Cranberry saucer

The only coloured drinking glasses I like are cranberry, and this set of late C19th or early C20th are seriously beautiful. Normally I like to drink champange from a fluted glass, but this champagne saucer permits me to overcome this preference.

Drinking champagne from cranberry glass gives it an added zing, as though you're drinking the pink. Seriously - try it and see.

Cranberry saucer

It follows...

...that these should get a good promo too.

The Corinthian order was adopted by the Romans from the Greeks and was bestowed with the association of beauty and love. It is the most popular of the Greek Orders. Detail has been taken from the Temple of Zeus Olympia, Athena, BC174. The temple was built from designs by Cossutius, a Roman architect. This temple was important as parts of it were taken to Rome where its presence resulted in many copies and the popularising of the Corinthian order.

Architectural models

OXFORD CAMERA, Oxford, England. The great University City of Oxford is a beautiful European city. Its many colleges form a skyline of domes, towers and spires. At its centre is the octagonal library known as The Radcliffe or Oxford Camera. Although started by the architect Hawksmoor (who worked with Vanbrugh on many projects such as the Temple of Four Winds) it was primarily designed by Gibbs. The model carries the copperplate description on its base "The Upright of the Radcliffe Library Building by James Gibbs 1757 as it is seen on all sides." Copies of the original plans were used to make this model. Weight: 5 kg - Dimensions:9"w x 11"h x 5.5"d

THE ROYAL HOSPITAL FOR SEAMEN, GREENWICH, LONDON - Queen Mary & King William Buildings. The Royal Hospital for Seamen was the realisation of the wishes of Queen Mary. Sir Christopher Wren originated the design for these domed sections of the buildings, in collaboration with Nicholas Hawksmoor.The building of the hospital took place in four phases over fifty-five years, commencing around 1691. Dimensions 9.5"w x 9"d x 18"h each. Weight: 20lbs each.

THE TEMPLE OF THE FOUR WINDS Castle Howard, England 1728 (limited edition model). This small Temple was built within the grounds of the 17th century house of Castle Howard, Yorkshire. It is one of the finest Palladian buildings in Europe and is based on the Villa Capra near Vicenza, Italy. In 1995 the Honourable Simon and Mrs. Howard commissioned this model and each is accompanied by a certificate signed by Howard who is the descendant of the Earl of Carlisle who originally commissioned the Temple from the architect Sir John Vanbrugh. Each model has a title plate of brass attached to the lead covered plinth. This plaque is hand engraved using copperplate lettering. Weight: approximately 15 kg - Dimensions: diameter of base plinth is 20".

http://www.timothyrichards.com/erol.html#1X0

For any of us interested in neoclassical architecture, these pieces are a stunning delight. Because the examples chosen are limited editions, they carry a hefty price tag. But do not despair, as there are many other pieces of equal enchantment on offer for much less.

I just happened to like these more than many because they all have an abundance of Corinthian columns.

Desk tidy

"Cartonnier" sounds and looks better. This ornamental box (cartonnier) for papers atop a desk, both in rosewood is Swedish and C19th and is up for auction with an estimate of GBP500-1,000, and provides the simplicity one would expect.

Something to wear

These vintage kimono, (ki - wearing, mono - something), were recently sold at auction. Apart from their obvious use, they do also make interesting decorative objects, which can be enhanced if they are framed in perspex.

As the national costume of Japan they are still worn on special occasions, such as weddings, but by traditionalists, (both men and women) on a daily basis.

Dark and moody

These images all demonstrate to me how effective dark wall treatments can be. In the first, by John Minshaw, the walls are painted "off black" by Farrow & Ball, and it creates a suitable formality to the portraits and mirrors framed in gold. The light wood floor and the sisal rug complement the scheme perfectly.

The interior of the entrance hall of this hillside cabin by Bobby McAlpine with its brownish greens works well with the sanded floor and the gold frames of the pictures. (The top sepia photograph to the right of the mirror needs to be straightened and would drive me insane until it was; but that's only a minor pet peeve, that most will probably ignore. Well, probably not now.)

