Jones and Cole: I TOOK A LITTLE BREAK

I was talking to No. 2 Grandson Musical Genius Ethan last week--explaining to him that I was on a lot of sites to promote my business--I counted them for him and I realized that I was on 8 different platforms. Yikes! And I suddenly felt very exhausted. I, who had previously been computer-phobic was now spending the majority of my time at this darn key board. Do not get me wrong--I love the freedom and connections the Internet has created--but still. And of course, being a type A personality, the guilt I feel when everything is not up-to-date is pretty heavy. So I took a little break from loading and posting.......feeling much better.

I also took a mini-break from my auction addiction to just "be" and breathe a bit. I've discovered that I need a lot of time to simply take in stuff. I tend to hyper-focus which means that I'm missing chunks of everyday life--not making me happy. But there are some advantages.....

At auction last Thursday I hyper-focused on these adorable footstools. What I mean is that I hyper-focused on the signed needlepoint and couldn't decided if it was super chic or tacky......I decided to go for super chic and very Sister Parish; so I bought them for quite a bit of $$. When I preview the stools I was so focused on the textile

(I think it's c.1960) that I paid hardly any attention to the frames, just glancing at them and assuming that, because of the finish, they were early to mid 20th c. (Didn't even turn them over--big no-no)

I could not have been more mistaken

Any one who knows me, or reads this blog, knows that my two biggest (there are many) passions in this crazy business are period 18th c. furniture and great design. So I should know to check out the undersides and insides of everything.... You can imagine my joy when I turned over this little stool to discover that it was totally hand planed with the right softness to the tips of the feet and just the right crispness to the carving. The 1960s finish obscured the detailed carving and fooled me into thinking that it was newer. But, also because of my hyper-focus, I missed the obvious fact that the frames of the stools are not a pair--just similar. The second stools is a 19th c. example of a Louis XV footstool

The stool is old, but you can clearly see the marks of a circular saw which tells me that its 19th c. And the form is quite different from the 18th c. stool. I had never seen needlepoint quite like this--I have seen early 20th c. kitschy prints with "flower faces"--but these guys were just tipping the scales at "Hot, hot, hot.

And I finally managed to find a lot of pretty decent Chinese trunks....I had another stack of these last fall and I sold them all. I think simple trunks fit just about any where you would need storage--or coffee tables.

And final find of last week was this classic English bamboo and cane pastry table. These tables used to be very popular and pricey, but lately have been out of fashion. That said, I thought that I would give it a shot. The condition was excellent and the cuteness factor was up there.

Pretty cute.

Now for the GOOD STUFF................Lalo brought back Gerry's beautiful and stunning late 18th c. Directoire side chairs. I had them upholstered in a breath-taking green strie silk velvet. I'm pretty sure that this silk would price out at about $400+ per yard--we were lucky and bought a lot of bolt ends and this fabric was one of the bolts.

The chairs are gorgeous and retain their original gold leaf finish--and the fabric...I just love to pet it.

Lalo also brought back the chair seat for the Swedish chairs. The gorgeous original blue-gray paint needed a fabric that wouldn't complete with it. So I chose a 100% Belgium linen with a good texture open weave and a touch of silver.