Swede

Valentine's Day

 

For Mr. Swede,

Summer

Photo: Swede

Valentine's Day: Romantic Porcelain Cup

 

I'm not a collector specifically of valentine-themed china, but I can't resist romantic china.  I found this hand-painted Old Paris porcelain large cup at an estate sale several years ago.

Such an adorable couple. Pink English Primroses.

Very loving scene of them holding hands and her touching his head while he reads her love poems. Of course, this is just like Mr. Swede and I, except he doesn't wear the funny blue cape. [big smile].

The pedestal cake plate is English Royal Worcester with a date mark of 1877.

I hope you have romance in your life on Valentine's Day.

I am linking to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. To see all the entries, after 6:00AM Eastern on Thursdays, go here:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

Summer
Photos: Swede

 

New Online Magazine 2die4 - A Must See

 

This new online magazine was just released by Irene Valdirose. You must take a look!

http://issuu.com/valdirose/docs/misscaffe/66

Miss Coffee's photograpic skills are just fabulous.

Summer

 

Daily Dose of Beauty: Lilac in the Winter

 

I love the color lilac in the wintertime. It seems refreshing.

I made this collage of lilac and crystal items in my living room.  The little orchid in the upper right is hand made by William Woods of Alabama entirely out of copper and painted. Monogrammed napkins are Sferra; lilac votive holders are from Target. The decanters are on a huge silverplated tray from England purchased at auction. There are three Waterford decanters, some antique cruets and stoppered jugs, and decanters we've had for 30 years and don't know what they are.  The mercury glass tree is from Pottery Barn. You are probably getting tired of all my flower photos, so this is a switch to the inside now that the frost has killed most of the outdoor flowers.  Only the purple petunias remain.

You can see some of the details of the old tray.

Another look at the cute metal orchid.

Summer

Photos: Swede

 

Romantic Tablescapes: Parisian Woman Reading

 

This magenta tablescape centerpiece is a statue called Parisian Woman Reading that was found at an estate sale in France.  I got it directly from the dealer in central France. I believe this statue was probably on the top of a clock or some similar object at one time.

 

 

I chose the magenta colorway based on the color of the cherubs on the service plates. The dealer I purchased them from told me they belonged to a granddaughter of Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly [died 1952], who was one of nine children of William H. Vanderbilt. Apparently there was a large set of this china but by the time I found it only the dinner plates were left. According to the dealer, much of the set went to a man who collects Vanderbilt memorbilia.  I did not buy them because of the V connection because I thought that was just sales talk, but checking into it further [I Googled], I did find the last name of the seller [Burden of Connecticut] and it matched the family name on her family tree.  That doesn't really mean the granddaughter got them from Florence.  They could have come from another source or even the other side of her family.  This is when I really wish antiques could talk and tell the story of their lives.  A lot of times there is more fiction than facts to inflate an object's value.  I know that I could never sell anything that I inherited from my Grandmother or GreatGM even if I was starving.  Here is a fun New York Times story about Florence's oldest daughter's wedding in 1904. Here  I wonder if these plates came down from her inheritance.  I will never know.

I do have a William K. Vanderbilt sterling slice from the special commission made for him by Tiffany.  Apparently, a few years ago a division of the Vanderbilt Tiffany silver service was sold at auction after it had been previously split among family.  My piece was bought from someone in Canada. When it came up for sale, I recognized it from a book I have on Tiffany sterling and was the only bidder.  I did make sure it was not a fake. 

 

I just know you are not going to notice I haven't polished it.

 

I'm not sure if it was used for slicing blocks of ice cream or something else.

Here is Florence's portrait by John Singer Sargent done in 1896. Photo: johnsingersargent.org. Here

 

 

There are several different cherub scenes in the centers of the different 12 plates. They are marked on the back with both the Dresden mark and Fraureuth of Germany. 

 

Since I am doing this dinner for two in the living room on the marble-top center table circa 1902, there isn't a lot of room for a floral centerpiece so this statue works out nicely.  On one end of the table I am also using a candlestand with white candles that I purchased earlier this year at a church rummage sale. It has cherubs in white porcelain around its base.

