Decoration – Ancient & Modern, A blog by Thomas

House of Details: Merchant's House Museum in New York

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:56:13 -0400

On Thursday, June 7^th, the Merchant’s House Museum in Manhattan’s East Village is having its annual summer benefit party in its garden. This year’s event, titled A Greek Revival, will help support the museum’s Historic Furnishings Plan and provide important funding to a property very special to me and to the history of New York City. It is a house so unique and ripe with period decoration that I have chosen it to be the subject of the second post in our series, House of Details, where I focus on exceptional houses and reveal some of the features that make them so.

Our friend and director of the museum, Pi Gardiner, shared with us a brief history of the house along with comments on some of the house’s most interesting details:

The Merchant’s House Museum, at 29 East 4^th Street, also known as the Seabury Tredwell House, is one of the great gems of New York. The red-brick and white-marble row house was built in 1832 and home to a wealthy merchant family for almost 100 years. Its importance stems from the fact that it is the only family home in the city from the early to mid-19th century to have survived virtually intact, including its original neoclassical decorations and furniture. The house was one of the first 20 buildings designated under the City’s new landmarks preservation law in 1965, and was landmarked for its Greek revival interiors in 1982. The museum’s collection of over 3,000 items ranges from a suite of 12 side chairs attributed to Duncan Phyfe to 40 19^th century dresses owned by the Tredwell women. In 2011, the Merchant’s House celebrated its 75^th anniversary as a museum.

These elaborate wrought-iron basket urns on Tuckahoe marble plinths flank the entrance to the house.

The vestibule features an elaborate fanlight and a faux-marbre wall treatment.

The mahogany newel post and hand rail are carved elaborately with acanthus leaf motifs.

This view illustrates the main entertaining space of the Tredwells’ impressive home, the front parlor, which includes a suite of Rococo Revival furniture. The curtains were recreated by Scalamandre based on the original curtains that were still hanging in 1933 when the last family member, Gertrude Tredwell, died at the age of 93.

When the Tredwells redecorated their home in the 1850s, they moved this spectacular Empire sofa from the parlor to the family’s dining room on the ground floor, replacing it with a more fashionable suite of Rococo Revival furniture, as seen in the previous image. The fabric is a reproduction by Scalamandre that matches the curtains in the double parlor.

These images illustrate some of the trimmings used in the house. Scalamandre recreated these tassels based on the originals that decorated the parlor curtains. We are not sure where this blue trim was used, but we think it may have originally been part of bed hangings. They remind me of little tassel soldiers - and is the blue not amazing?

One of a pair of matching patinated-bronze gasoliers, a design patent 1852, in the Greek revival double parlor. This grand ceiling medallion, one of a pair located in the parlor and dining room, is considered the finest extant example in the country.

Fluted Ionic columns stand on either side of the pocket doors to the rear parlor dining room which can be closed to separate the two spaces. This view highlights the architectural symmetry of these two spaces that would have been reflected in the pair of pier mirrors, one between the two dining room windows, and one between the two parlor windows directly opposite.

Particularly noteworthy is a set of 12 mahogany side chairs attributed to Duncan Phyfe and originally covered in black horsehair. They have been recovered in a new black horsehair with a jacquard pattern.

The parlor carpet is a reproduction of the original wall-to-wall carpet installed by the Tredwells.

This bedroom features another classically inspired reproduction wall-to-wall carpet and an elaborate tester bed with carved gilt-wood acanthus leaf finials. The bed in the next bedroom also features elaborate finials that are, instead, of pressed gilt brass. The matching beds were purchased when the Tredwells bought the house in 1835.

In the adjacent bedroom, a small Chippendale mirror, the earliest piece in the house, circa 1805, is flanked by two ormolu and opaline glass calla lily gas sconces.

And, finally, my favorite decorative detail in the house: the side of the mahogany pillar-and-scroll sofa in the rear parlor. When you climb the stairs from the ground floor, you can see this angle at eye level. Divine, no? The above is a painting of that view by Robert Van Nutt.

I would also like to share that the museum is currently facing an important preservation battle that threatens the structural and aesthetic integrity of this home. A large and inappropriately scaled hotel is being planned for the lot directly adjacent to the museum, which is in scale with commercial structures on Lafayette instead of the residential properties along this block of East 4^th Street.

To help preserve this important home, I hope you will sign our petition.

Beauty and Memory

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:37:00 -0400

I have been out of the city a great deal this week, driving past rural cemeteries preparing for Memorial Day. Their lawns are mowed, flags for Veterans arranged, and soon many graves will have arrangements of flowers. When I was younger I thought it was waste to place flowers where no one can see them.

Since then, I have learned that they have long provided a primordial connection between the living and dead. My friend Stephen Gerth offers that archeologist in present day Iraq have found flowers in Neanderthal graves. There are preserved blossoms from Tutankhamun’s tomb.

In the United States, Memorial Day began as Decoration Day. After the Civil War, women organized the placement of flowers on the graves of soldiers. In the late nineteenth century, it also became the custom, along with those of soldier’s, to decorate family graves with flowers. Eventually Decoration Day became titled Memorial Day, and in 1967 was legislated as a legal holiday. (Of course, being a decorator, I like the old name better.)

I especially remember the Memorial Day my senior year of college at Oregon. I went home with a classmate Nancy Merrymen to visit Klamath Falls, an old cattle and timber town that her family helped settle in the 19th century. I recognized their long local history when we called on her grandmother who remembered traveling to San Francisco via stagecoach and then train to hear Caruso sing. Alas, the earthquake of 1906 turned her back.

The next day Nancy and I along with her family gathered flowers and arranged them on the graves of their ancestors. Our efforts lasted into the afternoon as we venerated the monuments of great-grand parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, and then family friends who had no remaining kin. Care was taken to make the arrangements handsome. Parallel to this effort was a constant narrative of memories and associations about all the interconnections between those remembered.

Then I realized why we leave flowers for the dead: to create beauty and further memory— for me a striking interface between decoration and life.

