So said a friend as she was advising me on the recovering of several items. Gimp, fringe, tape, cord, tassels - the world of passementerie can be an overwhelming one to navigate, but it is these details which can transform a plain Jane chair into a Zsa Zsa Gabor.While revisiting the Safra sales catalogue last week, I remembered how struck I was by the beautifully detailed upholstery when viewing the sale at Sotheby's a few years ago. As I am increasingly in a Castaing frame of mind, it is probably no surprise that I'm responding to the many Napoleon III touches Mrs. Safra and her decorator Howard Slatkin adopted.
Here are a few for your pleasure....
a set of 6 Directoire painted and parcel gilt chairs
Mid 19th Italian Painted and Parcel Gilt Stool in the form of a chaise longue
5 comments:
Isn't it funny how furniture upholstered with what might be called modesty panels, has a strange eroticism of its own!
It's an admirable departure from all the washed out puritanical blandness we've been subjected to over the past decade in the decoration magazines. And I want to love it all~except for a nagging feeling that everything shown falls into that category that John Fowler and Co would have termed "boiled". Still, these are some marvelous examples of the upholsterer's art!
Rose, it's true - much furniture design is based on the human form and when dressed appropriately, a chair can become a little gentleman or a saucy coquette!
Mr. Worthington, you intrigue me with your "boiled" - what does that mean exactly? trying too hard, or too fey, or?
I suppose that JF or John Cornforth meant something
a bit overcooked.....
Interestingly, Mark Hampton once expressed a "preference for rooms that are slightly undercooked".
The swagged gingham valances are witty and clever, but at the same time, de trop. But I won't say more, for fear of offending the democratic sensibilities of our friend Anon.
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