Category Archives: Home Accessories

March 7, 2012 · 7:06 am

Montage: 45 Rooms with Sculptures (Plus My Own)


My husband and I have quite a bit of art—oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, pastels, photography—but not much in the way of sculpture. In fact, he said last week we should consider adding some to our collection. (OK!) We have a few pieces, which I’ve included photos of here, and at the end of the post. The above image (next to the Cynthia Packard) shows a little sculpture that my son made. (Most of you know I never gush about my kids, so indulge me this time.)

Boston sculptor/potter Steve Murphy has a daughter my sons’ age, so they’ve been treated to a special pottery-making sessions. Mercifully, Steve has the kids finish with a green glaze, so the clay  emerges from the kiln resembling patina-ed bronzes. My favorite is an abstract from the preschool years. (Subsequent years’ attempts at representational pieces were not quite so successful.) It’s been on our mantle for years, not out of misplaced maternal pride, but because I rather like it. (Aesthetics prevail around here.)

Here’s a shot of my bedroom bookshelf. (Excuse the low brow reading material.) The pieces aren’t exactly artfully arranged, but a few are quite special. Starting from the left:  black & white flower ‘Fusion Foto Bloc’ by Debbie Krim purchased at her SoWa studio; one of my most cherished works, a Romolo Del Deo bronze nude from Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown, a holiday gift from my mother-in-law because I’ve always admired hers. Another gift from my mother-in-law, a miniature wooden Degas ballerina from the Met Museum gift shop. Her mother-in-law (my husband’s grandmother) gave it to her. She passed it down to me this past December. The two chairs prints I made a couple of summers ago after taking a class at Castle Hill. The small rock is a chunk of pyrite and the large rock on the right we found on a Truro beach. Finally, the outstretched ballerina on the right is a piece I’ve had for much of my life, passed down from my grandmother, who was an antiques dealer. It is bronze on a green marble base but don’t know anything else about it.

Now that you know plenty about my own collection, here are 45 more refined rooms with many spectacular sculptures, starting with a Dubuffet.

Designer Frederic Mechiche’s loft via Door 16
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Katie Lydon Interiors
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Trip Haenisch & Assoc. – Photographer Simon Upton – Elle Decor
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Kelly Behun   |   Kelly Wearstler, Metropolitan Home
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Photographer Pernille Kaalund
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Ashe + Leandro Architecture + Interior Design  |   unidentified
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via Desire to Inspire
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David Scott Interiors
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Designer Frederic Mechiche’s loft via Door 16
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Elle Decor
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The Selby
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Mercedes Perez de Castro
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Delphine Krakoff, Pamplemousse Design
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Photographer Warren Heath   |   Photographer Simon Watson
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James Harb Architects – Photographer William Waldron – Elle Decor

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Delphine Krakoff, Pamplemousse Design
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Geoffrey De Sousa Interior Design
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Photographer Stellan Herner   |   unidentified
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Photographer Pierre Jean Verger
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via The Brickhouse    |   Weitzman Halpern Design
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Jennifer Post Design – Architectural Digest
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Eric Ceputis Design – Photographer Nathan Kirkman – Elle Magazine
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via The Brickhouse   |   Robert Passal Interior & Architectural Design – Traditional Home
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Hotel Particulier
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Kriste Michelini Interiors   |   Jennifer Post Design
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Luis Bustamante Arquitectura de Interiores
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Charles de Lisle Workshop    |   Marc Jacobs’ Paris apartment by Paul Fortune Design
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unidentified
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New York Spaces
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Wendy Blount, Blount Design
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Jennifer Post Design
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Weitzman Halpern Design   |   David Scott Interiors

Kelly Behun
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Duane Modern Gallery   |    Adam Bram Straus Interior Design – Lonny
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A few other shots of sculptures in my own home:

Left: Chaim Gross sculpture, a gift from my in-laws, It is bronze on a wood base, and very heavy.
Right top: A wooden sculpture of a mother and two children that I bought at a gallery in Wellfleet on Cape Cod when my children were about those ages, and always wanted to be held. It’s dark-stained wood. I can look up the artist if anyone’s interested.
Right bottom: A close-up shot of my son’s abstract clay sculpture, circa 2005.

