Art and Architecture

(left photo: Thomas, Ingrid. The Shell: A World of Decoration and Ornament. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2007, 170. right photo: Boyer, Marie-France. "The Princess' Folly." World of Interiors 28, no. 3 (Mar. 2008), 170-177.)

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Rambouillet estate, a 14th century castle located outside of Paris. The castle, which has been the official French presidential summer residence since the 19th century, is certainly beautiful, but the most fantastic building on the grounds is the tiny cottage in the English landscape garden. This little cottage was one of those follies so popular in the 18th century and had been built in 1779 for the princess of Lamballe (As a friend of Marie Antoinette, the princess lost her head during the French Revolution. Revolutionaries put the head of the princess on a stake, did her hair, and waved it in the jail cell window of Marie Antoinette to taunt her.)

Back to the cottage. Fairy tales were extremely popular in the 18th century, and those fashionable aristocrats loved to create their own. So in princess of Lamballe’s little rustic thatched-roof cottage, the surprise was a fantasy of shells, which encrusted the walls of entire room. The cottage was called the Chaumièr aux Coquillages, and as you can see in the top right photograph, there is even a polished mother-of pearl overmantel “mirror” framed by two ionic columns. The World of Interiors magazine did an in-depth feature on the little shell cottage with lovely photographs by Alexandre Bailhache.

Ingrid Thomas’ “The Shell: A World of Decoration and Ornament” elaborates on the use of the shell in decoration. She contextualizes the princess of Lamballe’s shell cottage with the fashion for grottoes, which began in the 16th century. The book is filled with photographs from an illustrated glossary of shells to shell jewelry and shells in art. It is definitely worth a look, but if you can’t make it to the Library to peruse this book, there are some lovely shell illustrations on the Digital Gallery. I’ve posted some of my favorites below. They would make lovely John Derian-style paperweights. Perhaps a hostess gift for that trip to the seashore?

In the recent New York Times feature, Shopping With…, designer Kelly Wearstler visited the Los Angeles bookstore, Potterton Books and revealed books that have inspired her. Many of Kelly’s inspiration books are in the collection of The New York Public Library including the article's pièce de résistance “A Speciman Book of Pattern Papers.” Although Kelly paid $3200 for the book, you can look at it for free at the Library. (Just keep in mind that you’ll have to look at it on site, but bring your camera—you can take as many pictures as you want.) If you can’t make it to the Library, there are some beautiful patterns on the Digital Gallery, including my new favorite, to the right. For while rare books may be expensive, inspiration is always free.

Here are some of the other books mentioned in the article:
(Unless otherwise noted, the books are at the Humanities Library)

"The Bathroom: A New Interior"
"Goodbye Picasso"
"The Hermès Shop Windows"
"Horst: Interiors" (at the Mid-Manhattan Library)
"The Shell: Five Hundred Million Years of Inspired Design" (at the Science Industry and Business Library)
"Ettore Sottsass : a critical biography"