the Victorias: making more Magic-and Legend

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What makes magic? 

There is always a secret trick to magic-sometimes magic happens and it becomes legend-as is the case of the life of the furnishings for a room at Elsie de Wolfe's Villa Trianon.

Maybe it was more Alchemy than Magic.

 an advertisement from the Frederick P Victoria & Son archives 

featuring one of a pair of Italian Blackamoors groups from the Villa's Ballroom

It all began when Stephane Boudin of JANSEN made a suite of pieces for a Circus Ball at the Villa Trianon hosted by Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl. On the night of July 2, 1938-with the Lady as ringmaster, the Circus Ball gave way to one of Elsie's many memorable rooms. 

 Oliver Messel painting of Elsie The Ringmaster

 Elsie in center- between Sir George Clerk (at l)  & her husband, Charles Mendl the night of the Ball

  (images from the Campbell & Seebohm book Elsie de Wolfe A Decorative Life)

In order to accommodate the 700 guests for the Circus Ball an entire wing was added to the Villa Trianon. Boudin-the alchemist- created a dance pavilion with green and white stripe "disappearing" walls opening onto the Villa gardens, matching curtains inspired by the Regency- and that was just the backdrop for the special pieces in the room: banquettes, ottomans, circular seating, blackamoors, parasols, lanterns & trees.

 scenes from the original Ballroom at Villa Trianon, above and below

(above images from Andre Ostier, the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation-and the Sparke book)

(The complexities of the relationship between decorator-Lady Mendl to decorator -JANSEN & Boudin, to hostess -Lady Mendl to patron with the funds- Paul-Louis Weiller are another part of the legend-told best in the definitive book ELSIE de WOLFE The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration by Penny Sparke.)


The next magician to possess the JANSEN CIRCUS pieces was the venerable house of Frederick P. Victoria & Son. Frederick Victoria-the alchemist- opened his legendary antique house in New York just a few years before the Circus Ball & today Frederick son's Tony-and Tony's son Freddie-carry on what began in 1933. 
from their site:
Less well known was the fact that early on the company began to also offer full production capabilities to its top clients. These services included bespoke cabinetry, metalwork, finishing and upholstery to achieve the precise, and sometimes ambitious, results desired by its clients. After WWII, both the antique collections and the custom work of the company continued to earn a respected reputation. While clients included well respected families, artists and royalty, the company continued to focus on delivering the finest quality pieces and services, and for at least one client went so far as to keep the client’s actual name from its own workers.

A Conversation with Tony Victoria:

When did Frederic P. Victoria acquire the pieces from Elsie's legendary Villa Trianon pavilion? What were the circumstances of the acquisition? 

TV:The house in Versailles was kept intact for years after she died by I believe a friend. Don’t remember his name. However in the early 80’s the Circus Room was offered for sale in one lot, if my memory serves, in Paris by Maitre Ader, I believe.

I heard about the sale, bought it and shipped all the elements back to my shop on 55^th street.

 images from Frederick P. Victoria & Son of  archives of the Ballroom at their shop

showing the contents of the Ballroom after they were purchased at auction. 

Everything minus the central planter,the planters on either side of the sofa & the “snail” stove behind the sofa, is from Elsie’s Villa Trianon room.

Did you purchase them with a particular client in mind or was it one of those –I just have to have those moments? 

TV: I did not have a specific client in mind. I had heard Elsie’s name since my childhood. She would send these rather bizarre Christmas cards: a photo with her head resting like a sculpture on a small marble pedestal which itself was on usually a mantle piece with writing in white wishing my Father and Mother Merry Christmas. So when it came up, I was drawn to it. Besides, there were so many amusing elements that I felt I could find homes for all of them. And, I did.

Was it frenzied buying as I might imagine it would be today?

 

TV: I don’t remember too much about the auction itself. I don’t believe it was a “frenzied“ affair. Elsie de Wolfe’s name did not have the cachet in France then I don’t believe that is does, especially now, in America.

The room itself was quite expensive for the time, so after that lot I folded my own tent, as it were.