 

 

In the above photo, you can also get a glimpse of the milk chocolate walls and seagrass rug that I did as a loving gesture to my husband who loves brown.  I've never had brown walls in my life, so that was a big departure for me. I think he was very surprised when he came home and found me in the middle of brown paint. I'm sure he thought the walls would become some shade of fleshy peach. Yum, yum.

 

I pulled the chairs back so you could see this 1902 center table.  When I bought it at an antique shop, the dealer told me it came from Marble House mansion on North Parkway in Memphis when the mansion's contents were sold when the home became an office for a church.  There were two tables for sale but the other one was huge and although I loved it more, I had no place for such a big piece of furniture.  You always regret not buying those things later.  I did drive past the house once but it is on a busy street and there is no place to park and take photos.  It is possible the table came from there, but who really knows????

I think the Vanderbilt plates with frolicing cherubs are very romantic in style.  I am using French maker JL Coquet's Hemisphere chargers with another French maker - Jaune de Chrome's dinner plates in the Feuille Or gold pattern. These plates are currently being made. They are not vintage nor antique.

 

For salad plates, I am using another German plate with a magenta floral border.

 

Here is a bigger photo.

 

Bread and butter plates as well as dessert plates have a darker shade of magenta in them. They are made by Haviland of France in the Malmaison pattern.  I think the couple fishing is romantic as the wife is sitting  on a rock holding their baby while keeping her husband company as he fishes for their dinner.  So French!

 

Below,  you can get a better view of the Jaune de Chrome dinner plates as more edge is showing.

 

I do love the unusual glazes that Jaune de Chrome puts on their china.

For napkins, I am using French maker Primrose Bordier Le Jacquard Francais's pattern Cassis Graphic Black Current. I have tucked them in between the charger and dinner plate as well as using them for a runner. They were a gift from Mr. Swede when we toured the cute little town of Franklin, TN and stopped in The Registry china shop on Main Street.

 

In the above photo, you can also see the glassware I have chosen to use in the closest color to magenta that I have.  The stemware is by Moser in a cranberry cabachon panel pattern that I do not know the name of.  They were inherited by my husband from his Mother. The tumblers are from the Italian maker Bormioli Rocco & Figlio in the Bicchiere Sorgente pattern "rosa fucsia" colorway.  The day after I ordered these from a local china shop, I found out that Marshall's and TJ Maxx purchased a warehouse inventory of them in every color they were made in.  I went down there to see if it was true, and sure enough they had the factory stickers on them.  Price: $2.99.  Well, you lose some and you win some, as they say.  I purchased all the aqua ones they had but didn't like the other colorways that were left. When I was checking out, the clerk confirmed that they did indeed have them in all colors.  What do you think Miss Vanderbilt would say about my putting these cheap glasses with her fine plates? The sides are undulating??? so you can put your fingers in the recesses to hold on to them better.

 

For flatware, I am using gold plated stainless steel made by the Italian company Ricci Argentieri in their Raffaello pattern.  You can find these at neimanmarcus.com and the non-gold ones at some Dillard's stores. They were recently on sale at both stores with extra percentages off.  The knife blades are not gold plated.  I loved them because of the fish scale pattern and the handle is round.  Sometimes sterling, being gray, just does not go well with gold rimmed plates.  This is a good alternative.

 

Below, and above, you can see the Coquet Hemisphere's deep groove lines. They are very heavy.

 

It is fun to turn the forks upside down like the Europeans do.

 

 Put on some romantic music.

 

 I do like using the height of a center table as a coffee table so it can be used to dine on occasionally.

  

On the sofa in the back of this photo, the center pillow is a new one I just got made by Callisto Home here.  I love all the embroidery on it.  Don't tell Mr. Swede it was about half the cost of the Vanderbilt plates. Lovely, but ouch! Good thing my bonus check came in.

 

 

 

  

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.

To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

All the best to you,

Summer

 

Mother's Day 2011

 

 

 

Have a romantically nostalgic Mother's Day.

Summer

 

Getting the Look: Marburger Farm Continued

 

Continuing my prior post about antique shopping at Marburger Farm in Round Top, Texas.

