Rolling In Style

 

A custom-made 1927 Rolls-Royce
known as the Gasque Phantom for the
man who commissioned it for his wife.
Image: Hagerty.

The Devoted Classicist loves the full range of the decorative arts, particularly when they are far-reaching, such as this example, into automobiles.  The famous Rolls-Royce company was founded in 1904 when Charles Stewart Rolls, the 28 year old son of Lord and Lady Llangattock met 41 year old car-builder Frederick Henry Royce.  Rolls, with partner Claude Goodman Johnson, had an automobile dealership in London that specialized in importing luxury cars from France and Belgium.  Royce gave Rolls the exclusive rights to sell his car, and the brand was born.



A general view of the 1927 Gasque Phantom.
Image: The Telegraph..

The early Rolls-Royce cars followed the latest trends because the bodies were always custom made by coachbuilders on the R-R chassis.  The first chassis was the Silver Ghost, introduced in 1907, which was replaced by the New Phantom in 1925 which was basically the same but with a more powerful engine.  In 1929, this was replaced by the Phantom II which was again basically the same chassis but with an up-dated engine.  So this car is sometimes referred to as a Phantom I.


The interior woodwork of the Gasque Phantom
Rolls-Royce features inlaid satinwood detailing.
Image: The Telegraph.

The coachwork for this car, a Brougham de Ville, was made by Charles Clark & Son, Ltd.  By this time, the Clark company concentrated on the highest-end work.  After building several bodies for one of the directors of the British franchise of the F.W. Woolworth & Co., the Clark firm was introduced to C.W. Gasque, the franchise's American finance director.  Gasque wanted to give his wife, related to the Woolworth family, an especially made car "different to anything else, and also better."  The only other stipulation was that there be a French theme, and Mr. Gasque did not want to see it until completed.


An interior view with the cabinet doors closed
with the jump seats open.
Image: The Telegraph.

One of the jump seats.
Image: The Telegraph.



An interior view towards the front
with the cabinet open to reveal facing jump seats
and a drinks cabinet.
Image: The Telegraph.

The interior of the drinks cabinet.
Image: The Telegraph.

 

An enameled ormolu clock sits on the cabinet.
Image: The Telegraph.

A view of the main seat which is like a sofa.
Image: The Telegraph.

A visit to the Victoria & Albert museum resulted in finding inspiration in a sedan chair designed by Robert Adam.  All the woodwork for the interior was produced in the Clark shop although some of the more elaborate carving was done in London. 


Robert Adam's design for a sedan chair for Queen Charlotte, 1775.
Image: V & A via Jane Austen World blog.

The Aubusson petite-point upholstery was a special commission which took nine months to complete.  The ceiling was painted by an unnamed French painter living in London.


The interior with Aubusson upholstery.
Image:  The Telegraph.

A detail of the Rolls Royce ceiling.
Image: The Telegraph.

Hallmarked silver interior hardware, much of it gilded, was commissioned from Elkington & Co. 


A detail of the interior door pull.
Image:  The Telegraph.

It is believed that the car, including the chassis, cost about GBP $6,000 (roughly $30,000 at that time and $1 million today) according to West Peterson in an article for Hagerty, the source of much of the history of this car.


One of the most unusual features is a pair of vanity cabinets.
Image: The Telegraph.



A view of a cabinet open to reveal enameled bon-bon boxes.
Image: The Telegraph.

C.W. Gasque died in 1928 but Mrs. Gasque continued to own the car until her death, around 1950, although the car had been in storage since 1937.  Car enthusiast Stanley Sears bought the car from the dealer who had purchased it from the estate.  Sears added the straw-colored basket weave caning and replaced the 23 inch wheels with a smaller size since the large tires were not available.


An exterior silver lever.
Image: The Telegraph.

A rear view.
Image: The Telegraph.

Starting in 1986, the care was own by a series of Japanese collectors until the end of 2001 when it was bought by Pennsylvania Jack Rich.  The unrestored car was exhibited in several shows until bought by Charles Howard and returned to England.  In 2013 it was reportedly for sale for over one million British pounds at P & A Wood, Great Easton, Essex.


The 1927 Rolls Royce Phantom.
Image: P & A Wood.

