Rose Diet

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Gardens

Tags

Gardening, Rayford Reddell Rose diet, roses, Textile projects, Toile rouge

From my personal textile collection…a rosy antique toile from Petitpierre…earlier post about rosy colored toile here. As you probably know by now, I favor 18th or early 19th floral textiles…particularly those with some added texture: embroidery, brocade, hand quilted. Wendy Lewis (Loody Lady) of the Textile Trunk here has a huge antique toile selection. Morgaine-la-Fay is the nom de plume of a UK textile dealer who sells on Ebay here as well and blogs here. The toile pieces above are from another UK textile dealer Sallie Ead who has a large collection of toile and early chintz and sells on Ebay UK here. I love how all three sources sell groups of smaller pieces that can be used for projects. Smaller, less perfect makes them easier to cut! If you search Wendy’s listings by “project” you’ll get these wonderful, inspired grouping here. Though at heart I’m into neutrals…I love the deft mix of color and form!

I’m moving a bit closer in my thought process to a garden project that will be started in a few weeks. The start is figured out…it’s the end that I’m not quite sure of! I’ll be sharing a few favorite inspirations and more of my plans in the next few posts. One of my long time favorites is local San Francisco Bay Area garden designer Scott Colombo (photo from one of his garden’s above). Elle Decor has more wonderful photos of his work here

A plateful of some of my best blooms from last year…all antique Bourbon shrub roses. March is the time to start feeding our roses out here in Northern California. One of my favorite “Rose Diets” is Rayford Reddell’s here…though I improvise with Maxsea Seawead plant food here, occasionally alfalfa pellets, love “Walt Whitman” compost from American Soil Products here. I rarely (if ever) use insecticides or fungal sprays. I give my roses as much sun, fresh air (don’t overcrowd!), and good food as possible and have “pruned with a shovel” any that just seem too “precious” to thrive in my particular micro-climate! The deeper a rose’s color, the more sun it seems to crave…so I position my white roses in shadier areas. Photo below is a June glimpse of my first garden…designed over 20 years ago. Once the basic structure is in place for your garden…it just seems to age so beautifully!

If you’re not a compost and alfalfa sort of a gal….if Paris in the Spring is more your thing….there’s still room in Jermaine’s French Kissed May Paris Shopping Party here and great photos on her Paris Shopping Give Away here

Maryanne at Beadboard UpCountry also has a great post about both Jermaine’s tour, and Kit of Chic Provence‘s Provence tour Going to France in Two Styles here. Beautiful photos from both ladies! Hope I’ve given you enough links to keep you busy!

Golden

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

18th century lifestyle, 18th century shoes, Antique bed, Antique Fabric, Flea Market Style, French curiosities

Three turkeys later, yams, pumpkin pie, glistening cranberries…I’m day-dreaming golden, rich colors…and love them countered with teals and aqua. Ever entranced with the loops of antique French toile pelmets…love them dancing atop this bed. The Paris apartment of Amalia de Klemm as photographed by Guillame de Laubier in the January 2003 issue of World of Interiors.

Imagining the holidays served up on platters…here an almost edible, jewel clutched 18th century shoe…

Paper covered 18th century boxes for treasure…

A softly textured world of old paint and time worn textiles. I live in a very neutral environment…ivory, creams, soft grays. I suppose that’s why I am so drawn to antique textiles. Each piece is a jewel…a unique composition of beautiful, rich colors, careful details. A pillow, a drape of silk brocade over the armoir door, collected ribbons and treasured finds…perfect to inject into my cautious little world. Some of my favorite textile links to drool over:

The Textile Trunk here (surely everyone knows Wendy Lewis!)

Orelliers here (top of the line gorgeousness from our very own Debra from Acquired Objects)

Katherine Poole here (a UK vendor)

Cora Ginsburg here (I love flipping through her fabulous catalogues compiled since 2002)

All great inspiration for beautiful color combinations…and a bit of a design history lesson…

And if you’re wondering about the three turkeys…we visited both sides of the family on Thanksgiving, and after several years of complaints that we didn’t have leftovers to gnaw on for days later, I baked our own. Both kids were home for the holiday. Lots of driving. And cooking. Exhausting and wonderful. And now I need to come up with a week’s worth of turkey recipes…give me your tips!

A View from Fall….

