BOTTOMS UP

I know......why show the "ugly" underside first?? Well, to me this underside is absolutely GORGEOUS. I learn so much more about an antique piece of furniture if I can turn it over. This is a charming smallish late 18th c. (maybe), but definitely early 19th c. French Louis XVI commode. (That's Roberto standing beside her)

SEE..

I just brought her in on Saturday. She is mahogany, but some one painted her from stem to stern in either the 1950's or 60's. The most acceptable method of painting commodes is to only paint the fronts or "showing" surfaces so that the age and construction of the piece are readily visible....but the painter only left the underside visible (and thank goodness he (probably not she) did.

I could strip the backside down to the bare wood (expensive and there would still be traces of the paint left in the grain), but I've decided to leave her "as found". She does retain her original hardware and locks (but not keyes). The drawer fronts are fielded and the fronts are very thick (good sign) with a thin gilt fillet outlining the fields. The same gold fillet outlines her sides. Note the thick uneven dovetails.

All in all, I think she's pretty cute. 

This has been one of those weeks......I cleaned out (am still organizing) my bedroom and office--it feels realy good and fresh. 

And I've spent time stretching and hopefully growing--not always the easiest of tasks. I'm getting ready (physically and spiritually) for the new, which I can just about feel bursting through. We'll see. The little Louis XV chest should be ready on Friday....I can't wait to see how the faux marble turned out.

Jones desperately needs to get his hair cut--hopefully I can get him squeezed in this week. But he is pretty cute shaggy, too.

Sending blessing for a fantastic week.

Mary & Jones & Cole

MAKING PROGRESS

Before

Here she is.....I've layered 4 different colors/shades in light coats of paint on her surface. I still have to apply the patina--have decided to do that myself (it's not as tricky as I thought). I took the commode to Sharon this afternoon--Sharon will paint the faux marble top surface and highlight the lip around the drawers and edge of the chest in a shade just a bit darker (hopefully more gray) than the case paints. We chose a deeper slate gray for the marble base color with darker and some lighter veining.

With the first layer of off-white (which I then had to sand down) I didn't remove the hardware....but quickly realized that I needed to

at least I got a good shot of what the hardware looked like prior to polishing. You can see how dark it is. Andrew polished it today....

I had assumed that the hardware was not original, but once I removed the handles, I realized that they were original and there were still traces of the original gilding on the backs. It is amazing that after about 250 years, the gold held its integrity and was still bright. I love how the hand chased details of the bronzes were revealed when cleaned.

Here are a few more detail photos of the commode.

I can't wait til I pick her up and put on the finishing touches. Roberto will replace the hardware and go over the commode with a clear bees wax and then she'll be ready for her new home.

I think Jones and I will skip the dog park for today...

Have a wonderful fall week-end. It's hotter than you know what here (93* at 2 pm) and the wonderful sweet rain is just a memory.

Mary & Jones & Cole

PROJECTS (and helpers)

Here's a shot of one of my project assistants--Mini Beast just loves to stay close so that he can keep an eye on me (just in case I might be making a trip to the cat food cupboard). Jones is always close, but he hates to have his picture taken......

When I brought the little 18th c. French commode home and really studied her,

  

  

I found traces of old paint. So my brain started envisioning what she would look like painted and I decided to take the plunge. I had never (and now I have) painted an 18th c. piece; so I knew that this would be a learning-on-the-go effort--and I promised that I would not berate myself if I had to redo some sections.

First, Andrew and I completely sanded and filled the shrinkage cracks and sanded again. The top is a 19th c. marriage; so we sanded down the sharper edges to a soft bevel--this takes time and patience I learned. 

I painted one drawer first (there will be at least two additional colors applied) with the Swedish(?) off-white (boy do I wish that Loi were here to coach me on colors) that I chose.

    

It was a first attempt--and I put too much paint on--I'll sand the surfaces to remove A LOT of the paint and I think it will be fine.

But--by the time I got around to painting the sides, my head and hand were working better (I also watered down the paint)

  

The bottom front panel has a little centered detail which the darker green/blue/gray will pick out nicely with the second and third coats.

My wonderful painter, Sharon, will apply a faux marble finish to the top. Probably a very subtle marble and then she will apply the faux patination to the entire commode. This last step is tricky and I'm not going to go there.

