Timeless

A funny thing happened the other day when I read Linda Merrill's blog Surroundings and the post she did here on the Nantucket Home of interior designers Lee Bierly and Christopher Drake featured in New England Home Magazine. I  bought the issue for a closer look at their beautiful home and while thumbing through it, discovered a Connecticut home that Charles Spada had designed twenty years ago, but that he'd recently "refreshed" for the clients. My Charles Spada folder is well stocked with photos of his work and I immediately recognized this bedroom from several years ago...

And here it is in an earlier photo from hgtv's website. The quality of the New England Home photo is much better than hgtv's and the room looks warmer now with a new rug and bed linens including a taupe coverlet. My bedroom needs some sprucing up and the refreshed bedroom has a look I'd like to match--classic style with French flair that will never go out of style.

Top Photo: "New England Home Magazine", July/August 2010 issue. Title of article "Refresher Course". Photo by Bruce Buck. Interior Design & Architecture by Charles Spada. Article text by Stacy Kunstel. Visit the New England Home website for more photos of this home and the article here.

Bottom Photo: hgtv.com. Interior Design & Architecture by Charles Spada. Photographer and writer unknown.

Lovely to look at, delightful to hold...

I received an email update this week from Skinner, Inc. about their upcoming July 10th auction of European Furniture & Decorative Arts. The auction will feature the Wedgwood collection of Joe Skirchak and Pat Cerra. Apparently, Skirchak and Cerra have collected Wedgwood for 30 years and have been dealing in Wedgwood since 1984. According to Skinner's website, the collection "encompasses the full breadth of Wedgwood’s manufacture, the collection numbers approximately 350 lots and includes many fine examples". Here are a few pieces that caught my eye. These items have estimated auction prices of less than $800, but I suspect that the sales prices will far exceed some of the estimates.

Here is the classic Wedgwood Creamware that many of us love so much. These are four 19th Century pieces from England.

I've seen plenty of Cream Ware fruit baskets around, but have never seen any with chocolate brown enamel like this Queen's Ware late 18th century English basket with underplate.

I usually prefer the all white Cream Ware, but this set of Queen's Ware "Mared Pattern Items" from England, late 18th Century each with a blue feather edge and onion border is just beautiful.

This is an 1882 calendar tile with "Bonner's Map of Boston" printed on the reverse. I would love to hang this on my kitchen wall.

A Diceware "coffee can and saucer" with three-color Jasper dip, England mid-19th Century with "green ground with yellow quatrefoils between white foliate banding". Can you imagine sipping your morning coffee from this cup?

I'm drawn to the Wedgwood Terra-Cotta pieces too like this classical English cooler circa 1865.

This English food warmer set from about 1800 looks to be in fine condition.

Above is a Diceware teapot, sadly with broken handle and a Queen's Ware monteith with foliate handles and blue enamel trim. I'm not sure what one does with a monteith (even after a quick Google search), but I'd fill this with soft pink colored peonies and set it on my dining table.

Charming rabbits on "Daisy Makeig Jones Designed items", English 1923.

And lastly, I've never anything like this before. So unusual (to my untrained eye) and elegant. This is a boxed set of George III Silver and Wedgwood Blue-Japser Handled flatware. I'm sure these require hand washing only.

All photos and information from Skinner, Inc. Click to visit the website and register to be notified of upcoming auctions. This is not an advertisement and I'm not affiliated with Skinner, Inc. (although I'm not opposed to the idea). I just like nice things.

Ode to a Dining Room

Image via Antique Shops and Designers Magazine, Volume I. Designer, J. Randall Powers

Photographer, Unknown

Caramel, butterscotch, and gilded arms

Oh, how your parchment painted walls hold such charm

Touches of gold punctuated with green

Old and new together, a lovely scene

No Crate & Barrel nor Pottery Barn, hmmm gosh darn

It's all beyond my budget

But thanks for reading this bit of a yarn

No, it's not bad poetry week in Boston. I'm just fresh out of creative ways to express my admiration for beautiful rooms and the talented designers that create them. Hopefully, you're laughing with me and not at me. And, to view more work of J. Randall Powers, visit his website.