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Gardens, My home

≈ 47 Comments

Tags

18th century shoes, Antique embroidery, Antique Fabric, roses

Thank you to all who have inquired. I am hale and hearty

and knee deep in my many little passions: chiefly

gardening, tweaking the colors of my world through paint

and dye, and collecting small representative bits of an

18th century world. After a Summer of loving having my big kids

around…it’s back to editing the flotsam and

jetsom of twenty years in this old house and starting

on plans for a big landscaping project in the Spring.

A few recent photos from about the yard…

Stephanotis vine…

the most divine fragrance….

Coquettes des Blanches

Bourbon c. 1871

Madame Issac Perrier c. 1881

the most fragrant antique Bourbon rose…

Love moody dark grays and brights…

and dyeing my own linens

Madame Ernest Calvat…Madame Issac Perrier…Souvenir de Malmaison…

Old French roses and worn French paperbacks….

18th century French fabric reworked into ecclesiastical stole

on hand dyed Carolyn Quartermaine fabric

In search of the inimitable….

Hand woven, hand stitched…

An ageless love of nature’s little frills worked through silk,

treasured, handed down, reworked, honored…

Old leather bound books and butterflies…

a gouache cartoon…preparation for a woven tapestry…

Antique silk shoes…late 18th or early 19th…

when soles were neither right nor left…

plumped with linen and tied with striped bows…

great site here

My collecting always seems in pursuit of a story…

In the 18th century The Ladies’ Memorandum books

showed a glimpse into pre-blogging woman’s lives….

More here

Though occasional rains signal the closing of the gardening season…

I have parrot tulips and Icewing daffodils and English bluebells to

plant….and a few roses always manage to bloom in December.

I’ll try to pop in from time to time…..

Hope you are all happily busy this Fall…

XOXO

Trish

Rosy Pinks

19 Thursday May 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Garden, roses

Big rains out here in Northern California earlier this week…

Foxgloves bent and roses cowed, heavy with rainfall,

wet ground strewn with fallen petals. Peony buds are poised for

the big show by end of week. Bundles of fresh picked roses

make up for all the clean up work I’ll be doing today!

Giving me a rosy outlook…

Threads of Feeling

08 Sunday May 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

18th century clothing, 18th century lifestyle, 18th century textiles, Antique textiles

The World of Interiors did a lovely story last March about an 18th century

Foundling hospital created by Captain Thomas Coram. Having made his fortune

in trade with the colonies, in his retirement he had noticed on early morning walks

from Rotherhithe into the city of London numerous swaddled babies left on the

steps of various Churches in the hopes that the abandoned babies would be

taken care of . By 1739 the foundling hospital he created with the help of 375

others, including six dukes and 11 earls became the first charity to received a

royal charter, and in 1741 received it’s first orphans. Recently discovered is an

archive of 18th century fabrics that were collected as part of paperwork to

admit each child. Though no question were asked of the women, no names were

required, they were asked by the hospital to leave a small token of remembrance

in case they were able to return to claim their child. Sarah Bender left the scrap

above with her son Charles, who she returned to claim nine years later.

Though many left nothing, others left trinkets, beads, keys, ribbons, and fabric cut

from a mother’s hem or sleeve that was attached to the registration billet. Sadly, of

the 16, 282 children admitted between 1741 and 1760, only 152 were reclaimed.

The poignancy of the hopeful and loving scraps pinned to so many forms tell a

wistful story in the Threads of Feeling exhibit held at the Foundling Museum last

March. The heart is a reoccurring emblem, as well as fabrics decorated with

flowers, birds, butterflies.

Closeted in dark archives, the textiles have survived the centuries in

remarkable condition and are a glimpse into a wide swathe of the social

economic population. Each scrap tells a story. If you’re a fabric nut

or a fan of old script…you’ll love this glimpse into the 18th century…

Curator John Styles, the author of Dress of the People and Threads of Feeling

brings to light the significance of what is now recognized as Britain’s

largest collection of everyday textiles. Threads of Feeling exhibit

photos here, more photos and review of exhibit here

The kitchen counter is crowded with garden roses

and my Mother’s coming for a visit. One child will undoubtedly

call from college and the other might help me with the weeding!

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

From Swatch with Mother

by Frances Spalding

World of Interiors March 2011

Little Finds

07 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

18th century clothing, French curiosities

Just a little find…

a half set of 18th century French paste buckles

tucked in a velvet lined box….