I am so immensely grateful. We had a deep soaking rain Friday night into Saturday morning (at times it really poured). And right on schedule, the rain stopped just before I had to head out the door to shop. We need many many more rains like this to bring our lakes and water table to any where near normal. Please keep California (and the entire West) in your prayers.

Well, I'm off to start painting again. Wish me luck.

Blessings for a beautiful week.

Mary & Jones & Cole

HEROES

Two of my heroes died this week. Ben Bradlee and Oscar de la Renta. I came to age when these larger than life men were coming into their prime years of achievement. 

Ben Bradlee--charismatic and daring, publishing what no other had dared.

Oscar de la Renta--equally charismatic and the perfect gentleman who chose to improve the lives of those he touched.

I'm still tearing up as I write this--and I never knew these gentlemen. 

My hope is that new heroes rise up to fill these, now empty, memorable shoes.

PROJECTS IN THE WORKS

About a 18 months before our economy and the decorative arts/ antiques business came tumbling down I started to design lighting.....it mainly happened by accident. I saw a pair of chinoiserie sconces on 1stdibs and said to myself: "I can do this!!!"

So I did (I had an artist paint the figures--I wish I could paint). But in order to get the pagoda roof proportions just right, I needed a sample. So I spent a fortune on a pair of chinese lanterns--and then I had to figure out how to get my money out of them (ie, the goal in this business is (supposedly) to make money).  So I completely redid the lanterns, painted them, patinated them, etc. and BEADED them.....

And this is how the lanterns turned out. Much to my astonishment, the lanterns were featured on the 1st page of 1stdibs. This was a huge boost to my creative instincts.

And I have designed many lighting elements since. This pair of lamps was purchased by Madeline Stuart.

I love these guys (note: Japanese carved and lacquered foo dogs should always have loose balls in their mouths and flaming pearls and have finely detailed carving of coats and other features--otherwise they are probably Chinese copies)

  

But, I digress. I have not designed any lighting pieces in about 2 years because no one has been buying custom lighting--and what I design isn't usually what everyone is looking for.

But I promised myself that I would once again start creating what I love. I bought the 30" tall pagodas about 2 months ago. They arrived damaged; sent them back. Got replacement; again damaged.  But I decided to simply fix the problems.... And then I got my designing cap on. I haven't quite finished painting the pagodas--they need another coat of black and sanding to bring down the shine and then my friend, David (a top of the line restorer of period furniture) is going to help me put the chinoiserie details on the pagodas, after which I will wax and buff them to give depth to the finish--- but here is a first look at the beading that is going on the roof curls

Those are large faceted chunks (about 1"-1.5") of rock cyrstal and 2" chunks of turquoise and a large coral bead to simulate a Chinese hat.

In the last photo I was checking whether the pendants should be shorter--but I'm going to go with the long exaggerated form--more dramatic. The pagodas don't look very finished right now, but when all of the turquoise, rock crystal, coral and onyx beads are in place--plus the chinoiserie details and applied patination, I think they just might look OK--we'll see. At least I'm getting my brain in gear.

Auction Finds--yep, another week with gifts. 

  

This little c. 1760-70 French Louis XV commode was looking very forlorn up in "not so good" section. So I set my sights on it and aimed for a ridiculously low bid. When it came to the block, I almost had it for what I had aimed for......but at the last moment before the gavel fell, some one started bidding against me and I dropped out when my bid got to more than double what I had originally aimed to bid. This little orphan went to some one named "Michael"...  So I went home knowing that there "is always more". About 2 hours after I got home, I received a call from the auctioneer saying that the winning bidder had rejected the commode and Sean asked if I wanted it at $50 above (Sean didn't know my intended price) what my intention had been. Usually when this happens the offer goes to the under bidder at the bid where he/she had dropped out. Of course I said: "Yes, put it on my bill and thank you very much." Roberto will spend about a day putting this girl back to where she should be. She does have one major fault: I believe that her top was replaced in the 19th c. plus there is noticeable shrinkage to her sides which Roberto will fill. But she does have bells and whistles--she has perfectly formed "snail" front feet, original bronze hardware and cartouche carved sides. No she will never be a fine piece of French furniture, but this is just the type of piece that I love. Tons of character and attitude. Think night stand, breakfast room server or any where a 40-42 inch commode is needed--really great in a bathroom, too.

Jones is waiting patiently for me to go to bed.

Be well--don't forget to set those intentions!