 
 

I want to show you some of my favorite booths. I am going to just post the photo with no comments about each one so you can enjoy the details in your own way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you who have never been to Marburger Farm, or attended the Round Top antique show [there are hundreds of venues], just at Marburger Farm alone, the brochure says there are 350 dealers on 43 acres.  There are old buildings which look like they were brought onto the site as well as HUGE white tents.  Four or five of the white tents are each the size of a football field. Below is a photo of one of the smaller tents. There are probably 3 of these.  There are also venues in Carmine and Warrenton. I don't think it is possible to see every vendor in the county in a week's visit.

 

Below are some of the old structures where vendors set up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we are traveling down the two-lane back roads to get to Round Top, we go through this one-lane arch.

 

If you love antiques, and have not been to this antique show, I hope you are able to attend soon.  They are held twice a year. Check out their website.

Summer

Photos: Swede  

Tablescape: Creating Olde World Romance

 

 

For this week's tablescape, I am showing  an olde world look. About 20 years ago, I purchased two Point de Venice or perhaps Point de France lace tablecloths which I believe were made in Brussels, Belgium around the turn of the century. There is a possibility that one is Italian but I am not sure.  I bought one from a dealer's shop in La Conner, WA who said she got it from a Massachussets estate. The other one I purchased at an antique show in San Francisco. I am not sure when the craze for oriental things took place and I have not researched this in a lace book but I do have Anne Kraatz's Lace History and Fashion book to look through when I get the time.  One of the tablecloths has ovals of Geisha girls and Lotus flowers.

 

This photo is of a close up of the Geisha girl.

 

This photo shows the ovals surrounding a central panel. You can also see the very fine spider web threads that hold the panels together.

 

Here you can see the Lotus flowers in the central panel. I have no expertise in lace making, but I do believe these are mostly machine made since machines were technical enough in the 1800's to do this work.

 

Since neither of the two tablecloths is large enough to cover my table and drape to the floor, I have used one lenghwise and one crosswise.

 

You can see the edges at the corners of one laying on top of the other. Underneath both is a beige solid color cloth. You can also see I still am using my French aubuson flat-weave rug in the dining room. These are now out of style and you don't see them in decor magazines like you used to a few years ago.  I have not switched mine out to something else yet and I do think it goes with the olde world look.

The tablecloth on the bottom is done with a heavier thread than the top one and it is done in a different style. It is long enough to go to the floor on both ends of the table but it is not very wide.

 

This one came with 11 napkins.

 

There were originally 12 napkins but one was stolen from the shop. The shop owner said that it was not young kids taking things, it was women between the ages of 65-80 who took odd things and walked out of the shop with them. I found this very peculiar as she was in that age range herself but had been a dealer for many years so she should know. Her shop was in a Victorian house not a mall.

 

Starting the tablescape, I am using a charger from JL Coquet in the Hemisphere Matte Gold pattern. I use this charger alot because of its large diameter.

For the service plates, I am using these courting couples plates. I think they add the note of romance. This table setting would be good for a party celebrating the wedding of an older couple, perhaps a second marriage.

 

Here is a wider view of the service plates on the table.

 

There are four different scenes in the center on the 16 plates to the set. They are Czechoslovokian and each has the couple in a different pose.

 

I am continuing the lace look with the dinner plates which have a central medallian that has that look.  

 

These are made in Limoges, France.  Nathan Straus & Sons is written on the back. He had a store at 119 Fifth Avenue in New York City and was a co-owner of Macy's in 1896.  All of the plates are in mint condition so probably were never used by the family that owned them.

 

 

To create the centerpiece, I looked around the house to see what I could find that had that Euro look.

 

I used a large oval brass edged mirrored tray and put an antique dressing mirror, opera glasses, a statue of Marie Antoinette and a pair of gold and crystal candlesticks on the tray. The opera glasses were a gift from my sister and the candlesticks my husband inherited from his mother.

 

The sterling pattern I've chosen to use for this table is Durgin's Chrysanthemum. 

 

I think the intricate pattern introduced in 1893 fits well with this olde world look. The knife is an English bone handled one. I don't have Chrysanthemum pattern knives as the blades were silver plated which wore out so few survived over the years.  

