Hermes Scarves

Hermes Classic Design: Part I

Recently, I was lucky to find 11 vintage Hermes scarves in perfect condition. They were previously owned and worn by one of the most beautiful and stylish person that I have ever known. Perfect taste and a classic mid-century style was how I remember her. Allison was her name and I will write more about her in a later post.

That Allison had fabulous style is evident by the scarves she purchased from Hermes from the 50s through the late 70s. Some of the most elaborate designs were created by artists for Hermes in the early 60s. Exotic, with surprising details, they illustrates why Hermes scarves were sought after and worn by royalty and style makers alike. Queen Elizabeth II and Jackie Onassis are two names that come to mind.

According to a recent issue of Vogue, fashionable women are not just wearing scarves tied around their necks, but they are tying them on their purse or turning them into a purse. My all-time favorite way to wear a Hermes scarf is to tie it into a halter top. Worn with a great pair of pants, it is a fabulous summer look.  I have a vague memory of wearing a scarf of my Mother's tied into a halter in the 70s.  

All of the scarves shown below can be found on my website within the next few weeks. Note the amazing details. 

www.VandM.com/gabrielgibson

 Tahiti 

Navy, taupe and creamy white

Louis xiv 

Aren't you just dying to see the entire design?

Turquoise, gold and gray- a magnificent color scheme

This border design is so classical and reminds me of images in the design guides published in the late18th and early 19th centuries.

Early 60s design

This one is in the richest rust. I can see it worn with a beautiful creamy-colored wool dress, perhaps a vintage dress by Norrell or Scassi.

My favorite image on this scarf.

Riding a dolphin!

Is it surrealism?

The designer signature

Photographs by Nancy Gibson

Heavy Metal Lust

Rediscovery Frank Rebajes

Below is my article for DESIGNinTELL @VandM.com

on the fabulous mid-century artist Frank Rebajes. His work is everywhere, but always look for the mark because he was heavily reproduced. Also, below is a rare bracelet with earrings (not shown) worked in sterling silver. It is for sale at my store Gabriel Gibson Decorative Arts-link below.

http://designintell.vandm.com/2011/07/heavy-metal-lust/

http://vandm.com/Rare-Sterling-Silver-Rebajes-Bracelet-With-Earrrings/3_266_product=158631.aspx

The Clockwatcher: An 18th Century Status Symbol Gets Its Due

by Nancy Gibson

Inspired by the opulence of 18th century France and the Court of Versailles, wealthy Americans of the 18th and 19th centuries coveted all things French. From richly-colored-plate-printed textiles to classical marble statuary, French luxury goods, a sure sign of status, were imported into the United States in abundance.

Especially prized were the classically designed French mantle (or shelf) clocks crafted in bronze ormolu, marble, porcelain and wood. Mantle clocks replaced tall case clocks as the go-to timepiece in fashionable America homes by the 19th century. Those decorated in the classical style–think Greek and Roman figures–were the most sought after.

Americans traveling abroad brought mantle clocks back with recorded regularity and others placed them at the top of their list when ordering from their overseas agents. American merchants traveled to France to select the very best mantle clocks made by the most skilled craftsmen to ship back to the United States in order to satisfy the taste of their most demanding customers. Probate inventories often list mantle clocks as one of the most expensive items found in the home, and newspaper advertisements confirm that they indeed were quite costly. Not just for the mantle, these clocks were also found on pier tables another luxury good decorating early American homes.

Most mantle clocks were made with brass or wood movements, key wound with swinging pendulums, and were 30 hour or 8 day clocks. American clockmakers didn’t reproduce the style until Eli Terry (1772-1852) of Connecticut began mass-producing them for a burgeoning middle class market.

Why They Are Worth The Price:
1. French bronzes are considered by connoisseurs to be the finest in the world
2. Each clock was designed and assembled by a number of highest-skilled artisans. It was a time-consuming process that took several skilled artisans to complete.
3. The bronze decoration was elaborately detailed and overly splendid.
4. English, European, and Russian royalty collected French bronze mantle clocks.
5. Their movements were made by the finest clock makers of the period.
6. Today, many still retain their original bronze.