Kerri McCaffety's "New Orleans New Elegance"

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:00:00 -0400

Our good friend and prize winning photographer Kerri McCaffety has a new book out, New Orleans New Elegance, by Monacelli Press. Kerri (who has also photographed several of my own projects, some of which will be appearing in my upcoming book) has put together a collection of 40 homes throughout New Orleans, including my own French Quarter apartment and those of our friends Peter Patout and Robert Clepper. Her book focuses on inventive post-Katrina interiors that feel fresh and new. In a city with such a deep-set devotion to the past, it is interesting to see this sensibility take root. I admire this new approach because it takes pleasure in all that is old and special about this unique American city, but casts a new eye towards them. It is exciting to see New Orleans’s great architecture and creole legacy transformed by this new energy.

Julia Reed, our devoted friend, client, and world famous author, wrote the book’s introduction. She perfectly sums up what took place in many minds after the hurricane:

Given the city’s current atmosphere, living in a shrine to the past no longer feels appropriate. There is also the fact that hundreds of thousands of houses were either destroyed or damaged, and countless personal items lost. A lot of people had no choice but to start over. In style terms, this has translated into a look that can best be described as liberated. Keeping Great Aunt Jane’s settee covered with the same faded silk brocade she herself inherited with it no longer seems of paramount importance in a city where so many lost so much, including the equivalent of Great Aunt Jane.

She also notes that in this ‘liberated’ city, many past customs, some of which were largely abandoned, have been reintroduced in new form.

In early Creole cottages, for example, sparsely furnished rooms had multiple uses, and furniture was easily portable. With the arrival of guests (and the addition of a few armchairs) a bedroom might morph into a sitting room; a parlor might become a dining room with the addition of a table leaf or the simple rearrangement of furniture- a thoroughly modern way to live.

I think our so called “mural room” where we have had the pleasure of Julia’s company fits the bill.

Kerri’s book brings to mind some other favorite books on New Orleans:

French Quarter Manual: An Architectural Guide, by Malcom Heard

Heard’s book is an encyclopedic guide to French Quarter architecture, providing descriptions of the different types of structure to be found there — French Colonial and Spanish Colonial houses, the cottage, the town house, and the shotgun house — as well as Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, and Italianate styles.

New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence, by Randolph Delehanty, photography by Richard Sexton

One of my favorite books onNew Orleansstyle and architecture with photography from one ofNew Orleanspreeminent photographers.

Vestiges of Grandeur, by Richard Sexton

Sexton’s sequel to Elegance and Decadence is a visual tour through many ofLouisiana’sRiver Road plantations. Some of these have had the good fortune to become museums or remain homes, while others are now abandoned.

Stealing Magnolias: Tales from a New Orleans Courtyard, by Debra Shriver

Shriver chronicles the restoration of her French Quarter home as well as draw attention to the cultural assets of the city via the work of 20 photographers and artists.

The Majesty of the French Quarter, by Kerri McCaffety

McCaffety’s tribute toNew Orleanspublished in 1999, illustrating the pre-Katrina city. An interesting bookend to Kerri’s new book.

All images by Kerri McCaffety.

Image at top and 3rd image shows Peter Patout’s house in New Orleans.

Fourth and Fifth Images show the Sitting Room of Thomas Jayne and Rick Ellis’s French Quarter apartment.

The last image is a view from courtyard to Sitting Room of Robert Clepper’s French Quarter apartment.

American Silver's Golden Moment

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:05:00 -0400

I have long appreciated American silver of the mid-19th to early part of the 20th century. Great wealth and well trained designers and craftsmen freed from the strictures of European guilds, created fantastic objects unique in the history of the decorative arts.

Imagine impeccably made objects with polar bears sitting on icy ledges that also serve as bowl handles, a snake’s body curling into the form of a pitcher or ships in full sail, all rendered in silver form. It was truly a golden time for silver.

The impetus for this period of creative silver smithing was the Tariff of 1842, a protectionist bill enacted by congress that added a 30% tax on imported silverware, allowing America’s own craftsmen to dominate the market. It was furthered by a dramatic drop in silver prices beginning in the 1870s and lasting through 1915. By the end of the 19th century, the United States was producing and consuming more silver than any other country in the world.

In the mid-19th century, two firms gained prominence, Tiffany and Gorham. Tiffany was founded in New York City in 1837 and operated as a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” until 1853 when Charles Tiffany took control. He took the company on a new course, emphasizing silver and jewelry made by the finest craftsmen and materials. Tiffany’s superiority was noted at the 1867 Exposition Universalle in Paris when it became the first US firm to win an award for excellence in silverware, and again in 1878 when they won the grand prize for silverware.

E. Gorham was founded in 1831 in Providence by Jabez Gorham and largely focused on the production of coin silver spoons. In 1847 his son John Gorham took over the company and introduced new technologies. The business grew, emerging in the 1850’s as Tiffany’s chief rival. Its famous flatware founds its way onto the tables of many White House administrations and it trophy designs for sporting events were renowned.

While both firms still exist in altered form today, their products are more circumspect and meant to address the tastes of a wider audience. In their hey day, Tiffany and Gorham (and many smaller companies whose names we no longer recognize) made sculpture with practical purpose. Today, those objects are treasured for their beauty and rarity – a lost art with no equal today.

Here are several intriguing examples.

This teakettle, made by John C. Moore in 1850, was given to the president of the New England and New York State Telegraph Companies. The grape vine decoration is typical of American silver of the period. The Zeus-like figure clutching bolts of lightning serves as the handle of the lid. It is the sort of unusual detail that artisans of the period lavished on their special commissions.

This silver tea urn manufactured by Gorham in 1860 features elaborate ornamentation related to railroads. The handle of the lid is a train, a railroad track encircles the waist of the urn, and the urn sits on ‘brick’ piers. It was given to Senator Edward D. Baker by San Francisco civic leaders to advocate the construction of a transcontinental railroad.

