was made by the Atlanta Stove Works Company. (Makes a weird kind of sense since I'm in Atlanta.) Which lead me to a search for info on Atlanta Stove Works (no longer around), which lead me to THIS fascinating site.

They have patent illustrations available for purchase, and pretty affordable at that. I think that a framed grouping of the illustrations could look fantastic in the right setting.

In the Farm and Garden section, under Porch and Patio there's a wealth of interesting illustrations. Here's more or less my glider (patent actually from 1954!):


Here's another glider with what looks to me like an interesting, abstracted wheat sheaf detail:

And there are some definite Art Deco influences in this glider and chair. I love the streamline arm style on the glider:



Much more can be found on the Patent Place USA website, including some patent illustrations by Eames and Loewy. Happy hunting.

Rotund vs. Craftsmanship

Chairs by Pierre Chareau

Inspired by the Richardson Wright quotes, I decided to track down more images of the furnishings and decoration on display at the 1925 Paris Exposition. (*I've seen the event referred to as both and Exhibition and an Exposition. Which one is correct?!)

Anyway, many of the architects and designers cited as being involved include: the already mentioned Ruhlmann, Andre Groult (pink and gray boudoir), Jean Dunand (smoking room), Pierre Chareau (library) [sounds like a game of Clue, doesn't it?!] as well as Francis Jourdain, Robert Mallet-Stevens, Maurice Dufrene, Paul Follot, Renee Lalique, and Edgar Brandt.

Happily enough, lots of beautifully photographed images of their work can be found at Architonic in their Design Collector database section. The following images of seating all come from that fantastic website. As best as I can tell, the furniture is all fromapproximately 1925, and was in the exposition or is quite similar to pieces in the exposition. However, the majority of the item descriptions are in French, most of which I've long since forgotten. So, any French-speaking Deco buffs please chime in with translations!

Jean Dunand wood and painted metal chair

Ruhlmann's Hydravion chairs in leather, very similar to the chairs pictured the the Lord and Taylor room.

Pierre Chareau chair, in velvet with petit point embroidery of woman's torso with floral and shell motifs.

If I were going to have a throne this would be IT!

Black and White images of the Pavilions and furnished interiors can be found at this site.

More furniture eye candy can be found at The Graham Gallery.

If you like any of this, please check out the Art Deco links to the right of the page, including David's Art Deco Buildings site.

Art Deco Origins: 1925 Paris Exhibition

Lalique Fountain

It's intriguing to look back from an 80+ year distance to hear people's reactions to the modernist movement of the 1920s. Even sophisticated American tastemakers had misgivings about the lines and proportions of the new designs of the time.

After a visit to the 1925 Paris Exhibition, Richardson Wright, editor of House and Garden magazine writes of the 'modern tendencies' in art, architecture, and design :

"There were enough architectural vagaries in to make this American delegate wonder if the show were the product of madmen, or simply the tricks and pranks of highly sophisticated architects who wanted to create the most serious and sustained exhibition of bad taste the world had ever seen. Or were they really striving for a hitherto unpronounced interpretation of living Nature."

(Quotes from this book.)

I have to say, my first thought when reading the quote above was, 'huh, what a stuffy man!'
Until I did a web search and found some of these images of the actual buildings created for the exhibit. Then...he was harsh, but I could understand his point of view a bit more. All architectural images and many more from this website. Click on pictures for larger image.






Apparently, the Melnikov pavilion by the USSR was put out in the far reaches of the exhibition land:


But I still think the pavilion for colonial French Africa is the wildest of the bunch:



Wright went on to focus on the furniture and decoration of the exhibit, saying that they were more pertinent to the interests of the magazine. The accompanying images in the 1925 article are not all from the exhibit itself. (Some are from a New York apartment, and some are from French exhibitors.) He had some mixed reactions to the modernist furniture in Paris at the show:

"The first thing that strikes the observer are the lines of the furniture. The pieces look elephantine and out of proportion. So a great many of them are. They appear to have been made for people who are very much overweight."

On the other hand, he had this to say:
"...much of the craftsmanship is superb, for good craftsmanship is a form of tradition that has not yet been abandoned on the Continent. Rare and unusual woods are used and used effectively."
"The chairs are, in the main, comfortable; but the lines of the furniture, however stimulating as novelties cannot be said the delight the eye for a long time. They are too heavy, too ponderous, too serious looking."

Room decoration attributed to Lord and Taylor

Wright also contrasts the wall colors, wallpaper, and textiles to the furniture style:
"The designs are modernist in the extreme. And whereas the furniture designs are mainly rotund, the fabric designs are often angular. They are lively and amusing and full of laughter."

Ruhlmann interior
(Actually designed later, but indicative of his style and use of color.)

More information on the 1925 Paris Exhibition can be found here, and here,and more photos here.

Art Deco Origins

We have a fantastic library of design books at work, which is, not surprisingly, focused on gardens and architecture. Hidden on the shelves with some of the other architecture books I found this gem, and I've been fascinated with it ever since.


The book includes articles from House and Garden magazine as well as the mostly black and white photographs that accompanied the articles. In the section on the 1920's there's a great article written by the then-editor of House and Garden magazine, Richardson Wright, about his mixed reactions to the 1925 Exhibition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. The intent of the exhibition was to showcase French design and designers as leaders in the design world; it was mostly a state-sponsored marketing campaign on a giant level. The exhibition is now pinpointed as a sort of starting point for the modernist design movement; the Art Deco label was applied many years later, in the 1960's.

Detail above and cabinet by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann,
noted cabinet designer,
who participated in the 1925 Paris exhibition.


Ruhlmann's Hotel du Collectioneur, from the 1925 Paris Exhibition.