salone del mobile : Sottsass

I first discovered the work of the Memphis Group when I visited Milan as a student in the mid-Eighties. Of course, that was the golden age of the Memphis Group and Ettore Sottsass was one of the stalwarts of the movement. So, it seems somehow fitting that the last exhibition that I saw at the Salone was 10 Anni Con Sottsass. Sadly, Sottsass died a little more than a year ago, aged 90, and this poignant exhibition commemorated 10 years of collaboration with the Galleria Clio Calvi Rudi Volpi.

The following quote accompanied the room where these 3 masks were displayed


"Souvenirs"

There are memories and there are 'souvenirs'
A memory is a more or less reliable recollection of something that, good or bad, happened to us; a souvenir is a suggested memory, an invented memory, the reminder of something we may never have seen or something that never happened to us.
Let's imagine that I had never seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa and a friend brought me a souvenir, an alabaster replica of it. He really did see the Tower and I did not. I have a souvenir. Once I was given a souvenir of transparent glass. If I turned it, snow fell on a wooden Alpine hut. It may have come from the Cortina area.
Now there's the Furniture Show and every one's happy because this show is a very serious thing. There are lots of products, primarily kitchens, tables, sofas, beds, and a great many chairs.
But the last time I visited this show I found no souvenir that could help me remember something I had seen or never saw.
So I designed three souvenirs for friends ....

Ahmedabad Adventure : Ramabhai

This is Ramabhai, everyone over here gets a term of endearment added to the end of their name, generaly it's bhai for men and ben for women, which means brother or sister, brother Rama has been looking after me during my visit to the village center where women embroiderers come to work, he is the gate keeper of the centre, and has been generaly making sure I'm ok. When we got up after the first night at the centre he took me out for a walk so the women could get washed in privacy. Of course he doesn't speak a word of English but that doesn't stop him joking around with me . He's made me promise to send a print of the standing photo ! and those sunglasses, yes they're a permanent fixture.

The Picture Show

'The Picture Show' is another great find from the ever-amazing Norman.

A huge scrapbook, dated 1925, filled to the brim with images of the stars of the era. This was the height of Hollywood's silent movie age - a time where cinema became enormously popular, and the public became fascinated with movie stars for the very first time. 

There's no trace of the identity of the original owner - but whoever he or she was, they were clearly obsessed with the beauty and glamour of the silver screen. The book is packed with incredible images - and many of them have been 'enhanced' by the owner. Photographs have been cut out of magazines, decorative borders have been glued or painted around them, and many of them have been 'colorized' with watercolour paints. There's even some crazy decoupage, taking original shots and adding scraps and painting to make new scenarios.

The book is clearly a labour of love, as hours of work has gone into it - and the movies featured span at lease five years - it must have been a major undertaking.

I find the combination of the slightly naive handpainted work and the high glamour of the photos incredibly interesting. It adds a human touch to the images, and gives you the real feeling of one person's absolute passion for their movie idols.

I'm loving Clara Bow in these last two shots - there's something very fresh and modern about her that makes her jump off the page to me. The pictures could almost be used in a fashion editorial today with no adjustments. It's interesting that she was the very first celebrity to be dubbed an 'It Girl" - a phrase now that has been horribly degraded and overused. Looking at these photographs - you can totally see that she had 'it' in abundance.

Egg Cups Of Excellence

I am not really a morning person. On most days it takes a large cup of Monmouth coffee and a decent breakfast before I even qualify as a human being. But even in my primordial morning state, I think it's important to keep things aesthetically pleasing. Which is why having a soft boiled egg in one of these egg cups is the perfect way to begin the day. 

We started collecting wooden egg cups figures a few years ago and now we have a small army of them- about six Noddies, three Big Ears, some swiss maids, a few young men in lederhosen and even a couple of baby chicks. Each one is hand painted, so they're like miniature sculptures that you can eat your breakfast out of. Best of all, you can match your egg cup to your mood

If you are feeling jaunty you can use this one:

Despite the pink hair, this fellow is a little more serious:

And for Sundays and religious holidays, this is the perfect egg eating solution:

Who Was That Mustachioed Man?

Facial hair has made a huge comeback in the last few years. Whether you fancy being a big, bearded lumberjack, or a waxed mustachioed dandy - there's a facial furniture trend just for you. Mutton chops will be next - you mark my words.

So, for all of you who are considering a little fashionable hirsutism, here's something to aspire to.

I found this excellent fellow in the Porte de Vanves flea market in Paris - it's a charcoal and pencil drawing - but its origins remain mysterious. All I know is that he looks like he would very good company at a dinner party (unless they were serving soup, which could obviously turn messy).

We like him so much that we've started collecting a series of bearded and mustachioed portraits - keep your eyes peeled for the rest of the hair bear bunch in coming weeks.

For more follicular fun have a look at the marvellous Beard Revue - a blog devoted to facial hair in all its myriad forms.