I carefully peeled back the

silk covered paper of the box lid lining

to find this lilting script….treasure!

Now to find an expert that will

get me behind that last bit of amber glue and paper!

Anyone?

Rare pair of French 18th c miniature paintings

in glittery paste frames…

When the world was lit by candlelight…

Aren’t these little beauties!

Found them in an old auction catalogue

and thought you’d like to see them.

More 18th c shoe buckles in More Finds here

Stripes, Florals, and Ruffles…

06 Sunday Mar 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Antique shoes, Lillian Williams

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

18th century shoes, French Antiques, Lillian Williams

Stripes…

Florals….

And ruffles…

From Lillian Williams’ fabulous collection of 18th century French shoes…

Via World of Interiors June 2005

Photography Bruno Suet

Don’t worry…whatever goes out of style

comes back in..

Lest you doubt the depth of my obsession with

these dainty little marvels…

Earlier posts about 18th century shoes here

For 21st century update…see Sarah Klassen’s Haute Design post here

Temps Perdu

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Lillian Williams

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

18th century lifestyle, 18th century shoes, French curiosities, Lillian Williams

Lillian William’s flat in 1990’s New York…

A chateau apartment…a stop over on her quest to import

a great deal of 18th century France to the West Coast for her once

and forever fabulous, but now closed, “La Vie de Soleil” shop in

San Francisco. I might have to blame my fascination with the 18th century

France on that wonderful fairy tale place..

My collected group of French antique papers

in a robin’s egg blue 19th century Swedish box…

Ebay and auction purchases…the “Vente” paper from

French Country Home‘s burgeoning boutique here

Acquiring tangible bits of the past…one at a time…

I do enjoy fooling around with copies of the script

and 18th century prints…like this heavily worked up coiffure…

From Love Letters post here

If you can imagine just how messy this process was…

you’ll understand the need for the textile below…

This c. 1790 Ladies powdering jacket

was auctioned of at Kerry Taylor auctions here

More at my Hairdressing post here

Lillian William’s collection of ladies necessities…

Embroidered pocketbooks and buckles…

fans, thimbles and embossed metal sewing kit…

From earlier post More Finds here

Enjoying the 18th century from a safe,

well lit and less over-dressed perspective…

part of my own collection of antique buckles…

More from Lillian Williams New York apartment…

circa 1990 World of Interiors ….

Walls mimicking the bright, saturated colors of the time…

Lillian, a passionate self taught expert on 18th century France,

was consulted for the gorgeous Dangerous Liaison’s film

with Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer…

which I hope everyone has seen…

18th century French chandelier

at recent auction…

I actually bid on this before realizing it was a mite too big for my office….

but the candlelight over my desktop would have been lovely….

French Chateau doors…19th century…made for the theater?

Ambiance Antiques at 1stdibs

here

I’m only telling you about these because I have given up figuring

out where I could sneak these in….they’re up for grabs…

Many earlier posts on Lillian Williams here

From A La Refurb du Temps Perdu text Carol Prisant,

photography Michael Mundy World of Interiors 9/90

Folly

27 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Lillian Williams

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

18th century French Chateau, Chateau de Morsan, Lillian Williams

Excuse me…

while I toil on more mundane projects…

I need a brief interlude from reality…

In an 18th century chateau bathroom…

Part of a week long reverie…

World of Interiors April 1994

to be continued…

Finds

26 Wednesday May 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Antique Fabric, Antique French barometer, French Antiques

Louis XV style metal lantern style sconce…

one of two that flank my dining room French doors…

Because of the warbled old glass, you can just

barely make out the aqua candle inside…

Throwing myself into change…finally upgraded my camera, my son switched

out my aging desktop computer for his homemade uber-computer. It is

wickedly fast and powerful and is making a decidedly loud hum at my right

elbow. He mentioned something about it needing new ball-bearings(!?!!) .