The Bryant Vase, designed by James Horton Whitehouse of Tiffany, dates from 1875-76 and features medallions by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It was commissioned to honor William Cullen Bryant on his 80th birthday. The form is a Greek vase decorated with fretwork and American flora including apple blossoms and branches.

This silver ice bowl and spoon was made by Gorham in 1874. The bowl is in the form of an icy glacier with two polar bears serving as handles. Victorian homes were filled with frivolous, over the top creations such as this.

This snake pitcher by Gorham, c. 1885, takes its shape from a coiled snake, reflecting the late 19th century interest in Middle Eastern imagery.

Commissioned by the New York Yacht Club in 1884, this Tiffany punch bowl exemplifies the high quality of trophies the club commissioned. Its hammered surface and applied decoration of shrimp, kelp, and shells typifies the interest in Japanese style of the Aesthetic Movement.

This punch bowl, c. 1885 by Gorham, is contemporaneous with the example made by Tiffany. The Gorham version is more exuberant and lively in contrast to the more restrained Tiffany version.

This Gorham flask from 1888 was commissioned by Alexander Robery Shepherd with silver from his mines inBatopilas,Chihuahua,Mexico, was one of 15 given as promotional gifts to Mexican and American officials to support the Mexican silver market.

The Magnolia Vase (seen at top) was Tiffany’s most noteworthy entry at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. Designed by John T. Curran, the form was derived from Pueblo pottery with handles that relate to Toltec artifacts. The stylized plants are meant to represent various parts of the United States: pine for the North, magnolia for the Southeast, and cacti for the Southwest.

This Art Deco cigar humidor is one of the last important pieces of Tiffany presentation silver. Dating from 1925, it is decorated with scenes of mining relating to the American Metal Company. The Great Depression largely ended commissions for major works of presentation silver, and the few that were produced were increasingly conservative and restrained in their design.

Inspirational Art: The Paintings of Ralph Earl

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:59:00 -0400

When devising color schemes and decorative detailing for homes, I often look to historic portraits and paintings for inspiration. I especially admire early American portraits and interiors. They continually inspire me through their novel colors and rich features such as patterned carpets, sculptural upholstery forms, and painted Windsor furniture.

Historic portraits give the viewer a sense of what color was like during that period and how it was used in interiors. Interestingly, these distinct colors and the presentation of forms give the paintings an abstract quality. There are spacial inconsistencies and unexpected juxtapositions that are not meant to be taken literally. Artists of that time liberally rendered objects and perspective in seemingly illogical ways. It is part of what draws us to their work– the surface veneer of realism with underpinnings of fantasy. The artists are consumed by rendering the finer points, while not getting caught up in the need to create literal impressions of rooms.

One artist who has been particularly inspirational in my work is Ralph Earl. He was a self taught early American painter working from the mid 1770s to 1801. Originally from Massachusetts, he left his family in 1778 and went to England where he studied under Benjamin West. He went on to paint the King and other notables before returning to America in the mid 1780s with a new wife and greater renown. Ralph Earl: The Face of the Young Republic by Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser is an invaluable resource and record of Earl’s work.

I share a few of his works here highlighting what particularly draws me to them.

Elijah Boardman, 1789, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (At top)

The prosperous merchant Elijah Boardman is depicted in his store in New Milford, Connecticut. I admire the pattern on pattern effect of the bolts of fabrics in the doorway and the subtle nail head trim on the leather top desk.

Oliver and Abigail Wolcott Ellsworth, 1792, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

The couple is depicted in their Palladian-style parlor, an addition made to their Windsor home by local architect Thomas Hayden. The swag patterned nail head trim and pink fringe on the chair are beautifully documented in this painting. The unusual drape of the curtains across the bookcase is an example of the sort of playful detail not meant for literal interpretation.

Roger Sherman, 1775-6, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

This austere portrait of Robert Sherman primarily has one decorative prop — a Windsor armchair with a red seat. Painted Windsor furniture has become somewhat of a hallmark of my interiors. Their lightweight shape and form make them easy to move about and place in rooms.

David Baldwin, 1790, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

I am drawn to the nail head trim, a popular detail of the period, in this portrait of Connecticut merchant David Baldwin. I frequently use nail head on chairs and benches. I recently employed them on a set of chairs placed in a tented dining room of a West Side apartment in New York City.

Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge and Son William Talmadge, 1790, The Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, CT

This monumental image, one of a pair, illustrates several novel decorative ideas. The most prominent is the employment of en suite upholstery where a single fabric is used throughout, here being the green fabric and gold trim on curtains, chair and table cover. Note how Earl used the curtains as compositional devices around the figures.

Benjamin S. Judah, 1794, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

This painting of the merchant Benjamin S. Judah reveals a bit of the elaborate upholstery on the chair on which he is seated. Silk damask was rare and expensive in this era, and sparingly used, making its presence here notable.

Houses Fronting New Milford Green, 1796

While not a painting of interiors, the fronts of these Palladian style houses belonging to Elijah Boardman, subject of the portrait shown earlier, inspired my choice of exterior paint colors of a house I worked on in Scarsdale, New York. Incidentally, some of the color selections inside this Scarsdale house are surprising and drawn from art as well – there will be examples of it in my upcoming book of my work, American Decoration, A Sense of Place.

Ephraim Starr, 1802, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

Painted by Simon Fitch

This painting by Simon Fitch serves as evidence of how influential Earl’s work was on his contemporaries. Ephraim Starr’s Windsor chair sits on a heavily patterned floor, a compositional device made popular by Earl (see the Talmadge portrait above). This carpet served as the inspiration for a design in my line of carperts for Stark. View that collection here.

House of Details: The Pasha Suite at Le Jardin des Biehns in Fez

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:40:00 -0400

This month we are starting a regular post titled “House of Details”. It focuses on the unique aspects of well designed houses. I would like to examine all kinds of houses, some of our own design, but also by other designer as well, both old and new. They will have several things in common – be an expression of the universality of the best design and rich with examples of great details.