Mary & Jones & Cole

WHERE TO FOCUS

I am so grateful to this wonderful world of blogging and the gift of the Internet that contains both the power to unite humanity and the power to fraction and isolate us.

Every morning I am greeted by many of my blogging friends. My first go-to blog is Seth Godin. Today's post (as so many others over the years) related to personal choice. Seth suggested making TWO LISTS. One where we document and detail all of the wonderful, serendipitous experiences, decisions, journeys and relationships of our life. The other, where we document all of our negative experiences and interactions. Seth's point being that at every point or even moment of our lives we make the choice of pulling out one of these virtual lists. It is our choice whether we act and make decisions based on all of the good in our lives, or, conversely, choose to come from a negative, rejected, hurting place. Yes, it our choice whether to walk in the light and power of the actual present or to be stuck walking without the blessings of life. 

It is also our choice whether to stay enmeshed in the past or to grow and overcome in order to walk in the light of the moment.....it's not an easy path, but it is do-able.

NOW....to get off my soap box and on to the more important issues of the day.............

...................MY CHAIR ADDICTION.....................

I think I've mentioned my "problem" relative to acquiring chairs many, many times.......well, I've fallen off the wagon (again).

A few weeks ago I bought these chairs

  

Then I bought these chairs

  

Next, I bought these stools/benches (still qualify as chairs)

  

Last week (Oh! S____!!!) I bought a pair of these (Isn't Jones handsome?)

  

Of course, I couldn't end the binge with those guys ........

This (potentially) amazing French Regence-style Fauteuil came next... (but just look at the carving?!)

  

But, in order to buy the Regence Fauteuil, I also had to bid on this early 20th c. Gainsborough-style solid mahogany chair.........

  

I'm in deep doo-doo now.

But it could be worse. Just this week I had tons of confirmation from different sources that (maybe) I was going to be OK.

Heather (Habitually Chic) posted a few photos of Hamish Bowles apartment

See those Regency Klismos side chairs? Not that different from mine (mine may be a bit more finely detailed with the brass rosettes and shaped crest rail--and of course, mine are rosewood and The Hamish chairs are lowly mahogany).

  

My Gainsborough Chair

Then...1stdibs posted 3 (not 1 or 2, but THREE) Gainsborough Chairs on the FRIST PAGE. Of course, my chair is early 20th c. and not drop dead to-die-for like the 1stdibs chairs--nevertheless.

1stdibs Gainsborough Chairs

  

Loi (Tone On Tone Antiques), who carries the most glorious Swedish and French painted furniture in his shop in Washington D.C., featured this chair in a post of early this week

Of course, this chair is perfection! My chair is his little brother--not bad, but it doesn't have the old scraped painted surface or the simplicity of carving of this one.  But it will work.  I'll upholster these guys in a natural silvery linen by Suzanne Kasler.

I love Art Deco furniture--and my little boudoir bergeres fall into that category. To bring out their Deco lines I have painted them black (I use metal paint to paint furniture--it goes on very smoothly with a couple of thin coats)

  

George--my mounted deer (who looks a bit like Jones) is supervising my work and Maddy refuses to eat anywhere else; so she gets to smell the paint. This pair of Deco Boudoir chairs will be upholstered in a gray silk blend velvet. I know that they are not California style and will probably go back East.

As for the stools......well. The round ottoman is a discontinued MacKenzie Childs piece, love those solid brass bun feet. The little guy I made up for OKL, not quite me. We'll see if it sells.

Because of the Financial Crisis and resultant changes to the decorative arts field I have had to change my business model. I can no longer afford to be a perfectionist--perfection isn't selling that well. I've had to adjust to the benefits of internet sales. I've had to acknowledge that there are so many different tastes that I can offer. Naturally, this involves all different kinds of buying......

After I finished painting the 1st chair black, I read the instructions on the paint can: light coats and DO NOT OVER-BRUSH!  That really got me to delving into myself. How much of life have I been over-brushing in my quest to bring perfection to life (mind you, it's my limited ideal of perfection). So today forward my motto is I DO NOT OVER=BRUSH.

Have a wonderful fall week-end. Please pray for rain for California.

Be well.

Mary & Jones & Cole

  PS  I just studied the Gainsborough chair......looks like the back legs are missing their scroll feet....ooops. This guy will go back to auction, but I'm keeping "Frenchie".

xo Mary