I tend to throw myself into change, full speed ahead. So all might go up

in a puff of technological smoke (probably me, not the computer)…

So in case the screen goes abruptly blank…

here are a few test photos of some favorite finds…

I’m on a bit of a “thing’ diet this spring. Spring gardening always tempers my treasure

hunting impulse..the garden yields so many surprises of its own that I’m content

to count peony and rose buds. Nevertheless, I couldn’t resist this antique barometer

I found recently at at an auction. Made in Paris in 1763, it continues to amaze me that

it has passed centuries being settled on one wall after another…

Can’t help but be a little in awe of it…

Who peered into the tiny mercury filled vial on a

balmy summer evening, and what were they wearing?

Did they send someone to fetch them a shawl?

Who traced their fingers over the curves of the roses?

Planned a picnic, ordered raspberry plants to be set out or

a crop to be brought in…?

It fascinates me how antiques travel over time through countries and homes,

handed from one ardent admirer to the next. A conduit through which people

live their dreams and shape their lives, and then continue on bobbing along

in the stream of life until they enchant another owner…

Finds

14 Friday May 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Antiques

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

French Antiques, Garden, Peonies

My hand me down camera is sensing that she will soon be replaced

and thus the “impressionistic” photos…Still the chaotic bowls of

lipstick pink “Kansas” peonies tumble prettily in the border…

painting a florid chorus of riotous full Spring. Other peonies are

pursed tightly, patiently, waiting their show…

And a glimpse of my newest find….

Made in Paris in 1763, this one weathered many seasons, many roses

and spring gardens…I have resolved lately to temper my temptations

for smaller finds, to make way for more significant ones. And to wait, patiently,

until then. What treasure do you tuck into the corner of your dreams?

What tugs at your heart when you flip through books and magazines, go to

house tours or museums?For some of us its pretty china, lavish silver,

voluminous silks or the heavy hand of hand loomed linen, carved scrolls of

architectural salvage, miniature portraits, antique books, vintage watering

cans and farm tools. Beyond peonies and spring borders and summer

sojourns, what thing do you love and wait for and why?

Happy weekend and happy hunting…

Suitable for Framing

14 Sunday Mar 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

18th century French wallpaper, antique wallpaper, French Country Living, Isabelle de Borchgrave, Paper Illusions, Pater Art, The Textile Trunk

” It was in the eighteenth century that magnificent wallpapers from China

made their debut in certain very grand houses, such as the Chateau de Maintenon,

all imported by the Compagnie des Indes right along with fabrics from India…”

Rosette motifs for ceiling…

Tendriled floral patterns on a ground of thin gray stripes

from the 1780s…

Groups of Africans alternating with bouquets dating

to the end of the eighteenth century….

Several gorgeous examples of 18th century French wallpaper from the Mauny

collection, assembled in the 1930’s by Andre Mauny, and classified a national

treasure by France’s Monuments Historiques…

French Country Living

Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery

Bernard Touillon

Thibaut-Pomerantz antique wallpaper

“Indiennes”

The Textile Trunk

“This is a very rare and important piece of 18th century French wallpaper.

This wallpaper was originally acquired by the founder of Gracie , in the

1940’s. I was told at that time they acquired it, it was originally installed

in a Louis XIII Castle in the Cevennes Mountains in France, near the

source of the Loire River.” …Wendy Lewis

Available on Ebay here

Rare, delicate, highly prized, often these ethereal glimpses

into the distant past are framed as art…or put on folding screens…

View more exquisite examples of antique wallpaper

for sale at the Gracie website here

And more 18th century French paper…

this time created by artist Isabelle de Borchgrave…

The dress of Madame de Pompadour wholly constructed of paper…

based on drawing by Quentin de la Tour in the Musee du Louvre, Paris

Additional costumes, “Papiers a la mode”, here

Sleeve detail of 18th century French panier dress below…

lace engageante and bow…

18th century imagined …and created… entirely out of paper…

Paper Illusions

The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

Barbara and Rene Stoeltie

More Finds

25 Thursday Feb 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

18th century lifestyle, 18th century shoe buckles, 18th century shoes, Antique embroidery, antique paste jewelry, Ebay Finds, Georgian shoe buckles

French Casaquin c. 1790

Meg Andrews here

I started collecting 18th century shoe buckles last year…

Many from the Georgian time period 1714-1811. Anyone who has

read my blog for a while has probably noticed I love 18th century

ladie’s shoes…

LACMA

c. 1772

Until the end of the 18th century, women’s shoes were made

of lovely silk and embroidered fabric. Perhaps that’s why I find

them so charming…and expensive…and fragile…

and why I focused instead on collecting their sturdy silver buckles

I focused on silver with paste stones…

In the 18th century, paste was by no means an inferior

product and both men and woman loved how they

added a little sparkle to the dance floor….

highlighting their perfect mincing footsteps…

Some buckles lose their prongs along the way…

the top and bottom buckles

have the similar shaped mechanism that I prefer…

It was customary at the time for silver buckles to

not be marked, but they were all tested chemically

by the sellers who vouched for their composition..