The first installment is a suite of rooms called “The Pasha” at Le Jardin des Biehns, a hotel I visited with the Design Leadership Summit in Fez.

Pasha Suite “Halka”

The building was originally built as a summer palace in 1906 by the Pasha Si Tayeb el Mokri, a prominent political figure, in the medina of this fabled Moroccan city—its 14th century core is now a world heritage site. After his passing in 1949, it remained in his family’s hand for several decades before being visited by Provencal antique dealer, Michel Biehn. He fell whole heartedly for the property and commenced negotiations with El Mokri’s descendents to buy it, in the process also helping to relocate 14 families who had come to set up home within it.

The result of this quixotic quest is amazing. Biehn, not a hotelier by training, filled his hotel with beautiful details, decamping from France with a carefully edited collection of Eastern antiques — nautilus shells with cameo-like engravings of Alexander the Great’s chariot, Syrian ewers, Ottoman ostrich eggs suspended from nets at the posts of a canopy bed – supplemented with Islamic textiles from the 18^th to 20th centuries. This place is a celebration of the exotic Middle East and expression of the richness of Biehn’s eye.

Pasha Suite Bedroom

The most luxurious rooms at Les Jardin de Biehns is the The Pasha suite where Pasha Si Tayeb El Mokri himself slept under 40-foot ceilings with a halka, a roof opening to the sky. This suite includes a Moorish bath with two sunken soaking pools, one hot, one cold. It is arrayed with an amazing juxtaposition of colorful textiles, tiles and paneling.

Above, Pasha Suite Bedroom details

I particularly admired the bed with a panel of old iron work and an embroidered canopy. There is also a group of Napoleon III upholstery in a sitting room finished in a bold black and white awning fabric. The furniture contrasts with the finely detailed geometry of the extensive original tile work around it.

Pasha Suite Sitting Room

In summary, the details are witty, inventive, handsome and sometimes over the top. They form a capital beginning for more well detailed posts to come…..

Above, Pasha Suite Day Beds

Baths, The Pasha Suite

Most images by Thomas Jayne (except images 2 4, 5, 8 and 13)

Another good article on Les Jardins des Biehns

Bringing the Indoors to the Outdoors

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:10:00 -0400

Lately, our clients have been calling us to help ready their porches and sun rooms for the upcoming season. They come now with high expectations, hoping to see fully developed schemes and plans. What used to be an afterthought filled with collections of matching wicker furniture bought from the local pool and patio shop are now handled like interior spaces, down to the accessories and decorative details.

I always remember a story told to me by Rosemary McPeake, sales rep and fixture of the Schumacher showroom here in New York, as well as high school classmate of Truman Capote. Years ago, her previous employer, W & J Sloane’s Furniture had an efficient way of selling outdoor furniture in the Hamptons. They would load a truck with painted white wicker and drive out to Southampton to sell it off the back of the vehicle the week before Memorial Day weekend. They did quite well and for the buyers, it made getting ready for the season very easy.

Times have changed, but, in truth, there is still an inclination to buy garden furniture ensuite. Yet, now there are so many more choices available for outdoors, so it is easier to create refined gathering spaces instead of just parking lots for sets of wicker and plastic furniture.

More than anything, I think it is the combination of pieces and introduction of antiques that lends these areas a more interior like feel. Adding mirrors, sturdy tables with interesting designs, floor matting and sophisticated outdoor fabrics make an outdoor room an inviting place to dine and socialize with family and friends. In other words, doing many of the things you would do inside, with an eye towards the practical and using things that can weather the elements.

Below are several examples of porches and sun rooms that we have done over the last few years. Some of these, I happily note, are rooms that end up having usage all year round. That is partly due to the versatility of their architecture which allows them to be enclosed, but also because they are welcoming. They have just the right amount of comfort and style to become your second living room.

A porch in Point o’Woods with vintage and contemporary furniture. The blue color on the floors, sofa platform and window trims unify the design.

Top photo, porch at the Ford Plantation in Savannah. The room is fully equipped with side tables and consoles so there are places close at hand to perch drinks on.

A poolside porch in Palm Beach has antique rattan and lots of decorative accessories like pillows, trays and vases.

A dining porch in Maine has a buffet with gilt mirror (not visible) above it.

Another porch in Maine, this one with dining and sitting areas. Garden stools used as side tables and sisal matting make the space feel like an outdoor living room.

Photos:

Top: Maura McEvoy

3rd image: Jonathan Wallen

4th image: Ali Schwarz

5th image: Kerri McCaffety

6th image: Jonathan Wallen

Albert Hadley

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:33:49 -0400

The quiet of his room and the brilliance of the decoration stand as memorial to him.

Beds that Inspire

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:01:00 -0400

I am working from home this afternoon, sitting on my bed. My book captions are due next week. As I perch here, I am thinking about beds, especially those that tempt you to linger well past your wake up time or are inviting enough to work in. A capital model that especially stands out is Edith Sitwell’s bed, in which she was famously photographed by Cecil Beaton being served tea in a fine porcelain cup and wearing a turban like night cap.

That image has always stuck with me and inspired me to create this bed at the Ford Plantation in Savannah, Georgia. Incidentally, I composed a caption for that photo today, describing it as an example of “Lowcountry luxury” and a take on old Southern beds with their great architecture and drapery. I also like its sheltering quality and the added touch of whimsy from the feather finials. It is definitely a place to write great things.

Photos:

Left, Edith Sitwell photographed by Cecil Beaton

Right, Bedroom at the Ford Plantation, photo by Maura McEvoy

The Big Effect of Small Works of Art

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 21:23:00 -0400

I am currently working on finishing an apartment here in the city, looking for those final details that will complete the rooms. During my search, I was reminded of the great value of including small works of art. A modest scale painting or print adds interest and quality, and its impact is often so much greater than its size and cost. They often add an element of surprise— their concentrated power having an immediacy that draws the eye. They attract in the way a gem or newly discovered treasure stands out and focuses your attention.