But today's music stars (many of whom TDC has never even heard of) often are driven in cars that cost between one and two million dollars, so such extravagances have not entirely died out.  It is just a different taste in wheels among those flush with cash.


The silver coach light of the
Gasque Phantom Rolls-Royce.
Image: The Telegraph.

One Man's Folly

The driveway to the estate of Mr. Fulow Gatewood
is lined with pots of hydrangeas.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

Three great Southerners, each a much-admired acquaintance of The Devoted Classicist, have come together to produce a new book, ONE MAN'S FOLLY: THE EXCEPTIONAL HOUSES OF FURLOW GATEWOOD by Julia Reed (whose home was featured in a previous post here).  Furlow Gatewood, 92, has been an associate in the wildly successful to-the-trade source John Rosselli Antiques for more than 40 years.  Bunny Williams, my friend of over 32 years since our days at Parish-Hadley, wrote the Foreward to the new book.



Phillip, and Italian greyhound, sits in the entrance hall
of one of the guest houses known as Peacock House,
before a 17th-century Italian table below a
19th-century Dutch chandelier.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

It was Rosselli's wife, the reining queen of decorators, Bunny Williams, who convinced Mr. Gatewood to do the book, according to the article in the March-April 2014 issue of Veranda.  "Gatewood never went to architecture school, but he creates these buildings with fabulous style because he has this innate feeling for architecture," Bunny is quoted to say.  "Then he furnishes them in the most delightful, eclectic way.  He has a real flair that often eludes professionals."


Another view of the entrance hall
at Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

The property near Americus, Georgia, consists of eleven acres with five houses and numerous outbuildings.  Peacock House, featured in the current issue of the magazine, originally began as a dirt floor greenhouse before becoming home for 40 peacocks.


Flush boards face the walls of the living room in Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

Now, with a few rooms added, it is a guest house, although no one has ever slept there overnight, according to the article written by Mimi Reed and produced by Carolyn Englefield.


A bed from John Rosselli fills an alcove at Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.



Furnishings from John Rosselli decorate a guest room
at Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

A guest bath at Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.



Architectural salvage played an inspirational factor in the design.  Fretwork from the noted West Cornwall, Connecticut antiques dealer Michael Trapp led to the creation of an elegant open garden room.  Porch posts from the Atlanta flea market, Scott Antique Market, set the theme of the gothic gingerbread exterior.


A porch with salvaged fretwork
becomes an outdoor garden room
with furnishings from John Rosselli and Treillage.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

Architectural salvage was effectively used to give
character to a storage building near Peacock House.
Photo by Max Kim-Bee via Veranda.

 

An earlier article featuring different aspects of the property can be seen on the Veranda website here.

The Devoted Classicist Library
ONE MAN'S FOLLY:
THE EXCEPTIONAL HOUSES
OF FURLOW GATEWOOD
 

The new book, to be released by Rizzoli on April 8, 2014, may be ordered now at a discount at The Devoted Classicist Library here.

Mayfields: A Cradle in the History of Decorating Civilization

Mayfields, as it appears today.
Image via Elle Décor.

Sometimes there is a Design Vortex of sorts, where everything comes together with a new (or extensively renovated) house.  A great architect, a talented decorator, sensitive landscape designers, a good builder, and clients with the best taste (and some money), are all critical factors in a successful residence.  Such was the case for Mayfields, the Far Hills, New Jersey, childhood home of Dorothy May Kinnicutt, later to be better know as the legendary interior designer Sister Parish.

Mrs. Parish, with Albert Hadley, was my former employer, and Mayfields was often used as a reference for country house projects when I worked there as an architect in the 1980s, what we who worked there during that period call the Golden Age of Parish-Hadley.  Whether it was white-washing the fieldstone facing, providing the opportunity for three seating areas in the living room, or including a designated space for a visiting chauffeur to have lunch, the precedents at Mayfields were often recalled as a standard for comfortable country house living.

Mrs. Parish was quoted to say, "The most monumentous event of my life occurred in 1920, when I was 10 [sic].  It was the day we moved from Morristown to Mayfields, our new and wondrous stone house set on miles and miles of rolling country in Far Hills, New Jersey."  The architects were the New York City firm Cross & Cross with the landscape designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman and Marian Cruger Coffin.