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March 6, 2012 · 11:01 am

Site Spotlight: Room 68

Nick Siemaska, Eric Portnoy, and Brent Refsland in their shop, Room 68.
Photo: Laura Barisonzi for Boston Magazine

Design shop Room 68 is Boston’s answer to Matter (heaven, on the edge of Soho). Owned by three bespectacled design hipsters in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts (an outlying area of Boston), the gallery-like shop opened this past fall. I cringe to say I haven’t actually been (it may be Boston, but it’s a 25 minute drive from my Back Bay sofa). The guys have garnered plenty of press (no surprise, as we get hot and bothered by new design outlets), including write-ups in Boston Magazine, Boston Globe, and Apartment Therapy.

I am familiar with a number of the Boston-area designers whose work if for sale, including furniture maker Jacob Kulin, who I’ve had the pleasure of working with, accessories designer/architect Susana DeVoe of Make.Good Studio, who I met last year at the SoWa Open Market, Debra Folz, a New England Home 5 Under 40 winner, who I met at the party, and Nervous System, a design team with degrees from MIT and Harvard.

Textile designer Cary Hewitt is a new find . . . her reversible rugs look delicious. I love the wood vases from Seth Rolland, and  Pelrine + Durrell Design’s Lobster Trap Table is an excellent contemporary interpretation of a vernacular monstrosity.Many of the designers are local, but not all. Room 68 recently launched its online shopping site. Below are the above mentioned items, and more, complete with links both to buy and to the designers’ own sites.

 

S H O P P I N G

Lobster Trap Table by Pelrine + Durrell Design, $1,500 (Boston)
Comfort/Conform Pillows by Make.Good Studio, $150 each (Boston)
Reaction Cups designed by Nervous System, $60
Lotus and Jasmine Wood Vases by Seth Rolland, $115 (Seattle)
Balancing Blocks designed by Fort Standard, $80.
Turned Leg End Table by Pelrine + Durrell Design, $700 (Boston)
Procession Reversible Rug by Cary Hewitt, $750 (Boston)
Concrete Idea by Kaza Designs, $15
X-Stitch Stool by Debra Folz, $1,600 (Boston)
Twist A Twill Blanket by Tina Ratzer, $140 (Copenhagen)
Spool by Jeb Jones, $450 (upstate New York)
Blossoms on Cherry Reversible Rug by Cary Hewitt, $650 (Boston)
Single Leg Coffee Table by Jacob Kulin, $3,500 (Boston)
Beam Bench by Jacob Kulin, $2,000 (Boston)

Room 68 • 68 South Street • Jamaica Plain • Boston

Photo: Apartment Therapy Boston

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March 2, 2012 · 6:30 am

Covet: Left Humerus Bone Pillow

Left Humerus Bone Cushion
Deborah Shavlik 2011
Design in sepia brown wool thread on hand-felted cashmere, backed in brown linen.
$297, The Future Perfect

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February 21, 2012 · 7:00 am

Design Diary: Bone Sculptures by Celia Nkala of Perception Park

I first learned about Parisian-based sculptor/designer Celia Nkala’s line from Perception Park from a post I wrote for Design Milk. Instantly smitten (with her work and her… she’s so pretty), I struck up an email correspondence. She told me a bit about what prompted her to sculpt and work with bones and even sent me a two necklaces (made out of dog teeth!) to see how they’d play in the American market. Last week, she emailed me with photos of new creations, this time around, done in black.

Vertebrae Vase

The Ossements collection was inspired by a real human hip bone that Celia found in a flea market in Brussels about a year-and-a-half ago. She says, “I was fascinated while the others were disgusted.”