I think about the value of small works of art often in my own home. In addition to some good larger paintings, we own some really high quality smaller pieces by artists such as Grant Wood, Philip Guston, Rembrandt, and Van Eyck (given that the last two are works on paper). I am always on the look out for new pieces, and particularly enjoy checking out the yearly “Unframed” events sponsored by ACRIA (Aids Community Research of America). They are a great source for small works by interesting contemporary artists, many of which can be purchased throughout the year on their online gallery.

We recently purchased for a client several wonderful small paintings by Marianne Barcellona from her Egyptology series. She is also a noted photographer, and recently documented a series of excavations near the Great Pyramids of Giza conducted by Brown University. While there, she spent time exploring the Cairo Museum and was drawn by a group of small Egyptian figural sculptures. She wrote, “I became haunted by their poignancy, tenderness, vulnerability, and auras of benevolent calm. They felt alive and sentient … I later learned that they were probably created as reserve bodies for the soul, in the event that their mummies were destroyed.” These figures stayed in her memory, and upon returning to New York, she began painting them from recollection, only occasionally referring to her photographs. Instead, she allowed “each figure to dictate its own development through countless metamorphoses, sandings, scrapings, and re-applications of paint, until a ‘right’ presence finally emerges.” I can feel these intense emotions coming through in her work.

We bought several of these little paintings for a client’s study which we decorated as a contemporary take on an Egyptian revival library. The works we purchased will be quietly perched on the shelves of two matching Pylon-shaped bookcases, but powerfully present. While they were chosen to help underscore the Egyptian taste of the room, their color, texture and magnetism add so much more than just decorative charm.

These works have so impressed me that I asked Marianne if I could post several of her works on my page on Dering Hall. (You might also want to view some of our furniture and accessories designs there.) I hope this inspires you to consider starting your own collection of small, but great works of art.

Photos:

Top 3 images: Thomas Jayne and Rick Ellis’ Soho loft

4th image: Egyptian Boy on Blue, by Marianne Barcellona

5th image: Egyptian Figure on Salmon, by Marianne Barcellona, seen displayed on a shelf at Jayne Design Studio.

Final Image: A favorite example of a display with small works of art - this one seen in a “liquor closet” at the De Menil house in Houston.

Gimp and Cord! I Sing Your Praises

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:31:00 -0500

My mentor, the decorator Kevin McNamara, offered me much sage advice on decoration. He was clearly old school after working with Mrs. Brown of the august firm McMillen, then with Albert Hadley and Sister Parish. Amongst the many things I learned from him were that, first, a sofa or chair should always have a bit of trim. The second is to avoid double welts at all cost and use a beautiful gimp or cord instead.

Those types of welts are made from upholstery fabric wrapped around paired rope cords, most often applied to the gap between frame and fabric to disguise the channel and hide staples or nails. Too often they come off as stiff or lacking finesse, whereas a carefully chosen woven gimp trim or cord elevates a piece of furniture by adding a touch of color, texture and refinement.

In our office, double welts have become verboten. Our work orders often read “No Double Welts,” underscored, though often the workrooms we repeatedly go back to know better. Everyone here knows the extra effort and small expense are worth it and greatly improve the appearance of furniture.

The transformative power of gimps and cords can be seen in the recovery of an antique chair we recently completed for a project. We were delivered the chair in this state.

Then the chair was stripped of its original coverings and expertly rebuilt by DeAngelis Upholstery. It was carefully recovered and then a delicate gimp added that, in my opinion, greatly benefited the chair. (See top image and below.)

So, while the world will not be saved by avoiding double welts, at least your upholstery will look that much nicer.

Images:

All photos by Marissa Stokes except the unfortunate example of a blue double welt.

Going Back to the Old Neighborhood

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:14:00 -0500

Our offices are moving—again, alas— but to a great space off University Place. I used to have an apartment around there many years ago, so I look forward to being back in my old neighborhood. Thinking back to those days makes me sentimental about that old place, which happened to be both my first published project and where Jayne Design Studio had its genesis. I still like how it looks and think it is proof that decorators should invest in their own places as a demonstration of taste and talent.

Four Amazing Apartments in Four Hours

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:47:37 -0500

We are working on photographing our work for a forthcoming book monograph titled American Decoration, to be published this October. The day we started to organize the shoots with a series of scouting visits to consider angles, flowers, timing and the like was also William Cullum’s first day on the job at Jayne Design Studio. He literally walked into four of our most handsome projects. He has written a guest blog about that day….

My first week in New York City was a whirlwind experience of the most rewarding variety. Navigating subways, finding alternative routes around a parade that made escaping from our office at 210 5^th Avenue almost impossible, and sifting through the thousands of variations of cream colored linen in the D&D Building left me exhausted, intimidated, and overwhelmed.

After one final frantic journey on the subway, a brisk jog in brown suede spectators down Park Avenue, and a cramped elevator ride I found myself staring out of a window.

The view?

A silvery-gray pool of water known as the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir framed by a mosaic of crimson, sienna, marigold, and chartreuse foliage.

The room I was standing in?

Impeccable. Casual. Surprisingly livable.

I was in a home I had only ever seen in photographs or in magazines. Painted cranes on metallic Chinese papered walls in the entrance hall stared back at me, a gridded ceiling with ingenious cube-like brass sconces and ceiling fixtures illuminated the dining room, and sculptures by many well known artists of the last few decades casually lounged about the rooms.

This was the first home of four I saw that afternoon.

The next residence almost brought me to tears. There should have been a warning at the front door flashing: “You are not prepared for this.” After traveling up a few floors in an elevator, which I can only assume, has its own New York City Landmark status, we entered a carved limestone entrance hall. To the left was a hall with a faux bronze and glass ceiling that lead into one of the most beautiful salons I have ever seen. It was massive, but the multiple groupings of furniture introduced a human scale that made you feel comfortable. A couple of bronze ballerina statues ignored me as I wandered about the room, laughing nervously when I was told the French boiserie was installed by Stephanie Boudin of Maison Jansen sometime in the 1960s. This home had a pedigree that would intimidate most, but its interior finishes and furnishings warmed it and made it inviting and livable. (A taste of the room is seen in the top image.)