"Mayfields was to be my parents' last and most important home, the ideal house for Daddy to express his love and knowledge of good furniture, for Mother to show her superb taste, for them to fulfill their fondest dreams of the most beautiful gardens, most fulfilling house, and the ideal setting for themselves and their children."

Mayfields, along with more country houses, city residences, and other buildings by Cross & Cross are featured in a new book NEW YORK TRANSFORMED: THE ARCHITECTURE OF CROSS & CROSS by Peter Pennoyer and Anne Walker.  Published by The Monacelli Press with a release date of March 18, 2014, it may be purchased at a discount rate here.  An earlier view of the house, when the stone was white washed, is shown, along with floor plans, and recent photos.  Those interested in the history of 20th century design will especially appreciate this monograph of an important architectural firm, not particularly known outside the greater New York City area.

Notable Homes: Emilio Terry for Princess Caroline and Ambassador Raymond Guest

The Paris apartment of Princess Caroline
and Ambassador Raymond Guest
decorated by Emilio Terry.
Photo via online.com.

The Devoted Classicist is an enormous fan of the work of the Cuban architect & decorator Emilio Terry (born 1890).  Unlike his sometime collaborator Carlos de Beistegui who only worked for himself on his own projects, Emilio Terry did take on commissions, but apparently only among a very tight circle.  Published examples of his work have not been widely circulated, so it is always a treat to see more than a single image of a project that shows examples of his refined taste.


A corner of the Guest's living room.
Photo: Christie's.

The Parisian apartment overlooking Parc Monceau that had been decorated by Emilio Terry in the 1960s for Raymond Guest and his second wife Princess Caroline Murat Guest allowed a somewhat obscure view into this limited world of high style continental taste when some furnishings were included in Christie's auction in Paris on April 22, 2013.  Despite the claims in the Christie's publicity that the apartment was "untouched" since Terry's original decoration, some differences apparent in the first two photos might dispute that point.  (It must be noted, however, that there were two of these niches with matching banquettes).  None-the-less, it is an interesting look into the genius of Emilio Terry.


The walls and curtains in the Guests'
living room was gaufraged velvet.
The three pairs of curtains sold for
Euro 2,750.
Photo:  Christie's.

Raymond Richard Guest, the New York-born son of Frederick E. Guest and Amy Phipps, was the second cousin of Winston Churchill.  Joining the U.S. Navy during World War II, Raymond Guest served on mine sweepers before being made head of the Navy section of the Office of Strategic Services in London.  After the war, Guest was a member of the Virginia Senate from 1947 to 1955.  President Lyndon Johnson appointed Guest to the post of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, a position he held from 1965 to 1968.


The exceptional custom made rug was designed
by Emilio Terry around 1963.
295 1/3 x 181 inches.
Sold:  Euro 193,500.
Photo:  Christie's.

As a slight detour in the story, it must be noted that the first wife, Elizabeth Polk Guest, was a descendent of President James Knox Polk who grew up in New York City and attended the Julliard School of Music.  She was on the boards of several music schools, opera companies and arts councils including the Metropolitan Opera Association and the School of American Ballet.  She helped found the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and was chairman of the friends of the center for many years.  At the time of her death in March, 1990, at age 79, she was a resident of Dark Harbor on the island of Islesboro, Maine, and Front Royal, Virginia.


The pair of sofas designed by Emilio Terry
around 1960 sold for Euro 3,500.
Photo:  Christie's.

But it was the second Mrs. Guest who was responsible for having Emilio Terry consult on the decoration of this apartment, according to the press release by Christie's.  Princess Caroline Murat Guest (born 1923), younger daughter of HH Prince Alexandre Michel Eugene Joachim Napoleon Murat married Raymond Guest in 1960.  (The title was created by Emperor Napoleon I for his brother-in-law and is still used today by heirs).  Raymond Guest died in 1992 at age 84 and Caroline Guest died in 2012 at age 88 at the American Hospital in Paris.


