Grandville for 2 Grande dames

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 "JJ Grandville" was in fact Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard- the Grandville was his grandparents' stage name. The caricature drawings of Grandville are still recognized and admired today for their distinctive style. The primary work that brought Grandville into fashion was called Les Métamorphoses du jour (1828–29) Most well known for his anthropomorphic drawings of  animals going about daily human tasks, after their publication, Grandville became sought after as illustrator & satirist.

What first interested me in the Grandville drawings is the great embroidered tableskirt Nancy Lancaster created for her drawing room and continued to use as she moved from house to house. Her daughter in law -Anne Tree- "inherited" the whimsical piece from Nancy Lancaster and placed it in her drawing room at Shute House- referring to it as a "winner."
I couldn't agree more! 

Nancy Lancaster's Haseley Court Grandville tableskirt

 photograph of the Grandville tableskirt from The Englishwoman's House

Nancy Lancaster  introduced the witty felt embroidered tableskirt with animals dressed in 18th & 19th century costumes into her formal rooms at Ditchley. One of the figures is Madame de Pompadour dressed in fashion with a goat's head atop her shoulders from J J Grandville's drawing in  LES SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE ET PUBLIQUE DES ANIMAUX. The inclusion of the table in Nancy's room at Ditchley and subsequently reappearing in her Saloon at Haseley Court in 1954 says a great deal about Lancaster's ideas about the bon ton. The Grandville embroidery also tell us Nancy Lancaster got it right the first time & continually used the favorite pieces in her collections, recycled and reinvented them in new settings.

This is a philosophy that more design aspirants should follow-

Serebriakoff painting of Lancaster's interior

Just recently in reading about the Duchess of Devonshire's new home, the Old Vicarage,Edsenor in the World of Interiors- I spied  a similar tableskirt with JJ Grandville animal caricatures promenading around it. This piece was embroidered by  the volunteers of Chatsworth.

Now-I'm thinking,
I could have what Nancy had.
What the Duchess has.
I could have a JJ Grandville skirt- skirted table that is-maybe not embroidered-(no volunteers) though my mother and I have done some stitching in the past-but a painted one! My mother paints, and quite well.

Now all I have to do is talk her into it- that's another story.



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A MIN!

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 "some old HOGG-I don't know who."

along with other paper treasures, pear shaped objects

and African lacquer boxes.

don't we all have our heroes? mine tend to be less caped and masked- and more well draped, swagged or spoken. One, greatly admired, is MIN HOGG. Her WORLD OF INTERIORS  magazine is coveted by designers and design aficionados. Though she is no longer editor-WOI will always be hers. Imagine, when I went through The English Woman's Bedroom by Elizabeth Dickson, with beautiful photographs by Lucinda Lambton, and found MIN's 1985 flat. Yes, it was 25 years ago- and no doubt things have changed,( WOI published her London flat in 1996-i think, but have yet to get my hands on a copy), but still, it is MIN & the chapter on her flat is a treasure. She airs her original ideas about home, House Freaks (her words) and her craft.

What did MIN have to say? Amusingly ,MIN, as she writes about her flat- admits the cozy decorations Lambton photographed are now under major renovations. Sadly she sat in a rented one-pinning  away for home, longing for the beautiful bedroom-that was being sacrificed- in hopes of building improvements. Since the inception of WORLD OF INTERIORS in 1981, travel was mandatory for MIN HOGG. She, like many, found herself longing for the comforts of home-"pictures, sheets and above all bed-springs."

 MIN - a quick change artist with the headboard fabric,

switching it out often. Collecting textiles-an addiction-

Not to mention talking on the phone (2 phones sit to the right

of the bed) Dinner, staying at home nights find MIN
tucked IN &  command central is bed.

She goes on to "confess a chronic capacity to clutter things up," a habit starting in art school. She carried her clutter with her to "a secluded garden square within spitting distance of Harrods." Here she indulged in making her bedroom the centre of her living space. One potential inspiration for her digs was F.W. Elwell's The First Born- a painting she considers the definitive cottage bedroom.

for your own inspiration-
The First Born

(image from here), Elwell's painting is tucked into

bottom right(center) of some old HOGG"S frame in the
1st picture of this post

MIN also confesses to being a procrastinator-(we are sounding more and more alike ), but lacking a "half tester bed, no rose chintz, no suitable ottoman or rush seated chair-let alone a fresh faced young father by my side," the lady moved on!  

"The walls were painted one shade, the ceiling another, woodwork and doors a combination of all three. Although in no time the subtleties of my three toned room had merged into what looked like a single colour, I have never regretted that pink. Good by day and, with shiny pink card lampshades, good by night."


The dressing table is a long wallpaperer's trestle with shortened legs a gathered skirt in red and white striped sari cotton, made by MIN's Mom.

Clever, simple beautifully laid out bordered dressing table

MIN holds court, as it were, in her robe- television, telephones, a drink, newspapers, magazines and books are right at her fingertips- her writing of articles is done in bed too. She entertains here too-there are complaints-"but on the whole it is rather a lark. When the present building work is finished  and I can return home, far from branching out into a spanking new kind of decoration, I expect I shall put it all back exactly as it was."