As the next front door opened a few blocks east, large-scale hand blocked wallpaper shook me out of my Gilded Age-meets-Jansen inspired dream (in this scenario I’m the Shah of Iran and we’re creating and decorating a Titanic-scale ocean liner, however the length of the cab ride didn’t allow me to completely finish my plans). A pair of Duncan Phyfe chairs with hairy paw feet stood obediently on either side of a console table topped by a gilt mirror. The home was traditional, but the unsuspected colors and patterns made it clear that this family lives in the 21^stcentury. It was a veritable pantheon of American furniture; the finest examples of their kind waited to be noticed and discussed.

I was in a state of sensory overload. Years of studying the decorative arts had not prepared me for this plunge into these remarkable interiors all in one afternoon. This was like trying to see Rome in a weekend; running from a Renaissance palazzo, to the Forum, to visiting Antinous and Hadrian in their marble splendor at the Vatican, and then trying to squeeze in that one final jewel-box of a Baroque church just to glimpse Saint Theresa in her state of ecstasy before the bronze doors are locked for the evening.

Finally we arrived at the fourth apartment and after a less than glamorous ascent on the service elevator we entered the unfinished kitchen and I impatiently made my into the formal entrance hall. Paintings by the masters of the 20^th century hung from every richly hued wall of the home (the gilded grass cloth of the downstairs powder room was my favorite finish). These paintings were as much residents of this home as the actual clients and you could tell they all felt comfortable in their new surroundings; they felt natural and almost expected. It was not until you accidentally noticed the rushed signatures of the artists that I fully understood the importance of the paintings. This home was clearly about displaying an amazing collection of art, but not at the expense of comfort.

The four properties were each very different examples of interior design. I traveled from casual livability, to nuanced elegance, to updated traditionalism, and finally landed in a warm, timeless environment that showcased artwork without being obvious in its method. This was my first experience with this level of interior design, and like any first experience, the magic of it is that it is the first. It will be filed away in my memory in a special folder marked “Can you believe you saw that?” where it will fade and stretch, allowing these rooms to become more fantastical and legendary as the years pass.

That Friday my world expanded infinitely.

Pillows are Important

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:09:00 -0500

Recently I went to a party at Fortuny launching a collection of pillows by Malcolm Kutner. Fortuny pillows are great in almost any form because of the subtle pattern designs and colors of their textiles, which meld handsomely to almost any interior. We have used them everywhere, from the most august drawing rooms to sun porches. The examples on display are super duper models, some with elaborate beading or fabric trims, that demonstrate that sometimes one can make a great thing better.

I think it is interesting how these seemingly minor elements of a room can have such import: their role is certainly larger than their size. I learned this early in my career from my mentors, some of whose dictates I regularly recall and share with the designers in my office. These include: never deliver a sofa without the decorative pillows –the client will not grasp the full effect you are trying to achieve without them; lacquer colored (a lush red) silk velvet pillows improve virtually any room; they are not to be called “throw” pillows under any circumstances; pillows made of old and exotic fabrics visually settle a new room; they must be larger than 18 inches; details such as Turkish corners add interest; “poofy” pillows are comforting (that advice comes from the 70’s); and the style of the pillows, despite our best efforts, always dates a room.

I offer a short cavalcade of photographs over the decades of rooms with pillows, starting with a late Victorian room by Elsie De Wolfe with heaps of pillows (a type of space that almost every American house of quality had at that time, and the first time Americans really embraced the piling on of pillows), a mid 20th century streamlined room with modern pillows, a Sister Parish room with contrasting pillows, the balloon effect of pillows in a 1980s room and a view of two of my rooms, one with fantastic pillows made for the Duchess of Windor by Jensen.

Now that I have been fully wearing the mantle of a decorator, I too can say with complete conviction that pillows are important.

Photos:

Top 2 images: Fortuny Pillows by Macolm Kutner

3rd Image: Elsie De Wolfe’s Irving Place interiors (early version)

4th Image: 1962 Park Avenue Duplex by Albert Hadley

5th Image: Sister Parish’s NYC apartment

6th Image: Living Room of a River House apartment by Kevin McNamara

7th Image: Thomas Jayne’s Soho loft, a pair of Duchess of Windsor pillows on bed.

8th Image: Thomas Jayne’s Soho loft, Cabinet Room

The Unexpected Charms of the Parasol Court at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:43:00 -0500

I was in Las Vegas last week to lecture at the Las Vegas Market, filled with fascination, but not seeing any great decoration. Then a call came from one of the great aesthetes of our time, Stuart Feld, the leading eye behind Hirschl and Adler and expert on American painting and the decorative arts. He wanted me to visit his Duncan Phyfe show at the H&A galleries in New York, which I had already seen and you should, too. Then he asked me how I liked Las Vegas, adding ”I love it, it is part of our culture”. I was surprised to hear that from him. He added how much he liked the Wynn Resort, so I immediately went to see it.

As in all matters of taste, he is right. If you stay at the Wynn, you will love Las Vegas. Unlike its neighboring resorts and casinos, this bastion does not attempt to evoke Venice with a faux Grand Canal, Rome with a group of high rises topped with columns of an unknown order, or a shipwreck on a Caribbean island — how unfortunate is that? Rather, the Wynn’s striking decoration is based on classical proportions, but modernized and expanded with acute eyes and grand style. While some may question aspects of taste, it remains a more beguiling and original creation than any of the paste ups of old motifs that surrounds it.

The centerpiece of the hotel is, and I do not use this word loosely, a fantastic double story atrium known as the Parasol court that opens onto a desert oasis replete with modernist waterfall and viewing balcony that cuts away to a lounge. What makes the space so memorable are the giant silk “parasols” that really are more like lanterns. They are made in brightly colored fabrics decorated with embroidery and tassels and hang from fabric covered poles that move slowly up and down (the lounges in the court are incidentally named Parasol Up and Parasol Down). Their scale is dramatic — some may even be taller than me. The floor is equally remarkable with huge flowers rendered in mosaic.