Good to Know:1.Decorative and functional, mantle clocks were the most popular form of clock found in 19th century American homes
2. One of the best bronze foundries of his time, Frenchman Victor Paillard (1805-1886) ran a bronze foundry that employed close to 100 people by the mid-19th century, and worked for some of the finest cabinetmakers in France. His mantle clocks are highly collectible and sought after.
3. Eli Terry (1772-1852) mass-produced the first affordable wooden shelf clock made with interchangeable parts.
4. Simon Willard (1753-1848) inventor of the Banjo clock also popularized shelf clocks in Massachusetts.
5. The clock faces were commonly made of porcelain or enamel.
6. Some mantle clocks had calendars inserted into their clock faces.

Very rare antique French LXVI style dore bronze boar clock with porcelain face.  Circa 1820.  

 John J. Nelson Antiques

French Severe porcelain clock with dore bronze decoration. Keys inclued.  Base is 9.5'' square.  19th century. John J. Nelson Antiques

This article was reproduced from DESIGNinTELL at www.vandm.com. All clocks can be purchased from VandM.com.

On Collecting

I wonder if collecting is genetic? I am pretty sure it can be learned. Since I am a collector and love flea markets, especially those really scary ones on out-of-the-way highways, I had to encourage my kids to collect so they wouldn't moan and groan when forced to accompany me to flea markets on our annual summer vacation. Some years, it was Maine, on the road between Bath and Wiscasset and other years it was that long flat highway heading into Seaside, Florida. They were troopers. Ultimately, only one child caught the bug.

The child collector began with acorns and graduated to toy weapons. He got as far as a small BB gun and moved on. Whew! That was close.

The young collector never let me throw anything away. Is another name for collecting, hoarding? Maybe. It runs in the family. His grandmother is a hoarder. For years we blamed the Depression. Eighty-six-years old and she collects junk mail. In a plastic bag it goes, and like a drug addict hiding weed, it gets stashed anywhere and everywhere. Behind the bed, the TV-every surface in the house is covered. Even in the bathroom. It is amazing where you will find these bags.

Now, the collecting gene has passed to another generation. The young collector's son, now 8 years old, has been bitten. Just like the young collector he began with toy guns.

Last Thanksgiving we had a guest from London with us. He, like most 20-somethings from London, think all Americans have guns and are gun crazy. Even though we told him our house was a no-gun zone, I doubt he believed us. We had guns everywhere. Tiny, less than an inch toy guns on a shelf in a bedroom, squirt guns of all sizes on end tables, in baskets of towels in the bathrooms, on the stair landing, and on floor-everywhere. It was so embarrassing.  

Although he seems top be growing out of the gun phase and acorns aren't his thing, he is definitely a collector.

Well, you will see.

  

"Granny, I need a real big basket," he said. "Why?" I asked.
"I have some things to put in it." "What kind of things?"

"Lots of things."

A 1938 French Wallpaper Book and The Kings Speech

Colin Firth as King George VI. From The King's Speech

I recently saw The King's Speech and was fascinated with the wallpaper. In fact, some have called the wall in Lionel Logue's office a character all by itself. I agree. But, my favorite was the wallcoverings in the rest of his home and elsewhere. They reminded me of something I had seen before.

Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech

Last year I purchased a French wallpaper sample book from a dealer of French decorative arts. I couldn't resist it-imagine my delight when I realized the front cover was dated 1938. The cover was a little worn, otherwise everything was intact. 

The art director for the movie could have used the patterns in the book as inspiration for the set design.
Take a look.

You can barely see the gold stamped "1938."

Following are some of the hundreds of patterns in this very heavy book.

Complex pattern

WOW!

My favorite.

Reminds me of an art quilt.

This one looks like a linoleum pattern.

Another one perfect as a floor covering.

Linoleum!

I think these flowers are particularily fabulous!

Soft and exquisite.

Iconic!

I call this one "I think my grandmother had this on her bedroom walls."

What a color combination. Elegant and cool!

On the wall this will read as a solid red.

Another iconic pattern

I am still trying to figure out if that is a helicopter at the top right.

Looks familiar-iconic French children's illustration.

Hare, dead or alive

.

Marie Antoinette?

It cannot be French without a toile.

Love the wallpaper inset into the picture frame molding.

Very Elsie De Wolfe.

The Chase. There is always a chasse!

The Price List

The End

If you are interested in purchasing this book, check out

www.vandm.com/gabrielgibson

http://vandm.com/My-Dashboard/French-Wallpaper-Sample-Book-Sanitex-Dated-1938/19_260_dealer=78503_product=138890.aspx

Photography by Valerie Hutnan