 

image from the Victoria archives

What was the condition of the pieces? What were the banquettes upholstered in? Was there a great deal of restoration to these and other pieces from the room? 

TV: As I remember it all the upholstered pieces were upholstered in white canvas with green trim, a sort of signature combination for her. I did not recover anything, as for the most part everything was in presentable condition.

Freddie mentioned several things about the room in our conversation–the beautiful naturalistic lanterns and also mentioned of “Making that full-round tree for Michael Taylor . It has to have been one of my father's favorite projects.”   

How did you do it? 

Did you make the new one with the same materials-and what were they?

  

TV: As for making the tree for Michael, well one couldn’t say no to him, could one?

Plus he was buying a large chunk of the room, especially the trees which, while amusing, required a certain level of imagination, not to mention courage, to buy. As you know, he had both in depth.

As for favorite project, well I am not sure that I would use that term. 

Certainly it was one of the craziest and most challenging of my career. I have always said that we, the firm, were ready to make anything for anyone. Little did I know that that would include a tree! The trunk was made in solid wood and somehow I was able to cajole my metal fabricator to make dozens of hand hammered leaves which he then affixed to metal stems. We then painted the leaves etc and then bent the stems and placed them we thought in more or less natural positions and groupings.

 (Tony Victoria graciously answered these questions after a story I published on designer Michael Taylor here about the Garden Room he designed for Mrs. Stanley Dollar)  

Frederick P Victoria & Son, Inc. their own blog here

Michael Taylor stories at little augury here

Elsie de Wolfe stories here

Frederick P Victoria & Son stories here

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making magic

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Michael's Way

 The Garden Room of Mrs. Stanley Dollar decorated by Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor found the naturalistic white metal banquette and pouf  for this room at Frederick P. Victoria & Son- along with other pieces for the Garden Room.  Four full scale metal trees- 3 made by Jansen- were added to the room- Victoria making the fourth. Elsie de Wolfe had purchased the forest from Jansen for her 1938 Circus Ball held at her Villa Trianon at Versailles. Both the designer and the client were enchanted by the idea of pulling the white trees into the room -setting the magic that their towering presence must have made.

some things-I never forget.
a room so exquisite, so beautiful- You see it. You don't forget. Many things you do.This you don't.
Design stagnates, it lags.
Some designers are good, some are very good- some are excruciatingly great.
Michael Taylor was.
He was- one of those great designers that could create a uniquely beautiful room-an unforgettable one. He knew where design originated, where it had been. This was just one of the small-but crucial elements that gave him that edge-that would give anyone an edge.

Yes, his clients were rich, but they recognized a spark- a brilliant spark.
This one was that brilliant spark- One we never should forget. This room was too- it was his.
He made magic.



and it's not easy to make, ask her.

 before I read the charming words of Hamish Bowles-another magic maker-
I spotted Magic.



Hamish Bowles from a Lunch Celebrating... here

Chilled pea soup was served in little ramekins in the conservatory. It matched perfectly the moss-green cushions on the Jansen banquettes (you will remember these from Elsie de Wolfe's Circus Ball), and indeed the bright green moss bedding out the exuberant potted succulents. That is the fastidious attention to detail of the Trevor Trainas for you.

Elsie's Way

the Triana Way

The conservatory of Trevor and Alexis Traina

The home of the Triana's has been decorated with the assistance of Alexis Triana's godfather, Thomas Britt, and family friend Ann Getty. Ann Getty has added these special seating pieces to her ANN GETTY HOUSE collection. I love the little benches.



seating by Ann Getty House here

Yes! of course-all inspired by Michael Taylor.
the pillows-Michael Taylor.
the  apple green- Michael Taylor
and the settees-Michael Taylor.
and the Magic- it reflects design history, but it's fresh.


when the clients do the homework- it has to be unforgettable.



in green below- excerpts from Hamish Bowle's Ode to Love in  Vogue here

The Trainas also looked to some iconic tastemaking neighbors for inspiration. It is an impressive roster. There is madcap Dodie Rosenkranz, whose villa was decorated by Michael Taylor in a style that Britt characterizes as "palace in Calcutta."

