BAROQUE STYLE: Judith Auclair, NAPLES

The latest and greatest from Judith Auclair, progress shot, courtesy, MAISON AUCLAIR, NAPLES

While I've posted many times before about my friend, the decorative artist and antiquaire, Judith Auclair, I had to share this image her firm just sent over~a work in progress, but love the grand and massive scale.  Judith has done many large scale installations, including a grotto bathroom in the Caribbean, an over mantel in a 19th century Old Naples cottage, and chandeliers for a new palace in Russia.  Click here to read an article about her and her work! 

courtesy, MAISON AUCLAIR, NAPLES

courtesy, MAISON AUCLAIR, NAPLES

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Parisian Glam

Rybar-Daigre, Paris

Ever since this image was first published, I found it interesting~ one of my favorite clients has a bathroom done in this manner.  (all mirrored) ~ did you know the pair of signed chairs shown here sold at auction for about $800,000.00 !?! Yes, they did!  Worth every penny!  DF *****

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Sip and Shop

Abalone and Sea Glass mirror by Judith Auclair, Chesterdales, Naples

Dear Mary and I had such a nice time last night browsing the wares at Chesterdales Antiques Market~ Naples.  This fabulous hand made mirror, by my dear friend Judith Auclair, caught my eye, isn't it a stunning piece?  I even found something for myself as I sipped my Chardonnay~

DFID

I'd been wanting one of these small copies of a bulls eye mirror with the eagle on top~ and voila! here it is!  Someone had painted over it in a nice stone color ~ with a little gold showing through. Very nice ! (for the price) Enjoy the weekend! DF *****

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Mirror, Mirror...

Dean Farris Interior Design

DFID

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I had fallen in love with the beauty of antique, gilt framed mirrors, probably beginning when I was working in New York~ for some of the top interior designers of the 1980's and into the 1990's...there were many times when, perhaps at Kentshire Galleries, or H.M. Luther, I would find myself staring into a fabulously elegant and decorative mirror, wondering who that terribly good looking young man was staring back at me!  It was beyond glamorous, having just stepped out of a dark green Rolls, or a long black Mercedes limousine, to find myself shopping for things that often were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

18th century Chippendale

For example, the mirror shown above, might be delivered to a clients home on approval~ George Clarkson would have liked this one, and most likely had it installed above a mantel in a beautiful, huge, living room in a 1920's Tudor high on a hill in Bronxville.  These investment pieces can sometimes even be used as collateral at the bank...I remember a funny thing, the client saying that she had "tried to work with Mario Buatta, but found him intimidating"...it seemed like an odd thing to say given that we had pulled up to her house in a chauffeur driven Silver Shadow!  

18th century baroque (French)

What I admire and appreciate on an old mirror is de-silvering~ as seen in the above example. Hand carving, water gilding, and ancient looking glass is a very seductive combination.  Imagine this one played off of a highly lacquered wall finish, perhaps an aubergine...I'm forever suggesting antiqued mirrored glass to my clients as an architectural element.  These shapely frames look splendid above a marble or old limestone mantel. They also look very nice above console tables and sideboards.  I like to flank them with porcelain jars, as shown in my first image, at the top.  You can find these mirrors online, but I really do believe you need to see it in a shop or via your designer before making a purchase.  Think of it as a work of art, decorative art. To see some good examples, go here (Sotheby's online). Or, a Milanese palace here also on the Sotheby's site.

The former Mellon townhouse, East 70th Street, New York

Even someone as fabulous as the late Bunny Mellon ~ who had a huge art collection, used a mirror as a focal point in her elegant Manhattan townhouse. Notice the proportion of her mirror to the mantel beneath it.  The hand painted floors were one of her trademarks~ and they are something that I love as well.  Mirror, mirror, whose the fairest of them all? Mirrors add mystery and elegance, use them whenever you can.  They can help fill out walls for those of us who don't have an art collection, such as paintings and drawings.  Enjoy!  DF *****    

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Pushing It Around

DFID

Dear readers, I'm forever rearranging my furniture, even though I always say I won't- I've been doing it since I was about twelve years old... this green velvet and cerulean blue combination is very Emilio Terry.  Read more about Emilio Terry here .

DFID

The pair of Louis XV style chairs were against the wall, across from the sofa-  I like this slightly asymmetric flanking of my chesterfield with a pair of chairs... although we keep thinking we want something in a fabric on the chairs-

Perhaps Les Touches, Brunschwig as used by Mark Sikes  

DFID

This is a rental, with low ceilings, and I must work around them and the ceiling fan, as well as the beige plush carpet- so my modus operandi has been to just "decorate"  for now...

DFID

Also, this morning, I decided to hang another picture above the collage over by the sliding glass doors...it did help to visually raise the eye, which is terrific, since my ceiling height here is - 7'-10"  !!!! And there is no "crown" molding either- we keep discussing changing the mirror to a flat white finish or changing it entirely.

As seen on first dibs (SOLD) 

DFID

DFID

DFID

I like this shot- the grainy look reminds me of old Horst photographs in the House and Garden of the 1970's, which was always probably my favorite magazine, besides the old Paige Rense Architectural Digest...dating myself- and personally, I do like this jumbled look, since the architecture is just a plain shoe box...I do hope you've enjoyed this very personal glimpse into my private quarters!  Cheers!  DF *****

PS, Last night, on Turner Classic Movies, I caught William Haines in the 1928 silent film, "The Smart Set" -

he was very amusing- and became a very prominent designer after leaving the world of film... 