Of course I was most drawn to flowers and bows.

The only matched pair I have,

this set came backed by damask

and the seller included loose stones

so that I could restore them…

Probably my favorite…

It has a nice heft to it, a good mix of paste sizes and shapes

and I like the open design. A pin was added to the back to

turn this into a broach and I added the scrap of 18th

century fabric. It’s not the whole shoe but it’ll do….

Pastes were set into foil, which intensified the shine

They also often added a black dot to the bottom of the paste to give more

dimension to it and duplicate the look of diamonds…

Matched pairs with no missing stones command high prices,

but I’m content with my little ramshackle fleet…

The buckle with baguette shaped pastes is another favorite. I’m working on a storage

and display case, but I like collecting antique objects that can be picked up and examined.

It just gives another dimension to history to touch the every day objects that people

lived amongst, relied on, were proud of.

Photo from Marie Antoinette Style by Adrien Goetz

A great photo timeline of antique shoes here

A collection of my posts that feature antique shoes here

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 18th century buckle collection here

Romance novelist Candice Hern’s gorgeous collection here

Love Letters

11 Thursday Feb 2010

Posted by Trish in 18th century

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

18th century lifestyle, 18th century shoes, antique French script, Antique script, Carolyn Quartermaine, roses, Yellow

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and it just puts me in that girly sort of mood…

I brought out a set of my antique French letters and added a few of my favorite

18th century French fashion plate photos to them and printed them out…

Would make great wrapping paper for some sweetheart. More on that

trend setting hairstyle via Surroundings here

The queen of decorating with gorgeous antique French script

is Carolyn Quartermaine. Photo above from her book Revealed.

Her website shows the latest she’s up to but I’m still entranced

by where she’s been. An earlier post I did of her Pink and Gold

I framed nine of my favorite antique letters and set them

above a console in the master bedroom. Though stock

frames, I switched out the glass with archival glass.

Below is a set of ho-hum books I painted a few shades of blue

From Framing a Wall here (yes that’s a Quartermaine

script pillow in Stephen Shubel’s Paris apartment)

Love the packaging on these bars of soap…

Script, 18th century fashion plates, flowers…

Tokyo milk

Old garden roses from last fall with

a simple Japanese anemone…

Doesn’t everyone want to be pampered on Valentines day?

Love the elegant posture, brilliant yellow, the careful application

of powder to her high and heavily pomaded hair…

more 18th Century Hairdressing here

Silky yellow, lace, bow…

From Last Honeyed Drips of Summer here

One of my first posts…from peony border

to Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette ‘s delicious shoes

Treasure Hues here

Hmmm…what do you get the menfolk for Valentine’s day?

Cravat, shoe buckles, walking stick?

More script (what can I say… I love letters)

and wonderful video of Carolyn Quartermaine here

Shoe photo from Marie Antoinette Style by Adrien Goetz

Most of the Fashion plates come from the “Galerie des Modes” 1778-1787

From my dogeared edition of Eighteenth century French Fashion Plates

in full color edited by Stella Blum

Special Note

Mélanie from the wonderful French blog Le Petit Cabinet de Curiosités will have

the Grand Opening of her boutique tomorrow. She has around 200 antique French letters.

Some are 19th century and are letters to a “Comte”. Others are contracts from the

beginning of the 19th century with crowns on them, which she will put up first.

She has around 10 that are from the 17th century.