 

The backside of the sterling pieces is even more wonderful than the front side.  The salad forks are monogrammed with the date of 1908 probably when they were given as a gift.

I am using three pieces of stemware. 

 

From left to right: Rick Strini in Iron Gold Bella which is mouth blown. Strini's shop was in Santa Monica until he moved his business to Hawaii. Strini Art Glass is now best known for Rick's chandeliers.  Look at his website.  Next is an antique Venetian stem in a very pale green with "lace" gold design. I presume someone visiting Venice brought the set back home with them. On the right is a Tiffin stem wine. I don't know the pattern name. My husband inherited a couple from his Mom and then I added to them.

For dessert plates, I am using a vintage English Wedgwood plate.  The pattern has a lace look to coordinate with the lace tablecloth.

 

Here is a wider view of them on the table.

 

The olde world look can get a bit "heavy" looking, so I try to update it with a mix of newer pieces such as modern stemware and chargers.

I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.

 

To see all the entries after 9:00PM Eastern Wednesday evening, go here:

 http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

All the best to you,

Summer

Photos: Swede

Looking For Beautiful Things: Scott Antique Market in Atlanta

 

Scott Antique Market in Atlanta is one of my favorite places to go. Their show is one weekend a month.  I have gone a couple times a year over the past ten years or so and attended the December event.  Before I started blogging, I did not think about taking photos. I am seeking Swedish antiques mostly but keep an open mind to just find anything beautiful in accessories, natural coral, table silver or china. This is  a large show, so there is just so much to see and takes a full day if you walk up and down the aisles fast with just a glance inside seller's booths. I think their website says it is 336,000 square feet but that must include both buildings. When I need to visit Atlanta or a nearby city, I try to plan my trip on the week of this antique show.   http://www.scottantiquemarket.com/

Here are some photos of some of the beautiful things that caught my eye. People buy at the November show for Christmas so inventory was not as high as I have seen it in the past. I have listed the dealer's name where I have that information. Email me if you would like their contact data.

 

Benton Hayden & Associates of Atlanta. Window and door frames are still very popular as backdrops for other accessories.

 

 

A close up of her booth.

 

This lovely candelabra is from Arcing Sky Gallery Art & Antiques as well as the following hurricanes, candelabra and painting. The paintings were very stunning.

 

 

This pillow is created by Joan Garrett of Atlanta. She has hundreds of high end designer fabric decorative pillows that she makes herself.  They were outstanding and in every color imaginable.
The designer fabric used in these throw pillows was amazing. I couldn't narrow down a color I wanted to use in the redo of our living room.

 

Antique European chairs with great character. Note to self - buy every one of these next time.

 

Lots of white ironstone.  It is so loved, I don't think it will ever go out of style.

 

This is the booth of Antique Sanctuary of Atlanta. Hope Fassett, the owner always has a beautifully styled booth.

 

Hope had these pretty painted benches.

 

And the beautiful glass jugs in greens and blue/greens.

 

I just love light painted woods. This large scale bench was wonderful.

 

Lovely pieces.

Hope has a lot of things that touch my heartstrings.

 

Need some silverplate?  Here are just a few patterns to choose from. You can have a lot of fun looking through this pile.  I believe this is Gulf Coast Silver from League City, Texas.

 

Moving along to another booth, this is Illuminati Antiques of Atlanta. Their booth sells out quickly, so come early on the first day of the show.

 

Pretty sconces. They also had beautiful demijohn jugs in green tones of the glass.

 

Wine jugs are still going strong.  It is a trend that could stay awhile.

 

 

Illuminati also carries many nice mirrors.

 

Here we are at the booth of Nostalgia Fine Art from Douglasville, Georgia. They have an enormous supply of framed and unframed prints of pages taken from antique books.

 

Moving along to another pretty vignette.

 

Lots of pretty Majolica.

 

If you love blue and white, this dealer from Dearborn, Michigan has a lot to choose from.

 

Does your heart speak French?

