Valerian Rybar and Jean-Francois Daigre on Sutton Place

Advertisement from August, 1982
Architectural Digest.

Coming across this 1982 advertisement for blinds photographed in the Manhattan apartment of interior designer Valerian Rybar brought to mind that the designer, internationally known among the Jet Set Rich and Famous during the 1970s and 80s, might not be a familiar name today.  And what better way to present a decorator than with photos of his own home?  With his partner Jean-Francois Diagre, who was perhaps more famous in Europe but usually regulated to a side remark in U.S. publications, Valerian Rybar (sometimes referred to as Stux-Rybar or Styx-Rybar) lived in a six-room Sutton Place apartment that they completely remodeled in the early 1970s to showcase their talent, leaving no original material or feature visible.


Rybar & Daigre in costume for Le Bal Oriental,
as used for the cover of the 2003 Christie's catalog.

Officially known as Valerian Rybar & Daigre Design Corporation, they promoted being identified as the world's most expensive decorators and undoubtedly worked to make that a reality.  Rybar, who was born in Yugoslavia, worked as a trainee at Lord & Taylor department store before designing packaging, displays, and shop interiors for Elizabeth Arden.  Rybar joined Daigre in 1968 to stage a spectacular ball for Mr. & Mrs. Antenor Patiño (see widow Beatriz's Paris apartment in a previous post of The Devoted Classicist here) introducing 1300 guests to their new country house, Quinto Patiño, set in a 200 acre park in Portugal.


Rybar & Daigre at Le Bal Oriental, 1969,
as documented in watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.
Image via Scala Regia Inspirational Archives.

The following year, an even more spectacular fete designed by Rybar and Daigre, Le Bal Oriental, was hosted by Alexis von Rosenberg, Baron de Redé, at his home in Paris, Hôtel Lambert.  Read an excerpt from ALEXIS: THE MEMOIRS OF THE BARON DE REDE about the famous ball provided by the blog Scala Regia here.


The Rybar-Daigre Living Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.

The coral (more like the orange-ish color of cnidarians than the pink-ish polo shirts) velvet walls of the Living Room had radius corners and mirror-finish stainless steel bands as the base and cornice.  Etched steel plates covered the floor accented with a mink rug by Oscar de la Renta.  Most of the furniture was designed by Rybar and custom made by Karl Mann, but there were accents of antiques such as a Boulle tortoiseshell and brass filigree desk, and a carved crystal bust of Ferdinando de' Medici.


The Rybar-Daigre Dining Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.

The Dining Room had the same steel flooring with walls lined with concealed closet doors that were designed to appear as shelves filled with books; the titles stamped into the leather of the otherwise identical false books spines were written to reflect chapters in the designers' past.  An article by Jeff McKay in "New York Magazine" states that the title INTERNATIONAL BOREDOM referred to Rybar's marriage (1956 to 1965) to Irish brewing heiress Aileen Guiness, the Jet-Set chatelaine of Luttrellstown Castle near Dublin.  Again, custom made furniture filled the room, with Rybar-designed tables covered with batik fabric in this 1972 photo.


The bedside console in the Rybar-Daigre Master Bedroom.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.

The Master Bedroom's bedside leather console topped with mirror-finish stainless steel was fitted to hold a slim-line telephone handset which also served as an intercom, and controls for the alarm clock, television, stereo, and dimmable lighting as well as the electric blanket.


The Rybar-Daigre Dressing Room, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.

The Dressing Room with the same low-cut pile caramel carpet as the bathroom was larger than the bedroom.  Based on a concept of display, double-hanging rods held suits and sloped shelves held shoes.  Translucent plastic drawers held folded shirts and glass shelves held rainbow stacks of sweaters.  A 3-way tailor's mirror figured prominently in the space, but the most memorable feature was a bench upholstered in hand-painted pony skin whose height could be electronically adjusted to serve as a luggage rack, ironing board or massage table.


The Rybar-Daigre Master Bathroom, Sutton Place.
Photo by Ezra Stoller via New York Magazine.

The Master Bath featured a custom-made stainless steel bathtub and a lavatory set in a pedestal of marble.  Tall mirrored cabinet doors provided storage for toiletries and reflected tortoise-shell faux finished walls and ceiling also punctuated with a section of mirrors.  Carefully stitched leather-covered masks by Nancy Grossman provided ominous decoration.


Marie-Hélène de Rothschild  (wife of Baron Guy de Rothschild
who owned Hôtel Lambert) with Valerian Rybar at Le Bal Oriental.
1969 photo via Artnet.

According to Rybar's 1990 obituary written by Carol Vogel for The New York Times, he was 71 years old and died in his Manhattan home of prostate cancer.  Daigre's 1992 New York Times obituary reported that he died of an AIDS-related illness in a Paris hospital at age 56.  This notice reported that Daigre had been hired at age 19 to work at designing décor, textiles and packaging for Christian Dior before joining Rybar to plan the Patiño ball.  It also said Diagre had managed the business side of the firm while continuing to be involved in the planning of gala events.


Valerian Rybar, Paris, 1967.
Leonard Nones photo via Corbis.

