The girl next door

The Pickled Hutch
1605 Church Street at 28th Street
415-641-8875


A treasure trove of bygones and delights


Finds for the garden


Love the awkwardness of the figure in this painting

That is, if your door is in San Francisco's Noe Valley. This shop, to me, is so quintessentially San Francisco. The San Francisco of Armstead Maupin's Tales of the City. The San Francisco before the Silicon Valley boom. The San Francisco before the Stud moved to 9th Street...
Shops like this, and their owners, should be encouraged and nurtured; especially in times like these.

"FOR THOSE WHO FIND BEAUTY IN THE UNUSUAL AND THE EVERYDAY OF YESTERYEAR"

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The Naturalist Collector

The house of Emma Hawkins as it appeared in Tatler, photographs by Simon Upton.

Emma Hawkins is the pre-eminent dealer of Victorian natural history, the Scottish representative for BADA, and a long time exhibitor at the June Olympia. She is also featured in the Caroline Clifton-Mogg book, A Passion For Collecting.
Hers is a mis en scene spanning the 19th Century; with fine furniture as a foil to the rare and the unusual of the natural world.
Unlike the late comers to the world of collecting natural history Ms Hawkins is concerned with authenticity and originality. For her it is a love, rather than a fashion.


A Victorian Blackcock mounted by Peter Spicer of Leamington English circa 1900


A rosewood Gueridon with Jurassic period marble top, with moulded edge and stepped frieze above a turned baluster column with stylised lotus circlet and four scrolled and channelled cabriole legs with spherical feet.


An unusual cave containing Seahorses and starfish in their mock natural habitat created by papier machie. (Seahorses live in deep waters, common on S.Coast of Biscay & Further south in the Mediterranean, but rare in Britain. They do, however breed in great numbers around the Channel Isles.) English circa 1890.

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Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world...

they walk into mine.

What is it with people? I can't work out if they are thick skinned, arrogant, or just plain stupid.

1) This morning I opened an email from none other than the Doctor's wife -

We are back in Dallas and wondered if you heard anything about getting proper papers to ship us the Blue Footed Booby (+ 2 smaller birds) case.

I also want to, once again, apologize for my haste in purchasing the Rhinoceros Hornbill skull, without first checking to see if one was already in my sizable collection. It was good of you to return the money.

With thanks and kindest regards,


Buceros rhinoceros - Rhinoceros Hornbill
© University of Amsterdam

Does this woman honestly think I bought her story? Of the 45 different species of Hornbills, this is among the rarest and most memorable. If one has an example, one would know. I can't help but wonder if her friend the other natural history dealer's example was as good as ours. I'm sure it was cheaper, but was it better?
Does she think I am going to waste any more of my time contacting our shipper, after already wasting 2 hours going to her hotel to drop off her refund?


2) A collector that I dubbed the Weasel years ago when we first started, turned up today. The Weasel is the type of person who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. The worst type of collector, and the reason I make it a point not to deal with them. When we were first starting out, he was desperate to get our best pieces for nothing. An insinuating, opportunistic parasite. I simply ignored him, because if I had engaged him, I knew I would have ended up swinging for him (an English expression for being hanged for murder).
Today he had the gall to ask about our Indian Rhinoceros. I simply told him it wasn't for sale. True to form, he insisted I take his name and number should anything change.
Did he think I had forgotten him? Or, did he just underestimate how much one person could possibly loathe another?


3) Now for an item more than a few people, including the American family who misheard the price and thought it was 1,800 and not the 5,800 it is priced, have wasted my time on.
Our lion-skin rug, a true relic of England's colonial past and the once trophy of Gentleman Jim Corbett. After already having given him the price and a great deal of shifting things around so Mr Smooth could have a better look - I am informed I will have to do much better on the price. Better being 1/3 off of what I originally quoted.
Like the Doctor's wife, Mr Smooth is waiting for a call to let him know what I have decided.

My Grandmother had a saying, "that, and God's face you will never see."


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VD

Selection of Peter Beals' Classic Roses

I have always had a weakness for old fashioned roses. Only one thing could make me happier, and that would be a gardener to tend them.

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A stich in time

Detailed photographs, by Jean Louis Garnell, of Christian Berard's creation for the vestibule at Guerlain's Institute of Beauty as they appeared in the article Eye of the Needle, by Mitchell Owens for Nest, Issue 6.

