WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR VICTORIAN FURNITURE?

The Victorian era is such an odd time period for antique furniture.  Many find the furniture horrid and ugly, while others love it.  And really, the interest in the period only seems to be growing, but it still has a LONG way to go in the respect and price departments when compared to Chippendale or Federal furniture (or pretty much ANY other time period). 

I was recently researching a set of Renaissance Revivial furniture for a client, and was really quite amazed at the vast difference in prices paid for such Victorian furniture.

There were many ebay sofas and chairs going for next to nothing, even several pieces for only a hundred dollars.  And then the more reasonably but still very low priced sets like these ($1300 for the set):

To a set sold at Sotheby's for $4375:

And a top-end set sold at Christies for $13,800:

And while I must agree with many that such furniture might not be the most beautiful ever produced, there really is a certain charm about these pieces.  And as everyone knows, I do enjoy reupholstering old furniture, and think such pieces would be so amazing redone.

And after browsing on 1st dibs a bit, I realized I was not the only one that felt they could revive such revival furniture by reupholstering and refinishing.  And WOW, the prices just skyrocket!

Check out this one (which is not a reproduction, it is a true Victorian chair that has been painted and reupholstered) listed at $3,600 for the one chair:

Or this fancy guy (also a true Victorian) for $2,800 which has been upholstered in black patent leather:

Thinking outside the box a bit with such furniture changes the game entirely and can create really contemporary fun furniture.  However, I can imagine we will one day look back on such alterations to this furniture with utter horror....just as we do now when looking back 100 years ago to our grandparents who refinished all their New England 17th century antiques!  I guess we never change...

KENO FURNITURE

If you are an Antiques Roadshow groupie you likely have heard about Leslie & Leigh Keno's first line of furniture for Theodore Alexander. The furniture is exquisitely simple and elegant, and not (thank god) straight copies of early American furniture. While some are surprised by the styles, I am not. The craftsmanship, beautiful woods, and attention to detail both men find so attractive in early American furniture is very apparent in these pieces. And frankly, having been taught by both at Sotheby's, I know the little secret that both in fact enjoy 20th century furniture quite a bit. Not the standard mid-century Eames type stuff, but instead the sensual Italians, in particular, Carlo Mollino. And the connection between Mollino and the Keno line is obvious. So in my mind, their line is perfect; inspired by the 18th century, sampling from the mid-20th, and looking to creating the next family heirlooms their grandkids can find on Antiques Roadshow one day.
While the line has been covered quite a bit by the design mags like Traditional Home and Interior Design, I have not seen too much on the blogosphere. So here are some samples:

And Mollino?  Anyone agree?

Mollino:

Keno:

Hey, they even rhyme!  Check out the full line here.

BRANCUSI

Today would have been Brancusi's 135th birthday, and as he is one of my favorite sculptors, I thought I would share some of his works.  I was very happy to see him featured on google this morning:

Brancusi was a great modernist sculptor, certainly very influencial on mimimalism.  I just love the simplicity of his forms and their overwhelming grace.  All of his pieces seem so carefully considered and delicate.  How great would it be to have one of his pieces on my coffee table?

Here is the man himself in his studio, which is still in tact and can be visited in Paris right next to the Pompidou Center.

And here is my favorite series- he worked with the egg shape throughout his career and created these wonderfully simple heads, gently resting on their side, in a variety of exquisite materials:

He did many variations on this theme:

Of course he did more than eggs (but I do prefer the egg myself).  He also enjoyed repeating long narrow shapes like his Bird In Flight:

And the famous Endless Column which is a memorial to WWI in Romania, his homeland. 

THANKS AT!

Well, today I feel I have truely entered the design blogosphere.  Apartment Therapy has published my own home!  Please check it out...comments are most welcome!  http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/interior-design/interior-design-decoration-by-christa-pirl-professional-project-139032

And anyone wanting more images of the same project, check out my post from August:  http://christapirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/home-sweet-home.html

And check out other posts about my design projects here:  http://christapirl.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Design%20Projects

GO TO GOOGLE ART PROJECT

Ok, so nothing can replace actually being in one of the world's greatest museums with your nose only an inch from a masterpiece, however, google has created the next best thing. Their recently unveiled 'Google Art Project' is essentially a high res interior version of their street views. This is a most amazing thing. It's not even really worth describing, just go. And enjoy. http://www.googleartproject.com/


The only problem with this?  It makes me really miss being within walking distance to many of these fabulous museums :(