Trevor in turn applauds his wife's "fabulous and whimsical eye," informed by legendary decorators including Tony Duquette, Michael Taylor, and Thomas Britt.

Trevor's childhood homes were concocted by his vivacious mother, Dede Wilsey, in collaboration with the innovative Michael Taylor—dramatically pretty backdrops for dramatically pretty Impressionists.


another Taylor post-and the Dollar rooms happen to be my favorite of all the designer - here.
another  Frederick P. Victoria story here
more LINKS-
Ode to Joy by Hamish Bowles at Vogue.com here
San Francisco Luxury Living. com here
Ann Getty House here
Frederick P. Victoria and Son here


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Love Affair with a room

How long can you hold on to a page from a magazine- after it loses its corners, clipped and otherwise? Is that 20 years?
Longer, So long I don't know just how long. 25?

this is a special one-it is my Love Affair with a Room tear sheet.
from a Christmas issue (think House Beautiful) of the Victorias- that is FREDERICK P VICTORIA & SON'S-family home. The cabinet maker and antiquarian dealer has a long standing reputation in the design community for crafting exquisitely made furniture. It is a family business.

A must read- here from Ronda Carman about Freddie Victoria, his role in the business and the influence of his parents, Tony & Susan. The room I still refer to-that I have long loved  is that of Freddie Victoria's parents.

In his comments to Ms Carman he describes his parents as yin and yang with-

"one being more whimsical and the other more classic. But from both I have learned the importance of craft and the appeal of uniqueness. Attention to detail and craft are the starting points of the value people place on things. They both have a very well trained eye for style and each is different. I didn’t always understand what they saw in certain pieces, but that has changed and I am learning a bit more each day."

What I find so very fascinating about this- it Perfectly describes why I am so drawn to the room.

what I LOVE and continue to seek in my own rooms and those of my clients-  
Comfort, Louis XV furniture, Quilts, Upholstered Headboards, Luxury Textiles, Blue, Red, Pink, Chinese porcelains, personal photographs, fresh flowers... & a cat.
What's Not to Love?




VISIT :
the Frederick Victoria home from All the Best & House and Garden 1984 here
the FREDERICK P VICTORIA business  here
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Bespoke Taylor

When I started paying close attention to interior design, I was drawn to the work of Michael Taylor. With the forthcoming book MICHAEL TAYLOR- INTERIOR DESIGN (more images at 1st dibs-in "required reading",) by Stephen M. Salny -here are the rooms I pulled from pages of his many House and Garden features. Taylor was featured on the cover fifteen times.

According to Dorothea Walker writer of one of these many features, her's called "Taylor Made", Cecil Beaton once asked her "How is the best decorator in the United States doing?" After she guessed several premiere designers, Beaton said "No, no. Michael Taylor. He's the innovative one. An original."

I know this book will cover all of Taylor's revolutionary design work and I can not wait to get my copy. I will still hang on to these pages- for me they distill the brilliance of Taylor and inspired me.

Taylor believed-" If the furniture is all too ornate or all too primitive, the room is wrong. It is contrast that brings things excitingly alive." And as to color, "there is a tremendous amount of color in my rooms, but there are not many colors." Taylor is known for creating the California Look," using natural materials, bringing the outdoor sculptural stone inside. Taylor seemed at his genius best when he combined these elements with haute couture-like fabrics and period antiques, as seen in the following photographs.

Taylor's famed ALL WHITE in a Garden Room. The room contains pieces from Elsie de Wolfe's ballroom.

A Syrie Maugham sofa design in yellow Thai silk, along with eight panel Coromandel screen. This San Francisco home was one of Taylor's last projects. The yellow is a brilliant choice for the Coromandel screen. They were made for each other.

The Room in Full

An iconic Michael Taylor living room in San Francisco. Here Taylor combines it all- the 18th century Aubusson rug came from Peru, the Louis XVI chairs from Michael Taylor. The curved sofa- another Syrie Maugham design covered in a Brunschwig velvet. The stripe silk taffeta curtains are a Scalamandre stripe.

More of the same room with a pair of lacquered altar tables. More Yellow, More Green, More Taylor.