Ahoy! The San Francisco Fall Antiques Show

Sure, the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show is the West Coast's premiere and oldest, continuously running antiques fair.  However it's the opening preview party which is hands down the swellest in this country and beyond...

... from the hallowed caviar and lamb chop stations to the glittery scions and starlets of SF society gracing the aisles.  This year's theme was "Seaworthy"...

... and architect Andrew Skurman designed the monumental waves based on the Great Wave by Japanese artist Hotusai that greet one on arrival.  (Skurman, a devoted classicist, has just published his first monograph.  I guarantee the cover will make you need to purchase the book.  )

The William Racke Studio realized Skurman's design here.  They and many others donated their services so that as much money as possible would go to the benefitting charity Enterprise for High School Students, which prepares and trains students for employment and higher education.  In celebration of the America Cup which the city is hosting in 2013, the fair showcased all things nautical.

  

This vitrine of specially loaned objects includes a pair of mid 17th century Sicilian shellwork "Fantastic Gardens" from Ann Getty's collection, precursors of Tony Duquette whimsy.

Obsolete, a Venice, CA gallery, showed an installation by artist Ron Pippin of 120 ships.  A mechanical cow sculpture with disturbing tail was also on view in their stand.

I attended the opening with my good friend Deb Hatch, on the right in a Giants scheme of orange and black.  She also was paying homage to Swan Babe Paley with a Giants kerchief tied around her evening bag.  On the left is dynamo Lisa Podos, the director/maestro of the show.

As the evening was the kickoff of the world series and San Francisco is full of rabid Giants fans, Lisa and her team were clever and set up a viewing area complete with hot dogs and pretzels.

Deb's pick of the show was the Renaissance poesy rings at medievalist Les Enluminares.

The simple bands of gold are engraved with charming inscriptions such as "Youres I am" and "De Boen Coeur" on the interior.

Santa Barbara dealer Sullivan Goss showed some striking California tonalist oils and

it's always a pleasure to see the textile treasures of Kathleen Taylor and the Lotus Collection.  

Steinitz of Paris had one of the most spectacular stands, taking an early 18th century Kentian paneled room as its surround.

It's all in the details and so even if I won't be taking this fabulous marquetry Mexican cabinet home with me, I can certainly replicate this striking arrangement of succulents in its interior.

In addition to wonderful things, there were also wonderful people galore...

including my jewelry advisor and mentor Suzanna Allen above and

Olivia Hsu Decker, power realtor, whose stunning vintage Dior jacket was the European cousin to my antique Moroccan caftan.

Mark your calendars for 2013 - I'll meet you at the chocolate covered strawberries!

The Secret is out: Fabulous Dead People is back

One of my favorite reads by one of my favorite writers has found a new home.  You can now find Christopher Petkanas' "Fabulous Dead People" online at W magazine.  While clearly I resonate to Petkanas' (or better known as Monsieur du Panier by his intimates) subject, it is his fearlessness to tell the unvarnished truth like it T-I-is that is a rarity in these days of PR puff pieces.

Click here to read about his latest FDP, Hélène Rochas, the inspiration behind several of her husband Marcel's fragrances and a client of Mme Castaing incidentally.  Then visit the Christie's sale happening right this minute to view the grand goût français contents of her rue Barbet de Jouy flat.

Rochas' dining room, with one of six trompe l'oeil panels of famille verte Chinese porcelain painted by Alexandre Serebriakoff, lot 20, visible.

Update: Designing Women Lecture Series

Dear All,

I am pleased to invite you all to attend the 2012-13 Decorators Club lecture series Modern Women: Visionaries of Design.  With this series, we celebrate five pioneering talents of the 20th century that continue to influence and inspire.  We tried to select women who were undersung, worked in different areas of design and represented the entire century.  Our biggest challenge wasn't finding women to illuminate but in editing down a list that went for miles and miles.

Our first and earliest visionary is Vanessa Bell.  Dr. Alexandra Gerstein from the Courtauld Gallery and who organized the recent Omega Workshops exhibition will be speaking on Wednesday, October 3 at the New York School of Interior Design.  For more information about the series and to purchase tickets (which benefit interior design scholarships), please click here.

Zoomorphia at The Spring Show

If you are in the mood to be dazzled by the endless variety and infinite beauty of centuries of civilization then you must stop by the AADLA (Art and Antique Dealers League of America) Spring Show at the Park Avenue Armory taking place this weekend.  

As someone who prefers a Capability Brown approximation of a natural landscape to the real thing, I was in pure heaven.  For those of you who might say the same for animals, this post is for you.

The mid-15th century Italian stone creature (crocodile perhaps?) pictured above at L'Antiquaire and The Connoisseur  mesmerized me with its jagged teeth even before I saw it was doubly sublime with two heads.  The 18th century Piedmontese hand-painted screen behind it is one of the owner Helen Fioratti's favorite things on the stand, and used to be in her own house in Italy.  The palette is soft pinks and blues which haven't faded due to it being painted in tempera.

A 17th century cast iron shop sign of a lion passant (within a 19th century wreath) was an unexpected find at Kentshire.  It was even more fun to discover that it had once belonged to starchitect Stanford White...

... and can be seen pictured here in his Gramercy Park townhouse, courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.

This spectacular French late 17th/early 18th century sleigh pulled by griffins may seem out of a fairy tale but it was designed by Jean Berain for the Dauphin.  It is in Dalva Brothers' stand which is dedicated to French royal pieces including a fire screen made for Marie Antoinette.

Three beautifully carved carousel animals - a zebra, stag, and a bejeweled polar bear - at Yew Tree House prove one can collect anything.  They all come out of an enormous European collection that was housed in an airplane hangar.  I learned that the more ornate animals, such as the polar bear, would be placed in the outer-ring where they were more visible.

This snazzy Murano glass tropical fish, c. 1970, from Mark Helliar, doesn't require a complicated state-of-the-art aquarium or food... 

and who needs to eat anyway with this pair of devastatingly chic whippet candlesticks from Clinton Howell - the quintessence of the Regency period.  Make sure to step back to enjoy the massive lady slipper...

painted by Anne Harris.  Click over here to view her portfolio and be even more wowed.

A pair of massive Ming dynasty porcelain lions from Vallin bade me farewell and are waiting to greet you.


The Spring Show at the Park Avenue Armory continues through Sunday, May 6


Visit http://www.springshownyc.com/ for more information.

And for a finale, my personal favorite of the show from Hyde Park Antiques: a pair of Chinese export verre eglomise portraits of two European lovelies, c. 1780 - or could one be a man, as one person believes?

Leading Ladies of Design

Seriously though.

I have the exciting privilege to be co-chairing a lecture series* dedicated to championing 20th century pioneering women of design.

We are pulling a list of six together and have our own ideas... but would love to hear yours.  Who was a trail-blazer in the applied arts (furniture, textiles, jewelry, silver, etc) AND is still a source of inspiration?

* In 1914 The Decorators Club was organized by 38 charter members who met in the home of Gertrude Gheen Robinson.   The Decorators Club lecture series, which is open to the public, was started in 1991 and benefits the Decorators Club Education Fund which provides scholarships to interior design students.