 

This pretty 1870 stepback gray cupboard is from the Hunt's Antiques who specialize in cupboards. They are from Monticello,Georgia.

 

Christy Hickey's booth looked like it belonged on the cover of Country Living magazine.  This unusual display is composed of cotton yarn spools from the old Atlantic Cotton Mill in Macon, Georgia. 

 

Here you see spools of gold thread on the right.

 

Christy is a fun talented gal with a great styling eye.

 

David Herndon Antiques of Atlanta deals in English porcelains, paintings and Black Forest wood carvings of exquisite quality.  Some of the china I have shown in my tablescaping posts was purchased from David.

 

Oil paintings of dogs and other animals remain in constant demand. David Herndon has a nice selection here.

 

You know how much I love painted furniture. This is a stunning piece that would be the focal point of any room.

 

This Italian painted chest from Butte's Antiques of Thomasville, NC is 2die4.

 

Eye candy.

 

Isn't this fabulous!

 

Diane Dunn's shop White Rose Linens has a fabulous selection of vintage laces and linens. 

 

Lovely oil painting in another booth.

 

Another fabulous look.

 

I've had a long standing dream of furnishing an entire house by selecting items from all the booths at Scott Market. There are so many wonderful things to choose from including lighting, carpets and art in two huge expo buildings.  All the photos in this post are from the North Building. You can purchase high and low here as pricing is all over the map.

 

 

More eye candy.

 

 

Yummy.

 

More light painted wood pieces that are loved by so many.

 

Very sweet oil painting.

 

 

Imported wood lamp bases for the look that is so popular now.

 

Beautiful sconces. The dealer was not in their booth, so I don't know the name.

 

 

It takes me a full day to see the hundreds of dealers at Scott. There are several restaurants and food booths so you can stay all day.

 

This is the North Building which has the high end antiques.  There are many estate jewelry and sterling dealers that I haven't mentioned. Literally millions of dollars of inventory.  There are also booths outside and in tents in the parking lot. So much to see.

I will show you more in my next post of a shell art dealer.

All the best,

Summer

Photos:  Swede  

 

 

 

Finding Beauty: Charity Sales

 

I, like many of you are hunter-gatherers, love the thrill of the hunt and delight in the find.  I have always said I don't care where I find a fabulous piece whether at Neiman's or a flea market, as after you take it home nobody will know where you got it as the value lies in the piece itself.  I truly enjoy hunting at flea markets, antique shows, church rummage sales, garage sales, high-end shops or low-end stores.  I am always on the look for something fabulous and it is a thrill to find something fabulous at a low price.  Don't we all love that?  Church rummage sales tend to be the place to find the greatest stuff at the lowest price. It is not often that I catch a church rummage sale as many are on Fridays while I am at work, but this weekend I spotted a sign on the street about one starting Saturday morning at a church to raise money for their deaf school.  Beautiful new church building in a lovely part of town.  I was there at 7:30AM to score this find.

 

Someone had donated this vintage candelabra.  My score for $10. Made of bronze and bisque porcelain.  I can't tell whether the arms are painted black on bronze or are iron. The arms also move.  It can hold 6 candles if you remove the central finial or go with 5 candles and leave the finial in place.  I opted to do the latter as I was sure if I took it out I would lose it. 

 

 

If you have one of these and can tell me more about it, please email me.  I'd love to know more about it.

 

I'm a sucker for anything with angels on it especially if it is porcelain and white.

 

For now, I decided to put it in the living room niche over the fireplace with my mercury glass.  I will add some glass bead garland for bling for Christmas decoration after Thanksgiving. I am in the middle of redecorating that room, so took down the painting at the back of the niche.  Looks a little bare right now.  

 

 

In September I found this porcelain gravy boat at another charity consignment sale.  I do love aqua trim with a monogram and gold edging. It is marked on the bottom with a Paris maker. 

 

I wish there had been more pieces of this set for sale, but alas, only one. The monogram is great tho since it is my maiden name.

 

The monogram is on both ends of the piece. 

Here is another find at that same sale.  I am pretty sure she is Marie Antoinette.  Resin busts like this can be purchased at the museum shop of Versailles for about 164 Euros. 