The chimneypiece for the Guests' dining room
was designed by Emilio Terry around 1960.
44 1/4" x 62 1/2" x 11".
Sold: Euro 115,500.
Photo:  Christie's.

Unfortunately, the Dining Room of the apartment was not pictured, but the chimneypiece designed by Terry was removed and included in the sale.  Fabricated of gray marble and decorated with Wedgwood-like porcelain biscuit circular and diamond-shaped motifs, it was estimated to fetch between 8,000 and 12,000 euros.


The canapé-confident from the Guests'
Living Room was 92 inches long with a
provenance of Blenheim Palace.
Sold: Euro 61,500.
Photo:  Christie's.

The apartment is mentioned in the book NOUVELLES REUSSITES DE LA DECORATION FRANCAISE, 1960-1966:  "In each room, unity of architecture, doors, colors is attained; the brightness of the palette and the precision of the form work hand in hand in harmony for the eyes' pleasure.  Classicism, though, is every time renewed with bold invention: in the grand living room, welcoming despite its icy colors, with intimate corners offered by alcoves arranged all around, the stunning carpet, blue and white with a geometrical outline, proves to be no less than the work of a great designer."  The fantastic rug, pictured in its entirety in the fourth image, was black in addition to blue and white and estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 euros. 


A view to Parc Monceau from the
Living Room of the Guest apartment
decorated by Emilio Terry.
Photo via Pinterest.

The canape-confident from the era of Napoleon III that occupied the center of the Living Room was formerly among the furnishings of Blenheim Palace.  Despite the importance through the Duke of Marlborough-Winston Churchill family connection, it appears to have at least partially obscured the center medallion of the especially noteworthy rug.


The pair of 19th century consoles-dessertes in
the living room of the Guests' apartment.
39 1/2" high x 63 2/3" wide x 18" deep.
Sold:  Euro 56,700.
Photo:  Christie's.

The pair of consoles-dessertes may have seemed a curious choice for the Living Room, but clearly a pair was advantages as was the size, and they served to display some selections from the Guests' collection of porcelain.


The faience group featuring Napoleon
was signed and dated 21 Juillet (July) 1804.
Sold:  Euro 20,000
Image:  Christies

A Louis XV-Louis XVI transitional
 presentation of a putto in Meissen with
gilt bronze and lacquered tole, circa 1760.
Sold:  Euro 2,750.
Image:  Christies.

Not everything seen in the photos of the living room were included in the sale.  But it is worth noting a pair of chairs, a console seen in the first image, and a pair of sconces.


A pair of marquises a la reine, one
of the Louis XVI period and the other
from the 19th century.
Sold: Euro 30,000.
Photo:  Christie's.

A gilt-wood console dating the early
19th century from the Guests' living room.
35 1/2" high x 59 1/2" wide x 20 1.2" deep.
Sold: Euro 11,875.
Photo: Christies.



A pair of ormolu sconces in the
style of Louis XV dating
from the 19th century.
Sold:  Euro 3,500.
Photo:  Christie's.

Raymond Guest came from a family long involved in thoroughbred horse racing and his horses were often winners in England, Ireland and France as well as the United States.  His collection of sporting art mostly featured racing horses with a couple of highlights included here.

"Bloomsbury, winner of the Derby"
by John Frederick Herring Senior (1795 to 1865)
was estimated to bring Euro 10,000 to 15,000.
Sold: Euro 12,500.
Photo: Christie's.



"Appaloosa Horse and Spaniel"
by Thomas Weaver (1774 to 1843)
was estimated to bring Euro  6,000 to 8,000.
Sold: Euro 12,500.
Photo: Christie's.

As another detour in the story, Devoted Readers might also be interested to know that the Guests also owned a historic 1,100 acre horse farm in King George County, Virginia, about 3 miles west of Williamsburg.  The property was made up of three historic farms, one having the historic house Powhatan that Raymond Guest bought in the 1940s and restored.  (Today Powhatan is a resort). 

The Guests' Virginia home, Powhatan.
The two top images via HABS
and the bottom via the Powhatan resort website.

All the results of the Christie's sale, which included other interesting lots not necessarily associated with the Guest apartment may been seen here. 