To make it more “acceptable,” she sculpted the shape in porcelain. The Iliac bone was the first sculpture she had ever created. She borrowed a human skeleton from the anatomy department of a medical university to use as a model for the other pieces, which include vertebrae and sacrum.

She recently introduced shiny black versions of several of the works. Here is a sampling:


Vertebrae Votives

Iliac Bones in Enameled Porcelain

Sacrum in Enameled Porcelain

Rib Cage Sculpture in Enameled Porcelain

Celia is holding a real human hip she found in Belgium; the catalyst for the collection.
The horizontal bits on the vertebra vase are actual bones. Nkala found a stock of cow’s sphenoid bones (the cow’s last vertebra) by chance in a Chinese shop in Paris, and bought the entire stock. She says, “I discovered that earthenware biscuit is visually similar of the bone material, so I have associated them directly with ceramics.”
The annotated diagram above shows that the vertical section is a piece of enameled porcelain, and the horizontal vertebrae are real animal sphenoid bones.
 Celia sent me two dog tooth pendants. I wear them all the time, and show them off at every opportunity. Definitely a conversation starter.  A dentist mom at a potluck said she wasn’t sure they were definitely dog teeth, so I wore them to the vet when it was time for Oakley’s check up. (Oakley is my very sweet cat.) She confirmed, they’re definitely dog teeth. (Not that I doubted you Celia!)  Do you guys like them? They’re not available commercially yet, and I know Celia would appreciate any input.

Animal Sphenoid Bone Keychain   |   Coccyx Pendant   |   Bony Pelvis Tote
Vertebrae votives all stacked up.

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February 16, 2012 · 7:02 am

Get the Look: 60 Modern Chandeliers and Pendants

If you’re contemplating a statement light fixture in your living room, as I am, hopefully yesterday’s Montage: 47 Living Rooms with Chandeliers & Pendants gave you some ideas. Turns out I made a spur-of-the-moment rug purchase on One King’s Lane yesterday (an incredible David Hicks runner for my stairs), so the chandelier will have to wait. In the meantime, no reason to stop looking, and to really start to think about what will work in terms of size, etc.

Boston interior designer Shellie Donovan left a helpful tip on the StyleCarrot Facebook page: “Remember, measure the drop and visualize the height. The scale has to be correct, too large or small will kill the best piece. You can get flush mount for lower ceilings. ”

 