Again from John Minshaw this eye-catching C18th carriage door is brilliantly "illuminated" by the deep purple wall. And again, as with all three, gold accents are particularly effective.

The pleasure of Annigoni

This portrait (top) of Princess Margaret by Pietro Annigoni is to go on public exhibition for the first time in more than 30 years at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It hung on a wall in her apartments at Kensington Palace and was inherited by her son Viscount Linley, (David Linley of furniture fame) after her death, and along with many other of her possessions was auctioned to meet GBP3m in death duties. Such is the interest in items with historical provenance that the sale raised GBP14m. The picture itself was sold for GBP680,000 and the buyer turned out to be Linley himself.

Annigoni painted the portrait at about the same time (1954-55) as the one he did of the Queen (centre), which in my view is the best ever produced during her reign, and which was used extensively on stamps and banknotes of countries where she is head of state, or which are the remnants of the empire.

I have a print of the Queen's portrait, signed by Annigoni which I like for its stark simplicity, compared to the glorious and romantic colours of the oil, which evokes the hopes and aspirations of the British people for their young monarch, (in her twenties), at the beginning of her reign, the new "Elizabethan Age", recovering from the debilitation of the war which had virtually bankrupted the country and saw the divestment of the empire.

Layout

The importance of a room's layout cannot be underestimated. In this sitting room designed by Jacques Grange, emphasis was placed on the stunning pieces of art, and the arrangement of furniture to view them effectively, without creating a gallery atmosphere. To achieve this two sofas are paired back-to-back, with Louis XIV-style gilt chairs as an accompaniment.

Classical and modern works of art are displayed together: (top) Picasso's Man with a Yellow Hat (1967) with a C4th Greek urn, centre another Picasso and bottom an Italian gilt mirror. The white walls and green marble floor create the perfect backdrop to the art and the lighter coloured fabrics on the furniture.

Irony

On a day when bulls weren't very much in evidence, Damien Hirst's Golden Calf sold at auction for GBP10.3million. Other items in the sale netted him GBP70.5million. Art irritating life, perhaps?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2966049/Damien-Hirst-sale-breaks-art-auction-record-raking-in-70.5-million-in-its-first-day.html
Photo: Reuters

Stairway to heaven

These images are from the apartment of Parisian designer Francois Catroux, depicting in the top one, a sculptural stairway, (to nowhere, like a mythical bridge in Alaska), and a Bauhaus chair, overlooked by a Buddha statue. The central picture reveals nineteenth century models of architectural Corinthian columns, and the final dining room vignette, turtle back chairs, all of this revealing a masterful class in eclecticism.

Taste doesn't always help...

"Taste," the Queen is supposed to have said, "doesn't always help." It's a brilliant thought. Taste – she obviously meant advanced visual discrimination, not finer feelings – doesn't always help. I've known people with perfect pitch in clothes, houses and food whose manic quests were so obsessional they brutalised everyone around them in the search for the perfect bleu marin or knocked-back green Connemara marble.

(Read the rest of this article from "The Independent" here:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/buckingham-palace-a-right-royal-makeover-926740.html)

Illustration by Noma Bar

A masterclass in Hicks

These two images are a tear out from House & Garden and demonstrate the finer points of David Hicks's symmetry, and the modern twist he put on classical elements, including mixing in new and unexpected pieces. To my mind they are quintessentially Hicksian and remind me of why I became and remain such a fan.

Left & right

These Art Deco bookends from French Cab remind me of politics today, where polarisation seems to be the best way of describing how the future might be. In Thailand we're undergoing a similar experiment with this view, so Americans don't need to think they're having all the fun.

Some of these beauties started life as mascots (hood ornaments), (the pelicans and the kangaroos), whereas the playful kittens and the non-speaking toucans probably just never thought they'd get on, so beginning life as bookends was probably appropriate. Perhaps there's a lesson in that for all politicians; if they don't work together, they'll end up on the shelf.

Shelf life

These two images are examples of the use of similar devices, (wall brackets and symmetry), but with quite different periods of furniture. Whilst I like them both, I prefer the top one, with its infusion of modern elements. It may not surprise you to know that the top picture is of the dining room of Stephen Ryan, the one time protege of David Hicks. The wall brackets here are boldly architectural, inspired by the dentils of classical cornicing, and made to his own design in lacquered MDF. The elongated effect is accentuated by the tall blue and white vases, and the topiaries on top of those.

The wall brackets in the second picture create a similar elongated effect, with the scrolled detail, and complement the long mirror, and work perfectly with the William Kent marble-topped console table, a style that is copied with great insincerity in a genre of (hideous) furniture to be found in palaces of new money throughout the world, and not often a million miles away from where there is a lot of sand, and that black gushing liquid that causes us so much strife.

Showcase

If this room looks like a showroom that's because it partly is. The owner is a dealer in essentially neoclassical pieces, displayed enticingly on the Mies van der Rohe table, which is paired with Le Corbusier armchairs. Bathed in the light afforded by the loft's large windows is a Biedermeier daybed, which mixes so easily with the modernity of the armchairs. And then another favourite, the architectural prints hanging above the dark lacquered Chinese screen, with its gold painting, capturing the golden hues of the entire room.

My only complaint, (and yes, I do have one), is that it would all come together much better with a rug of some description, which would define the sitting area and the dining area, (the latter with its Knoll 'Saarinen" table and Hoffman dining chairs).

Oh, and I would hang the blinds in a linear row, because I like things to be symmetrical. Of course.

Rare jewel

Drawing room (1), showing a library on the mezzanine floor above.

Drawing room (2) with cathedral-like ceilings, allowing maximum light.

The master bedroom suite.

A guest bedroom.

The swimming pool.

The foyer opens up into a Moroccan-style courtyard.


Stairs leading to the first floor, from the courtyard.

The first floor balcony looking towards to courtyard.

This type of beautiful old house is rare in Bangkok, but they do exist. Because the city is so well spread out, and there are no particular zones for high-end residential properties, they are indeed hidden treasures. This one is more especially so because it has been decorated with impeccable taste and style by a young Thai man with royal connections, who has lived abroad and brought back with him the essence of a bygone era, with obvious Chinese, Thai and European influences. (Photos courtesy of Thailand Tatler.)

The perfect hostess

Some people find it strange that even the Queen personally shows her guests on a State Visit to their suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace; Carla Bruni Sarkozy was the most recent to remark on it. I think it proves that whoever you are, making guests feel welcome is a rather good experience.

In my time I've gone from the extreme of not having guest bedrooms, to making them almost too comfortable, (so that some never want to leave). I think these luggage racks however (by Philippe Hurel) are a very thoughtful piece of kit for a guest bedroom, (and subtly they are not designed to take an enormous piece of luggage, ensuring one hopes that guests follow the "fish theory" about their length of stay).

Dorico column cupboard

The enduring interest and admiration for the work and design of Fornasetti has been expressed at an auction in Munich recently where this Dorico cupboard was sold for EUR11,000 (against an estimate of EUR4-7,000).

I featured the same cupboard in my post 0f 9 May, but suggested that the feet used in that depiction (above) could be improved upon, and I think this brass stand is certainly that. However, I believe a polished brass that produced a "battleship grey" patina would have suited the black and white of the cupboard much better.

The balloons go up

These six Mongolfiere plates by Fornasetti also sold at the same auction for EUR3,800 (well above their estimate of EUR1,600-2,000.

Apollo 13 returns

The little local difficulties seem to have been resolved. Something more inspired in the coming days, but in the meantime this mishmash of items which includes the "Mondo" cabinet by Paul Smith for Cappellini, a fifties "Medal" ice bucket and "75053 Bicchieri di Boemia" fabric both by Fornasetti.