Architectural Digest, September 1985
Interiors by Emilio Carcano
Photographs by Derry Moore
Original text by Lee Radzwill
Two different views of the drawing room of Rudolph Nureyev's Paris apartment. The walls are covered in Cordova leather panels. The sofas are covered in a rich Genoese velvet (below). The Neo-Gothic frieze and specimen marble chimney (above) were designed by art director Emilio Carcano to be unashamedly romantic and a reflection of Nureyev's rich imagination.
The dining room-cum-library with its collection of French Academic paintings. The table is a 19th Century example done in vert des Pyrenees marble. The 19th Century Russian sofa is covered in Caucasian kilims.
The guest room with its adjacent trompe l'oiel decorated bathroom. The Bibiena engravings depict the history of Baroque theatre design.
The Vienna State Opera Ballet's 1967 production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in the lead roles.
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Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Orient express
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Looking good, feeling gorgeous
Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring in Charlie Wilson's War (2007).
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More green
A Victorian oak Gothic revival sofa, circa 1880.
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Monday, 9 February 2009
Green
Stonehouse Velvet
Watson Stripe
Fulham Linen Velvet
Gibraltar Silk
Patter
The colour of envy and, in the 19th Century, the colour of poison. In either case the colour of danger.
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Up close and personal
The world of Emma Hawkins as it appears in the March issue of British Vogue. Pure fire and music.
A cabinet of curiosities.
In her studio surrounded by her extraordinarily fine examples of natural history. The giraffe's head is from her childhood bedroom.
Vignettes of her Scottish idyll. 
The entrance hall with its polished Caithness stone floor.
Vogue, British Edition - March 2009
Photographs by Simon Upton
Produced by Pippa Holt
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Sunday, 8 February 2009
Chapeaux
Tahiti (Natural)
Bondi Fray (Multi)
Monte Carlo
Ibiza (Black)
All by New York milliner Rod Keenan.
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Friday, 6 February 2009
Disco dolly
An interesting reinterpretation of the Castiglioni Arco lamp by designer Samir Alj Falt.
From the Stockholm Furniture Fair report.
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More ways to waste time
A Majority of One (1961)
Leonard Spigelgass's film adaptation of his stage play. A love story that probes into the nature of prejudice. Starring Rosalind Russell and Alec Guinness.
Available on Netflix and Treasure Flix.
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Wednesday, 4 February 2009
The Italian
That was how Coco Channel referred to her contemporary, and rival, Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973). Schiaparelli's initial success came with her tromp l'oeil knitted necktie sweater. Such was its popularity, it enabled her to open her first shop in 1927 at 4, rue de la Paix - one of the most fashionable streets in Paris.
It was the manifestation of her belief that it was more important to be creative, outrageous, and fun rather than tasteful that kept the public enthralled. That is, until those qualities were no longer fashionable. Facing financial ruin, Schiaparelli closed her doors in 1954.
The dining room of Schiaparelli's apartment on the boulevard Saint Germain in 1931. The interior having been renovated by Jean-Michel Frank. His design (which illustrated both Schiaparelli's love of colour and her influence with him) was based on the colours of white, yellow, orange, green, and black. White being used for the walls, Tunisian rugs, and the rubberised fabric used for the curtains and the chairs. The divans were done in the same fabric, but in a brilliant green. The small dining tables were of black lacquer with grey streaks.
Schiaparelli's apartment on the rue Barbet-de-Jouy was also decorated by Jean-Michel Frank in 1934.
The living room was furnished with an orange leather sofa and occasional chairs slip-covered in canary and milk-white quilted chintz. The walls were white and almond green.
In the bedroom is the same blistered rayon bark fabric that Schiaparelli used for dresses. White walls and a polar bear rug set off the lavender-blue fabric.
22, rue de Berri an eighteen-room hotel particulier that Schiaparelli purchased in 1937. Both Jean-Michel Frank and Maison Jansen helped with the decoration. The arrangement of Schiaparelli's eclectic furnishings is indicative of the more personal style of the 1930s.
Birth is not the beginning
Death is not the end.
Images from Shocking! The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli
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Tuesday, 3 February 2009
More ways to waste time
Catfish in Black Bean Sauce - Trailer
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Winter warmer
Bisque de homards
Lobster bisque (for a more detailed recipe go to the Noble Pig) - loosely based on a recipe by either Julia Child or Dione Lucas (my go to gals) - in a large saucepan, melt butter. Add shallots, cook until soft. Whisk in flour. Add tomato paste, then the shellfish (chicken will also do) stock. Heat until thick and bubbling. Add sherry and lobster, bring to the boil. Blend. Gradually stir in cream. Simmer and heat thoroughly. Serve.
These would be perfect.
Lot 471
Fine Set of Eight Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Soup Plates, first quarter 20th century, in the 18th-century style, each featuring a different fish or shellfish, each example fully marked and numbered, dia. 10-1/8".
From New Orleans Auction Galleries, Inc.
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No particular reason
The more biddable of the two...
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Monday, 2 February 2009
Ding-dong the bells are going to chime
La Talia is getting married. A simple affair.
Vintage printed Mexican cotton crepe skirt (which has been sent for restoration and alteration) with silver sequins and multicoloured glass beads.
Naturally one would have thought she would want to wear her black patent version of these. Evidently, she thinks them too high. 
Old fashioned rose bouquet in hot Kahlo-esque colours.
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Tango'd
French 1970s moulded plastic sofa by Prevost and Favriau.
Specially commissioned for Neptune Tower Defence, France.
From The Warehouse.
Tango'd
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the Smoke
John Rocque (English, ca. 1705-1762) A Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster and the Borough of Southwark, ca. 1749, first edition, second state, engraved by John Pine and John Tinney, 1745, twenty-four sheets each measuring 26-1/2" x 19", scale 26 inches to one statutory mile, with title cartouche bottom center surmounted by the London arms and flanked by male and female nudes, with scale/legend cartouche bottom left, dedicatory cartouche bottom right and ornamental border, each sheet archivally mounted in a burlwood frame and glazed, 29-1/2" x 25-5/8", the frames interlocking for display purposes. A fine copy of the transitional state as noted by James Howgego in Printed Maps of London, circa 1553-1850, number 96, containing the addition to sheet A2 of Chesterfield House, completed in 1749, but lacking nearby Hill and John Streets. This magnificently displayed lot is accompanied by letters of authenticity dated 1993 from antiquarian book and manuscript dealer Harry Stern, Chicago, Illinois. 
Detail of cartouche
Detail of Bloomsbury section
From New Orleans Auction Galleries, Inc.
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Sunday, 1 February 2009
This good earth
Lot 985
Two Sliced and Polished Ovoid Geode Sections, one exhibiting an irregular crystalline center with a flow line of opaque agate and surrounded by layers of carnelian and micro-crystalline quartz, the other slice taken from an edge of a geode with scattered areas of carnelian and opaque agate in a crystalline matrix, dia. 10-1/4" and 8". 
Lot 982
Rare and Unusual Geode Specimen, the sectioned half of the geode with a gray matrix exterior, sliced to reveal the crystalline interior surrounded by growth band of brown and yellow, presented on a custom steel display stand with gilt spherical feet, h. 10-3/4". 
Lot 986
Pair of Sliced and Polished Agate Geode Sections, of circular form, each exhibiting crystalline centers surrounded by bands of multi-colored agate alternating with bands of light gray micro-crystalline quartz and both having "skins" of weather quartz. dia. 9".
From New Orleans Auction Galleries, Inc.
Sale to be held on 7th Febuary, 2009.
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