I am grateful that Stuart answered my cry from the wilderness because after my wondrous visit to the Wynn, I can love Las Vegas, too.

All photos show the Parasol court at the Wynn Resort at Las Vegas. 2nd Photo from bottom shows the view from the Parasol court to the waterfall.

As a bar experience, you can read a review here.

The View from Young Collectors' Night at the Winter Antiques Show

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:55:00 -0500

The Winter Antiques Show, now in its 58^th year, is constantly evolving. First conceived as a specialty fair for collectors interested in the finest of English and American antiques and decorative arts, it has broadened its mission to include the best of the 20^th century as well. This august show, on which Americana Week in New York is anchored, has learned to adapt to changing tastes. Much of that credit can be given to both Catherine Sweeney Singer, the executive director, and Arie Kopelman, the chairman, who took over the reins of the Show in 1995. They encouraged a more expansive vision of collecting, shifting the dateline to include fine art and decorative arts to 1969, hence opening the door to a new array of modern items. Many of these objects, which had not yet been created when the first Winter Antiques Show was presented, help to draw in crowds of visitors hoping to see the unusual and unexpected.

The show is now a decidedly diverse experience, welcoming more than just a narrowly focused group of collectors. An offshoot of this is Young Collectors Night. It is an evening where ancient Egyptian statues, Duncan Phyfe furniture, and the music of Rihanna, Beyonce, and the Black Eyed Peas share the attentions of a youthful crowd. I was invited to be on the evening’s Interior Design Committee and brought along several of the younger members of my office. I asked each of them what their favorite items from the evening were and I think their selections are interesting. Their choices are revealing and give a hint of what captivates this younger generation’s eye.

Natalie Obradovich (2nd from left, photo top) picked a pair of 1960s chairs from Moderne Gallery.

“I really love Danish furniture from this period. These chairs have such an unusual shape. The high back, low arms, and the almost ear-like extensions at the top of the chair make them feel modern and fresh. Yet, the spindle back and general idea of the chair recall early American Shaker forms.”

William Cullum (second from right) chose an Irish Georgian mirror with clear cut glass prism studs from Georgian Manor Antiques.

“What I love most about this piece is it’s sense of humor. It is absolutely ridiculous and fun, but in the most sophisticated way. The cut prism studs feel like magnified paste jewels from some elaborate costume the Duchess of Devonshire would have worn, and the antique mirror has the most wonderful patina to it.”

Chelsea Wick (left) chose a photograph from the Peter Fetterman Gallery.

“I love the contrast of the models’ soft, feminine, and brightly colored clothing with the hard and rigid façade of the more traditional building. It is a visual dichotomy; the combination of fashion, representing something new, within the context of the Victorian building, which was actually being demolished at the time of the photograph. For me, this photo represents what New York must have been at the time, glamorous but still gritty.”

A Visit to the New American Wing at the Met

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:26:00 -0500

Earlier this week I attended the opening of the newly refurbished American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Seeing the reinstallation of the collection was like attending a high school reunion —it was great to see old friends again. And, all of it looked exceptionally well in its flattering new environment. The new galleries, of which there are 26, are now positioned on one floor in a continuous flow of spaces. Ten years and $100 million in the making, it does not disappoint.

There are many artful touches and well considered details in the design of the galleries. One is the choice of a single neutral taupe color that provides a consistent backdrop throughout. Interestingly, many visitors made comparisons between the American Wings at the Met and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The Museum of Fine Arts’ galleries have richly colored walls, several with period appropriate wallpapers. The Met took the opposite route, avoiding emphatic color to allow the art to stand out.

In general, I tend to favor placing paintings against colored walls in my own work to set them off — but, of course, there is a difference in mission. Because the Met has encyclopedic collections and they are trying to present the broader history of art, an academic approach where art is handled like scientific specimens to be studied is warranted. Art can be carefully examined in a neutral environment, whereas decorated rooms balance multiple themes and competing focal points.

Another interesting choice the Met made was to focus on placing paintings in original or period frames, allowing individual artworks to connect back with their original context. A prime beneficiary of this is Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s 1851 Washington Crossing the Delaware. This painting — which receives the most dramatic transformation by being placed alone on a long arched wall at the terminus of an enfilade of galleries — is set within a reproduction of its original lost frame by Eli Wilner. It is a triumph.

Leutze’s painting has had multiple frames during its existence, the current one being the fourth of its 161 years of existence. In the below photo the painting is seen in its original frame at the time of the Metropolitan Sanitary Fair of 1864 in New York. In 1897, John S. Kennedy purchased the painting for $16,000 and donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. Upon its arrival it was placed in a different frame, which can be seen in the image following dating from 1907.

Once again, the painting was reframed in 1918 in a shallow, flat frame. This very plain frame was maintained because it allowed one to focus on the painting alone – a very 20^th century notion. Now, in a dramatic new course from previous decades, there is a growing movement to reunite paintings with their original or period frames. Frames are seen as part of the art and considered archeologically essential to their appreciation.

Additionally, not only has the painting been paired with a replica of its original frame, but it is also now hung in a gallery with Frederic Edwin Church’s 1859 The Heart of the Andes and Albert Bierstadt’s 1863 The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak. These three paintings were first seen together at the time of the Metropolitan Sanitary Fair in 1864, but dwelled in different galleries afterwards. Bringing these important works together ties them historically and highlights the bonds of time and place between them.

There are other wonderful juxtapositions, often insightful and sometimes humorous. It is fun to see the lazy, light-hearted ease of Bingham’s Fur Traders Descending the Missouri where it will catch your eye at the entry way framing the grandly posed Washington Crossing the Delaware. I also admired how Sargent’s Wyndham Sisters is bracketed with his other famous works, Madame X and Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Stokes. The strong black and white tones of the latter form a bold frame to the softer and more ethereal painting in between.