Winter Roses

08 Tuesday Dec 2009

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Antique Fabric

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Antique clothing, Antique embroidery, Antique Fabric, fur trimmed embroidered silk dress, garden roses

An embroidered satin open robe, Chinese made for the European market c.1770

Fabric created c.1755-60, embroidered in imitation of a brocade with bouquets

of flowers tied with blue ribbons…

Impossibly lovely. Raspberry silk embroidered dianthus and rose buds,

variegated green foliage on green hued ivory silk, the wing cuffs

trimmed in brown fur…

Kerry Taylor Auctions

A simple Indian sprigged muslin gown circa 1800

Simple draw-string to neck, empire-line bodice, horizontal tucked

bands to hem, long sleeves, embroidered in silver thread, the bodice

signed in ink `Monson’

Kelly Taylor Auctions

Impossibly beautiful and unattainable items have me struggling to deconstruct the

overwhelming appeal of some objects. Is it the suggestion of another time and place,

suffused with romance? Diaphanous gauze and metallic thread? The image in my mind

of a tiny embroidered beribboned silk shoe skimming a ballroom floor?

My love of roses and rosy tones?

Even if I could afford one of those antique beauties…I would always worry about the sunlight

slowly and inexorable breaking down the silk fibers, dulling the bright embroidery…

these lovelies will be wrapped in a acid free paper, tucked in acid free boxes

into dark closets. Or in climate and light controlled museums.

So I grab my bits of rosy ribbons and scraps of embroidered silk, and

exorcise my antique textile demons…wondering what windows

I could dress with fur trimmed, floral embroidered silk curtains….

and enjoy the surprise of December roses

Other sources: Slippers (c. 1820) from Snowshill collection in Shoes and Slippers by Althea Mackenzie

Watercolor by JJ Grandville

Have a seat

23 Monday Nov 2009

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Antiques

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

18th century lifestyle, antique leather chairs, French Antiques, Rose Tarlow, tapestry seating

Unframed early 19th century French painting

on 18th century painted and gilded Italian chair.

The stand alone, one of a kind, quirky, precious antique,

incredible chair as art form…

A collection of Rose Tarlow chairs…

Louis XVI Ratchet chair

Régence beechwood…

reupholstered in 18th century Beauvais tapestry

17th century armchair of carved turned walnut

with original tapestry…

One of my favorite Rose Tarlow pictures…

either antique child’s chair or model chair atop

equally worn amber leather

Love all the golden hues above…this photo deftly mixes in pattern

and stripes in ruddy and indigo tones that relate to the portrait above.

A Thanksgiving palate.

Sources: Room to Inspire Annie Kelly top photo

all others House and Garden archives

Restoration in Tangier

18 Wednesday Nov 2009

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Interiors

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

antique Tunisian tiles, historical restoration, Lime-washed walls, Roberto Peregalli, Tangier, Tunesia, World of Interiors

Stunning image of Dahlias being arranged in an 18th century Moroccan marble fountain

in the Tangier home of architect Roberto Peregalli. Roberto and his partner Laura

Sartori Rimini set about restoring and joining a derelict trio of houses while preserving

a sense of their history. Crate upon crate of 17th and 18th century Tunisian tiles

journeyed across the Pyrenees and Italy to be carried here in wheelbarrows through

the maze of Medina alleyways. Old doors, railings, windows, balustrades and hardware

were purchased on travels about Morocco, sojourns through Paris and London flea

markets. Roberto photo-documented the original 18th century walls, “It was necessary

for the contrast between the shiny surfaces of the glazed tiles and the diaphanous

surfaces of the lime-washed walls- with an inner light achieved by many layers of paint

-to be convincing, to be “right”, soft…” Italian painter Edvige Tamburini directed

the restoration of the walls, working to achieve the same colors, using the same

materials as the 18th century.

Tangier home of architect Roberto Peregalli

A French arm chair upholstered in petit point

is crowned by a northern Italian portrait, both from the 17th century

Absolutely incredible wall treatment...I could swim in this color, roll

onto my back and stare at the sky in this color…

Architect Roberto Peregalli's Tangier home

Victorian chairs surround the dining room table,

below copper lantern from the same period…

On the far wall, a panel of 18th century tiles from Fez

is flanked by two panels of 16th century tiles from Seville

Tangier home of architect Roberto Peregalli

Black and white antique marble tiles line the floor

of the L-shaped entrance, and are echoed among

the 18th century Tunisian tiles that decorate the dado.

Tangier home of architect Roberto Peregalli

A fragment of an antique Caucasian carpet hangs

from the first-floor gallery’s balustrade.

A huge skylight above floods the chamber with light

and suspends a great lantern by a double chain…

Tangier home of architect Roberto Peregalli

Antique double doors open out to to give a view of

the library and its early 19th century Italian bookcase.