S H O P P I N G

ELK 15-Light Molecular Polished Chrome Chandelier, $466 at Lumens.
JBS Bronze Twig Chandelier at Jonathan Browning, Dering Hall.
Copper Shade Pendant by Tom Dixon, $610 at Y Lighting.
Arteriors Home ‘Sherman’ Brass Chandelier, $910 at Clayton Gray.
De La Espada 250 ‘Zenovitch’ 12 by Autoban, $6,895 at Addo Novo.
‘Onion’ Pendant in Wood Veneer by Bang Design, $1,117 at 2modern.
Arredoluce “Ragno” Spider Flush-Mount at 1st Dibs.
‘PS Maskros’ Pendant, $89.99 at IKEA.
‘Varmluft’ square shade, $8 at IKEA.
‘Hoyne’ Open Weave Crisscross Pendant, $399 at Crate & Barrel.
Foscarini ‘Le Soleil’ by Vicente Garcia Jimenez, $1,551 at Addo Novo.
Flos ‘2097’ Steel Chandelier by Gino Sarfatti, $1,520 at Hive.
Golden Lighting ‘Echelon’ Chrome Chandelier, $539.90 at Wayfair.
Swarovski Crystal Starburst Sputnik, $11,000 at Venfield, 1st Dibs.
Black ‘Oval Boi’ Chandelier at David Weeks Studio, Dering Hall.
Foscarini ‘Lightweight’ Suspension by Tom Dixon, $6,842 at Hive.
Gold Work Lamp by Design House Stockholm, $110 at Horne.
MIO ‘Bendant’ Powder Coated Steel Lamp, $175 at 2modern.
Primary Color Artisan Glass Chandelier, $1,800 at S. Julian, 1st Dibs.
Stilnovo Painted Metal Chandelier, $2,058 at Paris 1st Dibs.
72-Light Brass Sputnik at Maison Schembri, 1st Dibs.
‘Superordinate’ Antlers by Jason Miller, $5,900—$8,000 at DWR.
Lindsey Adelman ‘Boom Boom Burst,’ $105,000 at Lindsey Adelman.
Polyedres by Hubert le Gall at Twenty First Gallery, 1st Dibs.
Crystorama ‘Solaris’ 6-Light in Olde Silver, $450 at Homeclick.
‘BV Blue’ Rolled Paper by Isabelle Farahnick, TomThomas, 1st Dibs.
De La Espada Blue ‘224 Single Octopus’ by Autoban, $1,255 at Addo Novo.
Pablo ‘Solis’ Suspensions by Carmine Deganello, $300 each at Design Public.
Coral Pendant with Lime Green by David Trubridge, $360—$1,280 at Horne.
‘Tived’ Ceiling Spotlight in Nickel, $69.99 at IKEA.
‘Pax’ with Bird Sculpture by Jose Esteves, $2,990 at Interieurs, Dering Hall.
Foscarini ‘Caboche 20’ by Patricia Urquiola, $1,914 at Lightology.
Robert Abbey  Brushed Nickel ‘Candelaria,’ $723—$1,045 at Lumens.
White Globe Cluster by Kaiser Leuchtan, $3,800 at Center 44, Bond & Bowery.
Bocci 14.14 Fourteen Pendant by Omer Arbel, $6,020 at Y Lighting.
Double Scalloped Chandelier, $3,400 at Pieces.
Gaetano Sciolari 9-Light Twisted Tubular Chandelier, $2,646, 1st Dibs Paris.
Light Blue PH50 Pendant by Poul Henningsen, $876 at Danish Design Store.
‘Bailey’ Chandelier in White Resin, $3,250 at Mecox Gardens.
Arteriors ‘Caviar’ Cluster with Smoked Glass, $3,240 at Shop Candelabra.
Moooi Stainless Steel ‘Raimond’ by Raimond Puts, $2,071 at Hive.
Turquoise, Murano Glass Chandelier, $2,940 at DWR.
Rattan Brush Chandelier, $515 at Clayton Gray.
Lightolier Brutalist Snowflake by Gaetano Sciolari at BG Galleries, 1st Dibs.
Artcraft ‘Nebula’ 19-Light Chrome Pendant, $852 at Homeclick.
8-Light Brass Atomic Sputnik, $1,995 at Judy Frankel Antiques, 1st Dibs.
Areaware ‘Orbit’ by Patrick Townsend, $600 at Areaware.
‘Meri’ Pierced Resin Drum, $3,250 at Mecox Gardens.
Black 3-Arm Chandelier by Workstead, $1,800 at Horne.
Filvem Multicolor Sputnik, $7,500 at BG Galleries, 1st Dibs.
Amber ‘Elizabeth’ Chandelier at Jan Showers, Dering Hall.
Turquoise ‘Venus’ Pendant by Worlds Away, $440 at Clayton Gray.
Entrelace Modern Hanging Chandelier, $265 at Clayton Gray.
California Sunburst Chandelier, $5,975 at Remains Design, Dering Hall.
Floating Mercury Pebbles by Ross Lovegrove, $3,870 at Addo Novo.
Floral Sputnik Snowflake Chandelier ,$4,800/pair at Kerson, 1st Dibs.
SLAMP ‘Fiorella’ Chandelier by Nigel Coates, $798—$1,080 at Lumens.
Flos ‘Taraxacum 88’ by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, $4,760 at DWR.
Glass Rods Murano Sputnik at Stellar Union, 1st Dibs.
Lights Up! ‘Woody’ by Rachel Simon, $622 at 2modern.

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