The couple's Paris residence, usually assigned to Daigre in print, was even more opulent and will be featured in a future post of The Devoted Classicist.

Bunny Mellon: Chic Chaises

A detail of Bunny Mellon's chairs,
Lot 1301, Sale N09247.
Sotheby's, New York.

The Devoted Classicist has long wanted to present a series of posts about great chairs and their stylish owners, so here goes, starting with a remarkable set of seven black-japanned, parcel-gilt decorated dining chairs from the 1760s together with one armchair of a later date.  Although quite familiar to those interested in the decorative arts, the chairs have been brought into the spotlight as Lot 1301 in the auction of the estate of Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, November 21 to 23, 2014, Sotheby's New York.


Bunny Mellon's set of 'loop' chairs.
Lot 1301, Sale NO9247.
Sotheby's, NY.
Estimated: $60,000 to $80,000.
Sold: $181,000 (with buyer's premium).

In the provenance listed in the catalog, Sotheby's failed to mention a former owner whose name would have added even more prestige: Nancy Lancaster one of the great decorators of the twentieth-century and business partner of John Fowler in the legendary firm Colefax & Fowler.



The chairs as they appeared in
DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE.
Image via Emily Evans Eerdmans



As documented in an article by Shax Riegler in the January, 2009 issue of "The Magazine Antiques," the chairs were formerly owned by noted collector Frank Green, and illustrated in A HISTORY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE by Percy MacQuoid, first published in four volumes from 1904 to 1908.  (The chairs also appeared in the DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH FURNITURE, FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE LATE GEORGIAN PERIOD.) 


A chair from the same set appears when
"Country Life" magazine publishes photos
of the home of founder Edward Burgess Hudson
at 15 Queen's Gate, London.
Image via Country Life Picture Library.

By the early 1920s, the chairs were owned by Edward Burgess Hudson, founder of "Country Life," the magazine where MacQuoid was employed as a columnist.  Hudson died in 1936 and sometime in the mid-1930s, the chairs were acquired by his London neighbors on Queen Anne's Gate, Ronald and Nancy Tree.


The Yellow Bedroom at Ditchley Park
showing one of the side chairs.
Watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.

After their divorce, Mrs. Tree became better known as Nancy Lancaster after her next marriage, with the chairs remaining at their grand country house Ditchley Park.  Two wonderful sets of watercolors were commissioned from Alexandre Serebriakoff as a record of Nancy and Ronald's decorating, and the chairs can be seen in the Yellow Bedroom and the Writing Room.


The Writing Room at Ditchley Park
showing the antique armchair.
Watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.

With the sale of Ditchley Park, the chairs went to the Manhattan townhouse of Ronald and his second wife Marietta Tree.  Presumably they remained in New York until the auction following Ronald Tree's death as they appear on the cover of the October, 1976 Sotheby Parke Bernet auction catalog.


Cover of the 1976 auction catalog
showing two of the side chairs.
Image via Emily Evans Eerdmans.

The "Antiques" article stated that the chairs were bought by the London antiques dealer Mallet and appeared in both MALLET'S GREAT ENGLISH FURNITURE and MALLET MILLENNIUM: FINE ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART.  In the 2009 article, Mallet's revealed that they had made the second arm chair and that the chairs were in a private American collection.


A Mellon arm chair, Lot 1301,
as it was displayed in the pre-sale exhibition.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Spitzmiller

The light graceful curves were made feasible through an innovative use of laminated beechwood.  The lacquered (or japanned) chinoiserie finish adds to the fanciful design but also conceals the layered construction.  However, the go-to craftsman for remarkable new ceramic lamps, Christopher Spitzmiller, said the chairs had a bit of "give" to the touch, making them more of an art object rather than chairs that were actually sat in for regular use.  Also noteworthy is the dipped or "saddle" seat, a characteristic found in other examples of the mid-1760s.


Views of the pre-sale exhibition at Sotheby's
showing the display of the eight chairs of Lot 1301.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Spitzmiller.

There is another chapter to come in the story of these chairs, of course, now that there is a new owner.  But, in addition, these chairs inspired a 20th century interpretation popularized by Frances Adler Elkins.  That will be another post of The Devoted Classicist.

And Furthermore

 

The Devoted Classicist has been a fan of the late Rachel "Bunny" Mellon since her contributions to the gardens at the White House.  Starting with the Rose Garden in 1961 and then the East Garden, dedicated as the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden in 1965, the heiress (Listerine) who married into an even larger fortune attracted attention in the community of those appreciating the mix of the formal and informal in residential garden design.  In the early 1990s, an Attingham classmate who was a foundation employee working from the Brick House gave me some insight into the then-relatively-private Mellons and their 4,000 acre estate (now about 2,000 acres listed for sale with 40 structures for $70 million) Oak Spring Farm near Upperville, Virginia. 

Auction catalogs can be an invaluable resource for studying (both fine and) the decorative arts.  However, interior views shown in catalogs are routinely rearranged to give a better representation of the lots offered; too seldom are they an accurate record of the original setting.  Nor can the descriptions be counted on as 100% accurate, even in the most prestigious and expensive catalogs.