 

Or you can buy this one for $25,000 from Newel Antiques.

 

At that same charity consignment sale, I found this large scale 14" pair of oriental porcelain vases with wonderful colors.  I place coral long stem roses in these on chests on both sides of the living room fireplace. 

 

Finding the sweet pieces is what keeps us all going to the next sale.

Here is a Reed and Barton ladle still with the pattern "patent applied for" on this early version.

 

Young woman with long curly hair holding a garland of flowers. Very romantic.  Must be from the 1880-1890's.

 

I hope you too have found some wonderful things if that is your passion.

All the best,

Summer

Photo credits:  All Swede except Marie Antionette white bust from newel.com.

Finding Beauty: Autumn in Paris

 

My husband's job takes him to Paris frequently for about four days at a time. I have been encouraging him to do more sightseeing around the area near his hotel. He stays in three different parts of Paris; this time he was near Bercy in the 12th arrondissement. When he left for this past trip I put a camera in his hand with instruction to take photos of Paris details.  That's it.  No further instructions, preferences, wishes, begging or pleading.  I don't know why I didn't ask him to do this on his many trips before.  When I downloaded the photos I was totally surprised and thrilled with the results.  Maybe he's been paying attention to my love of design all along.  Who knew?  Maybe he's the best photographer in the household.  He did a really great job.  325 photos in four days. He did a lot of walking around Paris.  I want to share some of them with you over the next few weeks so as not to overload.  I have divided the photos into different subject matters.  

I am calling these Autumn in Paris as the leaves there are starting to turn but have not dropped off yet.  His first visit is to the Jardin du Luxembourg, a 55 acre park started in 1612 by Marie de Medici, the king's widow and regent for her son, Louis the XIII.  She asked for the planting of 2000 Elm trees.  They have been replaced over time, I'm sure with new ones. On this day they were looking magnificent.  In the park are 20 figures of French queens and female saints, only a few of them shown below. These figures were added in 1848 by Louis Philippe. There are over 100 monuments on the entire 55 acres.  I think the ones in the center of the green lawn below are the four Times of Day - looking toward the Fontaine de l'Observatoire.

  

The golden tone of the tall Elm trees along the park are captured. The grass is amazingly green. Notice that there is a fountain at the end called various names including Fountain of the Observatory, Carpeaux Fountain after the sculptor of the women statues, or Fontaine des Quatre-Parties-du-Monde.  The park is in the 6th arrondissement.

 

 

Love the turtles. Emmanuel Fremiet designed the horses, turtles and fish.  Here are some close ups of the fountain's features created in 1874. Gabriel Davioud developed the Avenue de l'Observatoire in 1867.

 

Europe has some incredible fountains and that is especially true of Paris. There are water features everywhere.

 

 

The sculptor for the garlands around the pedestal was Louis Vuillemot. Love the seashells.  Next is a view of the detailed structure on the top consisting of the armillary by Pierre Legrain and women representing four of the continents. The nudes were designed by sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. 

 

With the weight of responsibility in holding the world up, they forgot to get dressed but found time to put on their earrings.

I think the colors of the leaves are majestic as a backdrop to these queens.  Probably prettier than just green leaves during the summer.

 

I like Mary Queen of Scots's crown. Below she is full size. The plaque says:  Marie Stuart, Reine de France 1542-1587.  Note the small waist. I like the folds of her skirt, too.  Not so much the collar of the cloak.

 

I just love the leaf color here.  Great job Hubby.

On the women statues, I was noticing the size of their hands compared to the size of their waists.

 

 These leaves are just fabulously varigated and just postcard perfect. She is Clemence Isaure by Abtoine-Augustin Preault. 

 

Moving along to the next one. She is Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans.

 

 

 

I couldn't find the name of this statue.
Let's look at some other architecture surrounded by fall colors.

 

Notre Dame's gardens full of golds, reds, oranges and yellows.

 

Here you can see the trees starting to change surrounding the buildings.

 

You are looking up from the Seine River at Notre Dame. This is in the 4th arrondissement.  

This is the front of Maison du Jardinage in Bercy Park in the 12th arrondissement. I wonder if the vines on this building turn crimson red at frost.