  

today's MIN HOGG
image from here

From th Independent uk (1997)

With the exception of Min Hogg, grande dame of Conde Naste's The World of Interiors, I known of no confirmed cases where editors have put their own homes on display to their readers. The writer commissioned to do the job (he was "honoured", he said, "but wary") fawned his way through the piece - describing Min as "kind and crusty in almost equal measure" and her "dec" home as a "riot of high-class clutter" - while trotting out a disclaimer of sorts. "This is a desperate measure to get more colour into the April issue."

Ms Hogg was quoted as saying that, "it's bloody hard to find exciting new houses in Britain." Yes, but magazine editors, all of them bloody fussy, are not easily turned on. "Oh dear, what a pity about those dreadful lampshades," they might say, when presented with snapshots of a proud home owner's sterling efforts in the interior design department. "Mmm, we might just get away with it with a bit of styling .
from a 2007 Telegraph uk story: "Given her reputation and noted expertise, it came as a shock to the interior design world when Hogg announced last November that she was resigning as editor of the magazine that she launched from these very rooms in 1981. Although the upmarket publication sells a modest 65,000 each month, its influence is enormous and its ideas and concepts are much copied."..."A visionary editor of the old school, Hogg always refused to have anything to do with focus groups or marketing ideas and her abrupt voluntary departure seemed as unlikely as the Queen Mother suddenly announcing she didn't want to be royal any more. Despite protestations from her Conde Nast bosses Si Newhouse and Nicholas Coleridge, Hogg - who says that she is in excellent health - was still determined to leave."
& just a note on World of Interiors, 2001 here
I find wonderful articles in CORNUCOPIA written by MIN HOGG, one of her favourite magazines
her Canary Islands house was published in WOI as well as that elusive flat-

seeing red

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 There are friends-the ones you reconnect with on facebook after twenty years, and there are friends You trust with your Life- the ones you seek out for decorating advice. There is a difference-and Here, it would seem it's the expanse of a REDer than RED wash of a wooden floor. A RED that is- in fact- Benjamin Moore's Carnival Red 'Porch and Deck Enamel.' The owner of the charming Hampton's cottage took a friend's advice. Paint the porch red. It would seem the homeowner- William Diamond- design partner of Diamond and Baratta-trusts his one time design partner Pauline Feldman, with his Life.

(both photos from WoI Jan2010 by Simon Upton)

 

Diamond did it. The results are eye popping-writer Carol Prisant describes it as the sort of RED "that makes UPS drivers drop there boxes." (WoI January2010)

The porch floors are a roaring success- Diamond love them. It never hurts to ask a friend's advice about your design challenges-Just be sure You trust them with your LIFE.

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holding court at Cornbury Park: Fowler-then and now Part II

When John Fowler was called by the 2nd Lady Rotherwick and her Lord, the Prince of Decorators was winding down a brilliant career. The year was 1967, Fowler retired 4 years later- leaving-according to biographer Martin Wood- his best, most stellar, work. Wood says John Fowler was at his peak, the interiors 'are more flamboyant, perhaps a touch more theatrical and certainly more sumptuous.' Who am I to argue?

the Drawing Room

done in a scheme of blue, the walls are covered with a damask-a greyed blue (though appearing golden in the photograph below)-shown in the detailed photograph above. the curtains are dominating presence in the room are worthy of a Dior ball gown. one touch Fowler added to the room was a cream geometric carpet that is still a part of the room.

the Drawing Room still has all of Fowler's grandeur intact. Details I love are the small tables about the room, the large lamps, family photographs and the mirror placed in between the two windows, a tight fit -but perfectly placed.

John Fowler had decorated the previous home of the new Cornbury owners, Bletchington Park, and the Lady was quite happy there- but apparently the shooting at Cornbury Park was a draw for Lord Rotherwick. Along with architect Philip Jebb, Fowler set about making some drastic alterations to the downstairs main hall in order to add some upstairs bedrooms. The double height halls were done away with for this purpose,creating a more intimate Main Hall.


the Main Hall

the 3rd Lord Rotherwick with his son at Cornbury Park 

(image from Tatler, oct 2009)

The current residents are the 3rd Lord Rotherwick and his lively , lovely family. Lady Rotherwick, Tania, breathed life back into Fowler interiors- and having a family of teens and toddlers helps. She says 'It's so amazing you literally can't change anything. The most I've been able to do is put a bunch of flowers in a vase and decorate my own study.'  More about what the Lady really does at the end of this post. The Tatler is filled with photographs of the residents and the interiors that Fowler designed for the present owner's parents. Richard Dennen's article Cornbury Takes Off  is a fantastic peak into the 17 room mansion.

family photos in the Tatler

below-a page from the Tatler story, 

the Cornbury Master Bedroom (left)

the Bletchington Room (right) 

& the Buchan Room (lower left)

The rooms of Cornbury's debut in print was nearly forty years after Fowler completed the project. Published in the 2008 December World of Interiors magazine, Cornbury appears pristine. As if the designer had worked with the current Lady of the manor, the rooms have a luxurious elegance, a freshness, a traditional stately quality. Stephen Calloway saw the rooms in 2008-and with photographer Anthony Crolla-recorded these magnificent rooms for the magazine. I doubt these rooms could be created today by any designer working. (Oh but of course-Nicholas Haslam!) The attention to quality and the details Fowler laboured over do not exist in the pages of today's magazine rooms. As Stephen Calloway explains- unlike the designers of today, Fowler maintained complete discretion where his clients were concerned and respected the privacy they demanded. This discretion left Cornbury's rooms undocumented. Most designer's today insist on their rights to photograph their work.