Despite declarations from self-appointed tastemakers and arbiters of style/design that traditional decoration is passé, there has been a media frenzy surrounding Interiors, the three day auction of the furnishings from the estate of the late Mrs. Mellon with proceeds to benefit the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, a horticultural foundation which will continue to operate the library at Oak Spring.  While it is true that spare, neutral, do-it-yourself schemes still remain the most popular trend in interior design, clearly there is still interest in antiques and decoration among those in-the-know.  This successful sale is a reminder that one should follow one's own taste and not what is the so-called current fashion.

The Travellers: Ditchley Carpet

The Saloon at Ditchley Park
in a watercolor by Alexandre Serebriakoff.
Image via The Ditchley Foundation.

In this day of throw-away culture, The Devoted Classicist appreciates each sighting of a treasured furnishing that has been reused in another setting, sometimes even with a new owner.  The non-sequential series of posts that records these appearances is titled The Travellers.


Ditchley Park.
Image via The Ditchley Foundation.

Author Martin Wood writes in NANCY LANCASTER, COUNTRY HOUSE STYLE that the Saloon, mostly used for tea when there was a house party, had a large Portuguese needlework rug made especially for the room.  Countess Munster (the former Peggy Ward before her 1929 marriage and later a partner when Nancy bought the decorating business started by Sibyl Colefax that they reformed as Sibyl Colefax Limited) had discovered a prison in northern Portugal that was capable of taking on such work and that is thought to be the source of this 19 x 13 feet 10 inches carpet. 

The relocation of the magnificent Venetian folding screen from the Hall of Ditchley Park, Oxfordshire, to the Drawing Room of Heron Bay, Barbados, was shown in the post here.  But the carpet from the Saloon of Ditchley travelled to another home of Ronald Tree as well.  After Nancy divorced Tree to marry Colonel Lancaster, she moved to his home, Kelmarsh, which the Trees had leased before buying Ditchley (and sold many of the furnishings to Lancaster).


A detail of a Sebriakoff watercolor of the
Library at Ditchley looking into the Saloon.
Image from Martin Wood's book
NANCY LANCASTER, COUNTRY HOUSE STYLE

Ronald Tree retained Ditchley for a short while after his marriage to his second wife Marietta until moving back to New York City, once home to each.  Although The Ditchley Foundation says it was Marietta Tree who commissioned Alexandre Serebriakoff to provide the lovely watercolor views of Ditchley, author Martin Wood writes that it was Ronald Tree who arranged for the series after he and Nancy divorced; it appears that a set was done for each Ronald and Nancy.  (The watercolor of the Library, shown in part above, signed and dated A. Serebriakoff Dytchley [sic] 1948 later sold at Sotheby's for $32,500).


Penelope Tree in her living room, N.Y.C. 1962
Photograph by Diane Arbus.
Image via private collection.

Ronald and Marietta Tree bought the 1907 Leland-Wesson (sisters Eufrasia Leland and Emma Wesson) double-width, Georgian style house at 123 (and 125) East 79th Street, New York City. (The original architects of the house were Foster, Gade & Graham; it is now the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations).  It was one of several properties in the immediate area that Vincent Astor had bought up in the 1920s and 1930s to prevent development for apartment buildings that would block the light for the south-facing garden of his own grand double-width townhouse on East 80th Street.  Friends of the Trees called the townhouse Little Ditchley because of the art and furnishings that had come from the Oxfordshire estate.  One of those items was the rug from the Saloon, visible in the Diane Arbus photo of the Tree's 13 year old daughter taken for a feature in Town & Country magazine.  (The photographer died in 1971 but a silver gelatin reprint authorized by the estate sold in a 2008 auction at Christie's for $15,000).  The rug apparently followed Marietta Tree's move to One Sutton Place South where she lived until her death, and sold at the Christie's 1992 sale of items from her estate, lot 133.


The rug in the loft of Niall Smith.
Photo by Jeffrey Hirsch for NYSD.

A 2008 feature on the Manhattan loft apartment of antiques dealer Niall Smith in New York Social Diary with photos by Jeffrey Hirsch and interview by Lesley Hauge and Sian Ballen revealed that the Ditchley rug had found an appreciated home yet again. 


Another view of the carpet from Ditchley.
Photo by Jeffrey Hirsch for NYSD.

The text of the NYSD article stated "Niall found the needlepoint rug at Doyle.  It had belonged to Nancy Lancaster who made it from the design of the front hall ceiling at Ditchley."  (Actually it was the rug in the Hall that had some of the same elements as the Hall ceiling but the Doyle lot may have been a resale from the 1992 auction).


The carpet from Ditchley in the loft of Niall Smith.
Photo by Jeffrey Hirsch for NYSD.

A caption of the NYSD article also revealed "a Biedermeier Recamier sits atop Niall's prized Nancy Lancaster needlepoint rug for which he paid 'four times the estimate'."  The Devoted Classicist finds it satisfying that well-made, well-designed neoclassical furnishings from the twentieth-century are still appreciated by discerning collectors today.

For more posts in The Travellers series, scroll down in the right hand margin of the regular web version of The Devoted Classicist to the heading LABELS and click on The Travellers.