Walls as painter’s canvas…truly inspirational.

The World of Interiors Nov ’09

Photography Roland Beaufre

18th century Swedish Style

11 Wednesday Nov 2009

Posted by Trish in 18th century, Interiors, Rough Luxe

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

18th century style, Gustavian style, Lars Sjöberg, Regnaholm, Rococo, Swedish style

“What made the mansion so exciting was its very emptiness and the lack of objects.

Its décor and fixtures, such as tiled stoves, doors, mirrors and mural paintings, were of

the highest quality, however-this despite its location in the depths of the countryside.

The proportions of the rooms and the views of water from each window were, and still are,

captivating. From the wide floorboards to the lack of central heating, the overwhelming

impression was of undestroyed 18th century. What rapidly became clear was that the

house would not work as a permanent residence, but a repository for dreams that

we could indulge in our leisure time. “

Lars Sjöberg’s account of his discovery and forty year careful restoration of

Regnaholm, an 18th century Swedish manor house. An art historian and

curator of the National Museum of Stockholm, and author of several books

on Swedish style, his account of the Regnaholm restoration is inspiring.

In the green drawing room the mirror is ornamented with roses around a pediment

in which two swans drink from a fountain. The gilded console table has a

painted glass imitation of Porphyry in its borders.

The pine floor in the drawing room features a star shaped oak inlay…

Late Gustavian sofa is decorated with green-painted griffins

and composition moldings glued to the wooden frame…

Lars has been painstaking in his removal of more contemporary wallpaper and paintfinishes

from the walls and wood detail that crept slowly over the original 18th century house.

On the death of an aristocrat, his belongings were inventoried by law, so Lars has been

able to surmise furniture holdings of the original dwellers and carefully approximate them.

Lars purchased the late Gustavian couches 20 years ago.

The pier glass’s ornaments were originally antique verdigris green, touched up

a century ago with gilding, and awaiting restoration to their original finish.

The blue and white rococo stove, made by Marieberg porcelain in Stockholm,

was moved from the reception room to the yellow drawing room in 1800…

Lar’s daughter Lovisa slept in this white and gold painted Gustavian bed

with red cotton canopy. The green rococo chair was made in the 1760’s by

Stockholm cabinetmaker Olof Holm. Oh, how I love this bed!

My post Circular Logic here has photos from Ekensberg, another one of Lars Sjöberg’s houses

and Greet of Belgian Pearls recently did a post on Ekensberg here

Beyond the beautiful photos, what intrigues me is the earnest love

and dedication to a piece of design history and the commitment

to preserve it, wall paper layer by wallpaper layer.

The World of Interiors June ’09

Text by Lars Sjöberg

Miguel Flores Vianna photography

Atelier in Istanbul

29 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by Trish in 18th century, 19th century, Antiques, Interior Designer, Interiors, Rough Luxe

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Antiques, Architectural salvage, Belgian artist, Belgian design, Flea Market Style, Istanbul, Rough Luxe

“Tucked away in the maze of Istanbul’s cobbled alleys, the home/gallery of designer Asli Tunca and her husband Carl Vercauteren hardly trumpets its presence. But the quality of the couple’s restored European antiques and Ottoman-influenced bespoke furniture means that discerning clients always beat a path to their unmarked door.”

This is the home to which the stairs on the previous post belong. Notice the Dutch

Baroque Processional Frame tucked under stairs. The coffee table, their own design,

is inlaid with mother of pearl, horn and bone.

In the ground floor reception area, a pair of shellstone sphinxes bought

in Britain have faces modeled on Madame Pompadour.

The handcrafted staircase…took a nearly a year to complete

“They live and work in the Beyoglu district, an area north of the Golden Horn. Originally, it was a hunting ground for Roman and Byzantine nobility, their villas and lodges gradually populating the wooden hillsides that overlook Bosphorus. When the Ottoman Turks conquered Istanbul in 1453, they were eager to keep foreigners out of the sultan’s city, so Beyoglu, where ships stopped to load and unload their cargo, became the obvious place to accommodate them. The district became a thriving trading post for predominantly Genoese and Venetian merchants, and its increasing importance was marked by the creation of several embassies until, by the end of the 17^th century, Beyoglu was transformed into a colony of influential foreigners.”