I hope you will all consider a visit to the new American Wing at the Met. It is worthy of a trip to New York to see – but failing that, The New York Times interactive tour of the new galleries is an exceptional introduction.

Marking the Arrival of Carnival Season with Mardi Gras Bunting

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:18:00 -0500

Last week we decorated our balcony in New Orleans for Carnival season which starts twelve days after Christmas on January 6th, and continues through to Mardi Gras, the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The timing of Carnival is something that New Orleans got right —up north, we Yankees face post-New Years let down when all the winter festivities stop. New Orleanians get through the darkest days of winter with a series of balls and parades and save their period of atonement for Lent when the lengthening days of early spring provide spiritual uplift.

Readying our balcony reminded me of how much I enjoy decorating for occasions. It is quick, relatively inexpensive, and risk free. Once the holidays and parties are over, the less successful decorations can be put aside, while the best examples can be retained for use again next year.

This year we decided to take a traditional path with our decorations, using old fashioned cloth bunting in the Carnival colors of New Orleans: purple, green and gold. These colors have old roots. They were introduced in 1872 with the formation of Rex, the society that crowns the King of Carnival every year. In later years, the colors were given a special meaning: purple representing justice;green faith; and gold, power. For punctuation, we added gilded fleur-de-lis, the symbol of New Orleans.

The use of bunting stems from a long tradition of employing fabric for festive decoration—nothing moves and catches the light like it. For centuries, cloth was considered precious because it was an item of great expense that had to be laboriously made by hand. Hence, it was mostly used for serious celebrations, usually martial or patriotic in nature. The term bunting actually has a military association, originally meaning a specific type of lightweight wool fabric used in the 17^th century for making flags and ribbons for the Royal British Navy. Over the decades, its meaning evolved to signify draped cloth swags or a collection of flags or pennants. In America, most bunting is red, white and blue or colored to match college football teams—except in New Orleans where the colors of Rex reigns supreme.

We have since returned to New York, and grey January. I am buoyed by warm thoughts of standing on our balcony Mardi Gras Day

Top 2 photos of Thomas Jayne and Rick Ellis’s terrace in New Orleans, photos by Thomas Jayne.

Last image, a 1904 street scene in Cincinnati.

Love, Time and Being Practical as We Approach the New Year

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:59:00 -0500

Furthering my interest in images of Father Time and prints, I bought a new example from The Old Print Shop to celebrate the New Year. It is James McArdell’s 1765 print of Time Clipping the Wings of Love. This seemingly harsh allegory has a coda — Love escapes and triumphs over Time.

My decorator advice for this week is that process is as important as product; how we conduct ourselves is as important as the results. Here practical works on paper are a very affordable way to have great works of art. So start the enjoyable search for great prints and remember in the process, Love is always the victor over Time.

Photo of Thomas Jayne as Father Time during Mardi Gras taken by Rick Ellis

A Simple and Beautiful Approach to Christmas Decoration

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:51:00 -0500

I have always thought that the most attractive Christmas decorations are those that are immediate and simple, and put together with minimal fuss. An arrangement of greenery and fruit, and a few pieces of antique or vintage religious art can make any interior instantly festive. They also offer a quiet and straightforward beauty that can be refreshing to the eye.

This Christmas season I have been asked by several websites and blogs for holiday decorating ideas, especially those that can be implemented at the last minute. In the spirit of simplicity described above, here are a few of the suggestions I made:

Table Top Christmas Trees

For many it may be a few weeks too late to manage a full sized Christmas tree, but for the procrastinators, a table top tree is a good solution. The first Christmas trees were table top trees popularized in the Victorian era after Queen Victoria and her family were shown in illustrations with one. This historically traditional alternative provides the magic of a Christmas tree without the overwhelming logistics required of a large scale one.

(Live table top trees are available from LL Bean or White Flower Farm. An alternative to live trees are old fashioned goose feather trees, popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

Arrangements of Fruit

Arrangements of readily available fruits such as apples and pears, alongside some non seasonal or exotic fruit make for beautiful centerpieces. My inspiration for this comes from lush, romantic still life paintings à la Rubens, Peale or other Old Masters. You might also consider decorating a small tree with fruit such as tangerines — I grew up with table top trees decorated with them during my childhood in California, a custom my family adopted in the early 20th century.

Above is a room I decorated for Yuletide at Winterthur Museum — note the tangerines in the table top tree.

Greenery

Simple arrangements of greenery are perfect for the holidays. Mixing different types of foliage in varying shades of green instead of the traditional red and green combination is unexpected.

Table Linens

Beautiful table linens in festive hues are an easy way to add instant decoration and cheer. Linen table cloths and napkins in rich jewel tones are a particular favorite of mine. If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, it’s not difficult to make a tablecloth out of your own fabric. I’ve even had some made by the local dry cleaners.

One of my favorite sources is Muriel Grateau who makes 100 different shades of table linens and these at Barney’s

Antique or Vintage Religious Art

Purchasing a nice menorah, crèche, or antique piece of religious art will not only serve as a holiday decoration, but as an investment piece that you will enjoy for many years to come. Great examples can be purchased from 1stDibs, your local antiques store, or even Ebay.

Music:

The power of good music is often underestimated. Downloading music is inexpensive and easy, so there’s no excuse for cheesy Christmas music anymore. A recording of King’s College choir is a particular favorite of mine. It will help cleanse the air and change the mood of a room instantly.

Paper Lanterns:

For those seeking a more bohemian and whimsical approach, consider hanging colorful paper lanterns from your ceiling. They provide instant atmosphere and feel magical. I once visited the great Irish country house Clandeboye where they had strung the library with lanterns, Chinese kites and gold stars for Christmas. It is playful and festive without employing the usual devices associated with Christmas.

And for those that don’t want to decorate at all… just skip town and head somewhere warm. After all, Jesus was born in an exotic locale…

Notes:

See my advice as published by Casa Sugar and Gilt Home.

All Photos by Thomas Jayne except image of Yuletide at Winterthur, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum