A Dollhouse for Grownups

Italian dining room, c. 1500. The objects in this room were inspired by both Italian sources (the Davanzetti Palace in Florence) and Viennese interiors. The chest in the corner is one of the few pieces carved by Mrs. Thorne herself.

Italian dining room, c. 1500. The objects in this room were inspired by both Italian sources (the Davanzetti Palace in Florence) and Viennese interiors. The chest in the corner is one of the few pieces carved by Mrs. Thorne herself.

If you want to research historic interiors, where do you turn?  You could buy a book like Mario Praz’s indispensible An Illustrated History of Interior Decoration; search the internet or a digital photo archive for specific dates and locations. Or, for an especially fun field trip, you could visit the Thorne Miniature Rooms.

French Louis XV Salon, 1715-1754. The reign of Louis XV was an age of feminine influences, as seen in the gentle, curving lines of the furniture and walls. Even the corners of this room are rounded! The parquet floor is made of oak and walnut, and laid in a Versailles pattern.

French Louis XV Salon, 1715-1754. The reign of Louis XV was an age of feminine influences, as seen in the gentle, curving lines of the furniture and walls. Even the corners of this room are rounded! The parquet floor is made of oak and walnut, and laid in a Versailles pattern.

The 1:12 scale Thorne Miniature Rooms cover European, American and Asian interiors ranging in date from the late 13th century to the 1930s. The models are the brainchild of Narcissa Ward Thorne of Chicago (daughter-in-law of Montgomery Ward co-founder Richard Thorne). She began by amassing a collection of miniature furniture from around the world. By the early 1930s she had decided to have the rooms painstakingly and perfectly executed by master craftsmen, work which continued over the next decade.  Some of them replicate actual rooms that Mrs. Thorne saw in her travels, while others are simply true to period. To give an example of the level of detailed execution, in some cases period rugs were woven in miniature scale specifically to fulfill her vision! Continue reading →

Sourcebook of Scandinavian Furniture

Designs for the Twenty-First Century

Judith Gura’s definitive new sourcebook. All images courtesy W. W. Norton.

A compendium, with more than five hundred full-color illustrations, of the best modern furniture from the Nordic countries.

Scandinavian design brings to mind forms that are minimal and clearly functional out of beautiful, if not sumptuous materials. It is the kind of design that most of us “know when we see it” but we don’t often know what the pieces are actually called. Now, luckily for us, there is a “bible” for that kind of design.

Judith Gura is a decorative arts historian and professor at the New York School of Interior Design. She is an authority on the history of interiors, especially 20th century interiors, and their furnishings. Her 8th book includes a CD-ROM with easy-to-use screen resolution files of all the illustrations. Continue reading →

Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court

The Breteuil Table on view in The Frick Collection’s Oval Room; photo: Michael Bodycomb

The Breteuil Table, designed and made entirely by Johann Christian Neuber (1736-1808), is distinguished as one of the most exceptional and important pieces of eighteenth-century furniture ever made. It is not a big table, standing at only 32 inches in height but it’s use of materials and it’s flawless execution made it more than a delight, this piece is a wonder. Shown for the first time outside of Europe, the table was the centerpiece of a recent exhibition Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber at the Saxon Court, at the Frick Collection in New York City.
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KGB Limited

KGB: Secret agents of design

The KGB trio; left to right David Khouri, Christian Bunce and Roberto Guzman. All images courtesy KGB Limited.

You’ve all heard of fashion police? The Special Forces of interior design? Out of their Chelsea office in New York City, the trio that comprises KGB is designing furniture and interiors that are up-to-the-minute modern, yet designed with classic principals of beauty, harmony and balance. Their use of hard-to-find industrial materials—things you have never seen used before in this kind of an application—combined with the precision and detail of their work creates pieces that are ultimately timeless.
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INSPIRING STUDENTS…..

EVERYONE IN THE POOL! The class enjoys the once in a lifetime opportunity to soak their feet in a Frank Lloyd Wright pool!

As we posted before, we teamed up with the California College of Art to host this year’s student chair competition. Recently, Wilsonart and professor Russell Baldon decided to take advantage of the amazing partnership between 30 Southern Californian museums, galleries and cultural centers called “Pacific Standard Time.” Many of these institutions showcased work which explored the question: What is California Design? What does Californian design entail? What does it look like? And why? Continue reading →

California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way.” (part 1)

In 1951 émigré Greta Magnusson Grossman declared, California design “is not a superimposed style, but an answer to present conditions…It has developed out of our own preference for living in a modern way.”

Richard Neutra. Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, 1946. Photo by Julius Shulman, 1947; © J Paul Getty Trust. Used with Permissions. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Research Library at the Getty Research Institute (2004.R.10

This modern way was considered “the California Look” and it would become popular not only across the country but across the world. Perhaps even more impressive: it is still relevant some sixty years later. Continue reading →