 

This is more of the Palais du Luxemborg's gardens in the 6th again. Lovely tree color as a backdrop to the statues.  

 

Geraniums and other flowers are still beautiful until frost. You can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

 

These rose bushes are still in full color.

Tomorrow I will show you some architctural details on beautiful buildings.

All the best,

Summer

Photo Credits:  My Hubby [with hugs and kisses]

 

Product Design Inspiration - Antique Bed in Paris as the Source

 

Where does new product design inspiration come from?  Is there much that is truly original and new?  Is it okay to copy what someone generations ago has designed if you cannot identify who the original maker was?  What actually defines "inspiration", "re-imagining" or "re-designing"?  These questions could be a bit controversial in the design world. Those topics came to mind when I was very surprised and delighted today to see Cote de Texas's blog post. 

I have been reading Joni Webb's blog Cote de Texas for a long time. 

http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/

On today's post "Darling French Apartment for Rent", which I just loved, imagine my shock and surprise to see this photo.

There it was, the design source for a new iron bed I purchased a couple years ago from Corsican in Los Angeles.  The company that made this antique iron bed many years ago must have made many in this style and a few have survived the years.  It is hard to know how old this bed is or who the original maker was unless it has a nameplate attached to it somewhere.  I would guess that a designer for Corsican found another such antique bed at a brocante or, perhaps, at the Paris Flea Market. Then the designer took the best of the design as inspiration to create a new product.  As controversial as it may seem, after all those years there would be no copyright, patent or trademark infringement.  It would be nice to honor the original maker, but in my opinion, it also honors the maker, although silently, by reproducing his design and letting it live again for more people to enjoy for another 100 years or so. 

Go to Corsican furniture's website and plug into the search field at the upper right each these numbers: 6072, 40128, 40048, 6924, 6834 and my bed 41632.  You will see how the original bed inspired these products.  

http://www.corsican.com/

Even I redesigned this bed, having never seen the antique.  I asked Corsican to take style number 40048 and make some changes.  I added the crown on top for this "king" bed [as I treat my guests like royalty!], the frame structure at the top, and I added a padded headboard for my guests' comfort.  Iron beds are very uncomfortable to lean back upon to sit up in bed and read a book or magazine which I wanted my guests to be able to do.  Adding the padded panel solves that problem. The style shown on the website 41632 is my exact guest room bed photoed in Los Angeles before they shipped it to me. 

Here it is in my guest room.

King size Corsican bed 41632. Pillows have been removed so you can see the padded panel.  

Added crown from another style Corsican bed.

Added frame at the top.

A close up of the footboard.

Be sure to look at the other photos of this apartment called leTurenne on the Provence West website:

http://www.provencewest.com/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=3147803&A=SearchResult&SearchID=995365&ObjectID=3147803&ObjectType=35

The entire apartment is just wonderful.  Neutral, light and white furnishings that I just love with accessories having aged surfaces.  I also want to mention that I love the trumeau and the salvage iron made into lamps that are shown in the photo.  How fun it would be to rent that apartment and stay in that bed!  My husband flies to Paris almost monthly.  Maybe it could happen if all the stars align!  Wow!

If I remember, the MSRP on these Corsican beds for a king size was around $5,600 before the $800 additions I made to it.  If you would like any of Corsican's products and do not have a connection to a discounter, send me an email via "email Swede" and let me know. I think queen beds were the same price but full and twin sizes were, of course, less.

I am a big fan of brass and iron beds.  In another of my guest rooms, I have Corsican bed number 5698 which is very romantic with the birds and vines. It, too, comes with various available modifications to customize the posts, footboards and canopy. It is hard to believe that I have owned it for 20 years and was the first bed I purchased from Corsican.  If you want to look at it on the website, type that number in the search field. I had mine finished in gold leaf. I wish I owned a private luxury hotel so I could own more of these beds.  I know which ones I would select.   

Well, how fun was that! 

All the best to you,

Summer

Photo credits:  1) Cote de Texas via Provence West of Paris

2-5) Swede

Blog content:  Joni Webb of Cote de Texas; and Swede