What is often mistaken for as an example of painted tromp l'oiel is in fact an example of the finest appliqué work. Grosgrain ribbon and pieces of silk in shades of lilac, chocolate, black, and white which are all deftly applied to saffron velvet create the Neoclassical illusion. While the composition bears all the hallmarks of a Berard, it was in fact worked by the seamstress Margarita Classen-Smith.

This is the epitome of great decorating. Merely understanding a technique is not enough, having the courage and the foresight to use it - and convincing the client that it must be done - that is where the greatness really lies.

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Garouste et Bonetti

Chair, 1992 Garouste et Bonetti


Desk and chair, Blome residence 1992


Grand bureau, 1987 Garouste et Bonetti


Belgravia cabinet 1989, Elisabeth Garouste


Kawakubo chest, 1994 Elisabeth Garouste


Table 'Abyss' , 2004 Mattia Bonetti

I first encountered the design team* of Garouste et Bonetti on my first decorating project. It was love at first sight. I adore the artisanal. I found their neo-barbaric pieces captivating and timeless, not unlike Bronze Age artefacts. Alas, nothing lasts forever, Garouste et Bonetti have gone their separate ways. Mattia Bonetti and Elisabeth Garouste now work separately; their individual perspectives are now more evident.

Unfortunately those who love this type of work, seem to do so exclusively. I prefer to see these works as part of a greater whole (i.e. the David Whitney Collection), rather than as merely a display of artisanal furniture.

*This is a correction of the previous information that Garouste et Bonetti were a husband and wife team. Which was a surprise to me as I thought until a few years ago they were both women.
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Derek

Derek Jarman Blue, 1993

The Serpentine Gallery will be showing Derek Jarman Curated by Isaac Julien, 23 February - 13 April 2008.

"The exhibition will mark the premiere of Julien’s new film about Jarman, Derek, at the centre of which is a day-long interview Jarman recorded in 1990. The film includes a narration by Tilda Swinton and clips of Jarman’s films, juxtaposed with news and footage of the current affairs from the times that his life illuminated. It is a film of Jarman’s life as well as the story of England from the 1960s to the 1980s."

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blue experiment 5

Heaven of Delight

The Hall of Mirrors, or the Congo Room as it was also known, in the Palace of Brussels was commissioned by King Leopold II.
He died before the room could be completed; leaving the ceiling unfinished. Under the patronage of HM Queen Paola of Belgium the ceiling was finaly completed in 2002. The first addition to the Palace since Rodin's reliefs in the 19th Century, is the work of Flemish artist Jan Fabre.

Heaven of Delight, an homage to one of Fabre's greatest inspirations - the 15th century gothic fantasy artist Hieronymous Bosch who produced The Garden of Earthly Delights - is a mosaic made up entirely of beetles. It took four months for 29 of Fabre's assistants to glue the gleaming shells of 1.6m jewel scarabs to the ceiling and four years to prepare the installation, which is permanent.

The beetles are not just glued randomly but are based on a detailed design by Fabre. Birds' wings, giraffes' legs and salamanders' eyes can all be discerned in the creation, as can the letter 'P' for Queen Paola who succumbed to years of lobbying and gave Fabre carte blanche. The use of beetles is no coincidence but strongly connected to Belgium's controversial colonial history.

It has been hailed in Belgian art circles as one of the most important works of the new century.

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Have a gander

at Gander International Airport. Now, the forgotten airport, but once the centre of transatlantic travel. The terminal, a design masterpiece that showcased the best of Canadian design, was officially opened by HRM Queen Elizabeth II in 1959.

Photographs: Aerial view and Gander Airport (I, II, III) by Simon Norfolk

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House of Leigh

photographs by D. Jones and Tim Bauer

Leigh Bowery in his council flat, Farrell House, London. It may not have been salubrious, but it was certainly as original as its creator. How they managed not to get bashed coming and going I will never understand.

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Blame Judy

Original Blitz Kid, legendary stylist and designer Judy Blame.
Whether styling for i-D, creating accessories for John Galliano at Dior, or creating for his own label at Rei Kawabuko's Dover Street Market Blame has always stood apart for his ability to create iconic pieces that capture the spirt of the moment.

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