Cornbury is full of Fowler surprises. The beds at Cornbury are truly ships of state, trimmed, decked, fringed and beautifully swathed. Stephen Calloway calls Fowler's treatment of the bedrooms to be his 'Mannerist sensibility in full play, creating startling effects through the use of combinations of colour and texture.' The colours are HOT ORANGE, LIME GREEN, VIOLET-GREY- and today we see them coming on strong or peaking in current interiors.

In the MASTER BEDROOM the walls are hung in an off white corduroy velvet. Again- Martin Wood, 'The bed, probably a made-up piece with Georgian posts and a very flamboyant Rococo cornice,was dressed with a Warner's fabric, which was also used for the window curtains.' Here, it is obvious Fowler did not mind putting together elements to get the desired effects. The bed is indeed Beautiful. There are also several intricately dressed dog kennels done up by Fowler for the bedrooms, one seen in the Master (below) and another in the Bletchington Room.

Details I love- more little tables, large beautiful lamps, functional floor lamps and the fitted bench at the window.

the Bletchington Bedroom ,circa Fowler

a Chinese red Pomegranate damask on the walls

the portrait to the left is of the 1st Lady Rotherwick-Fowler's client

the Bletchington Kennel by Fowler
mimic the designs from the room's bed

the current resident of the Bletchington Kennel

the Buchan Bedroom 

 Mauny papers and  a riotous pendant canopy

a stately bath off the Garthmore Bedroom (not pictured)

 Fowler used one of his favoured Mauny papers PRIMAVERES

& a Friar's chair in apricot, note the decorated door 

the Tynley Bedroom 

fully covered in matching paper and fabric

the Hyde Bedroom

masterly detailing with a Mauny border, deeply swagged bed curtains, 

and relatively simple curtains for Fowler.

The Bed and Curtain Details at Cornbury

Fowler's mastery in full flourish

(the Master bed above)

a Fowler sketch of the Stone Hall Curtains

 close up of the heavy wool curtains-flawlessly made

 the Stone Hall

John Fowler arranged this beautiful space as a hall-cum-sitting room. The Hall- with its strong compartmented ceiling- was named for the Nicholas Stone who designed the grand space in the 17th century. Fowler detail is never more apparent here-He had the stone chimney piece moved over a very few inches to achieve a perfect balance in the room. Fowler's curtains ride right up to the ceiling line and in between the sturdy corbels. The geometry of the tops of the curtains is Fowler at his best curtainwise.

more bedroom details

Last but not least- the incredibly beautiful curtains in the Drawing Room. It is always a wonder to see the real colours that are in a room. This photograph of the couture curtains John Fowler created for Cornbury shows the curtain colour to be a cerulean. In the left photograph below- the colour certainly appears very strong, in the right- much softer- tricks of a camera? Only the Lady of the house would know-not that it matters very much-the design is in the details. Martin Wood takes over-
The 'curtains demonstrated John's skill at achieving magnificent effects. Each window was dressed with three-swag drapery, decorated at each end with bows and choux between, and finished with balloon tails. The swags and tails were edged with a frill, lined with Dot and Cross chintz, and in turn edged with fan and double-fan edging.'
Calloway describes the dressmaker inspired confections as 'positively frivolous blue silk curtains, madly ruched and trimmed with lace.'

The photographs and preservation of Cornbury give us the ultimate Fowler. He was always most comfortable in private homes, creating real interiors for real people.
'I like the decoration of a room to be well behaved but free from too many rules, to have a sense of graciousness; to be mannered, yet casual and unselfconscious; to be stimulating, even provocative; and finally to be nameless of period-a fantasy expressing the personality of the owner.' -so said John Fowler as his career began in 1938. In his last work at Cornbury this ideal of Fowler's was forever  magnificently achieved.



Sources and More about Lady Rotherwick
Martin Wood's chapter on Fowler's last work is fittingly called FINAL FLOURISH. This is the definitive book on - THE PRINCE OF DECORATORS and Wood has written another beautifully put together book about Nancy Lancaster. All the descriptions are derived from Wood's research and the Colefax and Fowler: The best in English decoration, by Jones and Dickson, the sited World of Interiors Dec. 2008-Stephen Calloway written FOREVER FOWLER and the Tatler October 2009 article.

and Now Cornbury host's POSHSTOCK read about it HERE

 Cornbury HERE

read Part 1 here 
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