Even though I’ve been quiet for awhile…I’ve doing a bit behind the scenes. Since most of Magdalene’s earlier 18th century French porcelain has sold, I’ve loaded my “Private Collector” page at the top of my blog with some of her 18th century silver, 18th century Belgian and Chinese export armorial porcelain.

One of the most outstanding offerings is a set of soft paste mid 18th century Saint-Cloud porcelain knives. Saint-Cloud, France, produced porcelain from the last quarter of the 17th century until 1766.

More Saint-Cloud info at LACMA’s museum link here

It’s always wonderful to find a single piece of mid 1700′s soft paste porcelain…a single porcelain handled knife would make a great letter opener! But to a collector, a larger set steadily increases the value. As does the perfect condition, the silver button at the bottom. Before the discovery of Kaolin, the key ingredient to hard paste porcelain that gave porcelain it’s strength and shine, soft paste porcelain manufacture at Saint-Cloud strove to copy the Chinese style in their blue and off white designs.

sterling button end detail

gold plate over sterling ferrels

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The gentlemen of Saint-Cloud…

Possibly the first time the term Saint-Cloud caught my ear…this fabulous painting of The Gentlemen of the Duke of Orléans by Felix Philippoteaux (1815-1884).

 This is a copy of a gouache in the style of Louis Carrogis Carmontelle (1717-1806). It included six gentlemen of the Duc D’Orléans. They are, from left to right, Gax Knight, the Marquis de Périgny, the Chevalier de Saint-Mars, the Chevalier d’Estrees, Baron and Knight of Tourempé Desparts.

Gentlemen de Saint-Cloud

Reproduced on pillows or as wall art at Le Boudoir et sa Philosophie Paris here

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Also, Cynthia Hattersly of Rough Luxe Perspective just posted an interview she did with me last week about my garden here. She will be interviewing Loi of Tone on Tone next in her series of Blogger’s gardens.

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Like a virtual bulletin board, my blog has helped me narrow my focus on what I most love…refining my collections to avoid duplication and zeroing in on what I value the most. My first impulse is always “the deal”…but I am trying to put that a bit lower down on my list of criteria so that I have less….but items that are more perfect for me.

I’ve added “Coup d’Oeil…Trouvais open closet” on my side bar. “Coup d’Oeil” means “peek” or “glance”. Often it refers to military strategy as generals survey the field. This is a view inside my closets…trunks…my “overflow”. Since I am so close to the Bella Notte seconds outlet, I have more bedding than beds, and am prepared to whittle down a closet full!  Some antique textiles as well, as I refine my collection. I will continue to add pieces as I make those hard choices…”will I ever use this…do I need two…or three of these??”.

If anything interests you, just email me at lyonallen@hotmail.com.

More soon…