Janet Ramin - Elegance, sophistication, and glamour describe the Art Deco era, but this was just the frosting on a multi-tiered cake. Art Deco culminated from the convergence of global culture and tastes – with motifs that included modern geometrics, Egyptian, Babylonian, African, and Aztec styles and Greco-Roman classicism. For the latest in our series of mood boards, we’ll rediscover the glamorous world of Art Deco style.
Art Deco was the nickname given for the style that arose from the influential 1925 world’s fair that occurred in Paris, France called the Exposition Internationale des Artes Decoratifs et Industriels Moderne. Legendary designers, artisans, and architects contributed to the World Fair, including glass designer Rene Lalique, furniture designer Emile-Jacques Rhulmann, and architect Le Corbusier, to name a few.
In our first mood board above, we show a French Art Deco console table from French Design, Inc. made from macassar ebony, a popular rich-looking wood of that era. Its center leg displays a gilt and silver artwork of geometric shapes. On top of the table we have accessories that are globally inspired – the muscular Eve with Serpent sculpture from Renaissance Man is created in the Greek tradition and the vase, Biches Bleues, designed by Charles Catteau reflects African influences. The vase is from the Modernism Gallery.
For seating, we have a streamlined lacquered club chair from French Design, Inc. The delicate side table, reminiscent of furniture designer Emile-Jacques Rhulmann, is made of rosewood and covered in shagreen, available from Gary Rubinstein Antiques. On top of the table from TFTM Gallery is the coffee service from ocean liner, Il de France, and designed in the iconic Art Deco geometric shapes. For lighting we have a French chandelier designed by Petitot and available from Versailles Antiques. Petitot created an octagonal shaped light made of nickeled bronze and frosted glass insets with a sunburst design. The rug, though not Art Deco, is very geometric and is from Safavieh.
Janet Ramin - It may have started with Valentino stealing a kiss in the casbah or Lawrence of Arabia storming across rippling sands astride a camel, but our fascination with desert cultures has had a long history and continues till today. In our latest mood board, let's explore the exotic desert land of Morocco to discover the elements of Moroccan style.
Natives of the desert have lived primarily a nomadic, tribal life and consequently their furnishings had to be portable too. Through their travels, they carried with them
- pillows for their seating
- small tables and folding chairs for dining
- rugs to cover the sand
Eventually some natives settled into walled cities - the casbah - but their homes still echo their past nomadic lifestyles.
In our mood board above, we show the traditional pillows and ottomans that would typically grace a Moroccan home. The blue Ikat pillow and the large, fringed ottoman are both from Wunderley. The small portable Zeneb table features Moorish geometric patterns, including the pointed arches as its legs. The Hamsa Eye mirror above is made of camel bone and silverplate.
Janet Ramin - Scandinavian furniture has seen a strong resurgence in the past decade. Its simplicity and timelessness attracts many admirers around the world. There are different periods of Scandinavian furniture of course, and here, for this month’s Mood Board, we'll visit the early Scandinavian period from late 18th century to the early 19th century.
The late 1700s saw the ascension of Gustav III to the throne of Sweden and during his reign, Sweden experienced a transformation of its art and design fields. Gustav spent time as a young man at the sophisticated French Versailles court. When he returned to Sweden, he hired architects and artisans trained in the French style to update his court and residences. Soon, the small isolated country with a provincial look became a trendsetter for the rest of Scandinavia and Europe.
When craftsmen started to build French-styled furniture and accessories, they incorporated their own Scandinavian characteristics of simplicity and austerity; out of the merging of the two styles came the elegant and simple Scandinavian style. Much of the gilt and excessive sculptural motifs were removed or pared down - but the graceful bones of the French Louis XVI style remained. Another uniquely Scandinavian feature was the choice of cool color schemes, reflective of their long wintry season. Pale blues and greens, along with whites and soft grays, abound in many interiors.
In the first mood board above, French neoclassic motifs are applied to the chair, stool, and console table.