My Gilt-y Pleasure

Circa 1810 French mirror, Antiques Center of Naples

I love looking into, and at, my old gilt mirror- it has such romance and mystery...it adds so much charm and character to my smallish living room.

If you've been following me, you no doubt know by now that I very much like patina, and gilt, and things from the past- I suppose I could have my old mirror re-gilded, but it might come off looking too "repro" and I LIKE the crusty old look of it as it is, don't you?  I think it suits the cottage-y proportions of my small condo.

Now, THIS is a gilt-y pleasure!  I LOVE Versailles!  When I was there, touring- I almost fainted, since I had such a minimal lunch....and I was feeling as if I was in one of my spiritual homes...such beauty!

French commode, with gilt bronze mounts

Sean Johnson at the Biennale des Antiquaires

Here I am with my "Versailles" mirror,

as interpreted by Line Vautrin...

Green paint with gilt, Palace of Versailles

I love the mirror over mantel in Mrs. Altschul's flat, by Mario Buatta

(formerly a Sister Parish apartment)

Tom Britt's New York townhouse apartment

All of these images represent something near and dear to my design sensibility- did you know- and I've been known to make a joke at my own expense- that my nickname in design school (in Atlanta) was "Putti Baroque" ? Well, it's true !  :)  Ha!  Cheers!  Enjoy!  DF ***** Check out the GILT site !  XX

Babe's 17th Century Mirror

Room by Martyn Lawrence Bullard, AD 2005

This mirror, purchased from John Hobbs, once hung in the Parish-Hadley designed Manhasset, Long Island home of Babe and Bill Paley.  I read this with great interest, having always been intrigued by this mirror.  Imagine, over many centuries, the mirror has traveled from Europe to New York, to California! 

From Parish Hadley, Sixty Years of American Design 1995

 Described as being Portugese, and of olive wood, this stunning object showcases the exquisite taste level of the Paleys and their designers...and is a fabulous example of how a good antique can add so much flair and a sense of quality to a room.  Enjoy! DF*****

The Mysterious Mirror



Dean Farris Interior Design

Here's the circa 1800 french giltwood mirror Bill and I just installed, in my Naples apartment.  The dealer, Joe Miller, of Antiques Center of Naples also had a larger, and more costly old mirror, with the interesting provenance of having belonged to the mother of Queen Noor of Jordan.  Lisa Halaby of Washington, DC is the widow of King Hussein of Jordan.  What intrigued me about this, not knowing her, or her mother, was that the style of that mirror was very much like one that Tice had borrowed from the old Parish Hadley inventory, for his small, but chic, apartment on East 69th Street, in Manhattan.  (see my earlier posts on Tice Alexander)

    


Room by Mario Buatta

A mirror, very much like the one dear Mario had hanging in this former apartment of his-I found this picture in the 1976 book, by Norma Skurka, "The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration".  It has very old gilt, and is quite decorative against the beautiful glazed walls.  This mirror is like the one Joe Miller now has in his stock, here in Naples.

 


Room by Joseph Braswell

Above, a stunning room by the late designer, Joseph Braswell (d. 2006) with boiserie incorporating a large trumeau - (without the painting above) - interestingly, Joe had King Fahd of Saudi Arabia as a client.  Joe Braswell also was a Dean of interior design at Parsons.  I was fortunate to meet him, in about 1977 or so, when I was taken to his Sutton Place apartment for a pre- theater cocktail party.  The best was when his partner, Ward Willoughby, made his grand entrance, dropping his full length fur coat on the floor as he entered!  Ah, the seventies! It was pretty glam, and that song "Native New Yorker" was playing...



Room by Harrison Cultra

The elegant, tall room above, by the late Harrison Cultra, (d. 1983) uses another tall gilt mirror, seen at left.  I've always loved this image, and it's from the same Norma Skurka 1976 book.  Mr. Cultra counted Jacqueline Onassis as a client...he was only 42 when he died.  Rest in peace. 



Room by Dean Farris

Above, another shot of the new sofa, with the new mirror installed.  I'm considering getting a seagrass or sisal rug to pull all this together...but this cozy grouping has much more comfort now, and my mother kept telling me to get some kind of leather "easy chair" - I suppose to rest my weary old bones in- and this is what I chose- a circa 1900 english chesterfield, which I use like a chaise. That's all for now kids, see you soon.  Enjoy!  DF *****

The Shelled Mirror

Shelled Mirror by Judith Auclair on Scalamandre' wallcovering

INTERIOR DESIGN BY DEAN FARRIS

PHOTO COURTESY MORAYA BAY

My dear friend, Judith Auclair makes incredible shelled mirrors and objects, and her work can now be seen at the Miromar Design Center. She also has a site http://www.mashellart.com/ and is an amazing artist and designer to work with on most any project requiring this type of look. This example is not one of hers, I saw it in a model at the new Moraya Bay Tower - however, when I saw this one I mistook it for her work. Enjoy the weekend! DF*****

copyright Dean Farris Interior Design