EMILIO TERRY: ARCHITECT AND INTERIOR DESIGNER, 1890 - 1969

A new book about Emilio Terry by Pierre Arizzoli-Clementel is scheduled to be released in April, 2014, and is available for pre-publication purchase at a discount through The Devoted Classicist Library.  This monograph is in French, with insiders telling me they do not think an English edition will be forthcoming at present due to complications in gaining the publication rights to the images.

 

For other posts in the Notable Homes series of The Devoted Classicist, see the heading of the same name in the LABELS listed in the right-hand margin of the regular web version of this blog.

Pérez Art Museum Miami

Bronze sculpture by Ai Weiwei
at the Perez Art Museum, Miami.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist blog.

Just one of the treats during the holidays in the Miami area was a visit to the new Pérez Art Museum, also known as PAMM, which had its official grand opening just this last December.  I was taken by my art collector friends Ian and Hector, who are Founding Members.


A rendering of the entrance elevation of the Perez Art Museum Miami.
Image:  Miami Herald.

Designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, the building is hurricane-reistant with a wide, shaded deck beneath a three-story slatted roof ornamented with hanging columns of plants watered by recaptured rainwater.  The design is said to be an homage to early Miami structures built on stilts, and that may indeed be the inspiration.  However, The Devoted Classicist sees a clear reference to the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi designed by Edward Durell Stone. 


A rendering of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi
by Edward Durell Stone.
Image:  EDWARD DURELL STONE . .

Construction work is still underway for a neighboring museum and a new landscaped park.  At present, visitors arriving by foot (there is a nearby stop of the Metromover, the free monorail system), taxi or limousine (and eventually, yacht) are directed to a vast paved cul-de-sac and may ascend a short flight of stairs to the main entrance.


The entrance plaza of the Perez Art Museum
as it appeared late December, 2013.
Photo by Hector Alexander for The Devoted Classicist.

The entrance is rather modest, as such things go.  The three pairs of wood plank doors are more like what would suspect from a contemporary church rather than a temple of art and beauty.  But that is one of the first hints that the building is designed to be democratic and accessible to all (there are some free admission times).


The main entrance to the Perez Art Museum.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

The main entrance doors at the Perez Art Museum.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

Visitors arriving by private car may park underneath the museum at a ground-level garage paved in gravel and limited areas of pervious concrete.  The parking is shielded by landscaped berms.  The available space is limited and relatively pricey, however;  it could never absorb the traffic generated by a special event.


The parking below the Perez Art Museum.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

A plan of the Ground Floor shows the parking, elevators for handicapped access, and mechanical space.


Ground Level Plan of Parking.
Herzog & De Meuron
via A F A S I A.

The main entrance, shown near the bottom of the Main Floor Level plan, opens into a relatively tight and unassuming space with the admissions desk to the forward right and an open-plan gift shop to the right of that.  A gallery space is immediately to the left, but access to the other galleries on this level is unassuming.  One might think he is going the wrong way; it could be argued that there is not a logical flow.


Main Floor Level.
Herzog & De Meuron.
via A F A S I A.

There is no grand staircase to the upper level galleries, but one can ascend the risers in the open theatre space or take a small elevator.  The building section indicates the theatre which can be used for various purposes.


Upper Gallery Level.
Herzog & De Meuron.
via A F A S I A.

Building Section.
Herzog & De Meuron.
via A F A S I A.

One of the galleries, currently featuring the natural vegetation of the area, displays a life-size representation of a conservator's van.  It is not a real van, but an artistic construction of a van.

Photography is allowed in the galleries if the camera
does not have a removable lens.  All these shots are by iPhone.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

One gallery displays what might be more thought of as traditional museum art, that is, oil and/or acrylic paintings on canvas.  In the photo below, typical construction details may be seen with the harsh interior concrete walls and florescent strip lights in the channels of the concrete ceiling.  The floors in this gallery end with a reveal at the wall and are slightly rough-sawn with minimal or no finish; this results with an effect that it is dirty, which it probably is.

Although the solar shade is down at the time of this shot,
this window overlooking the MacArthur Causeway
features a pair of perch-like seats.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

The museum building was named as a result of a $40 million gift of cash and art by Columbian-born developer Jorge Pérez, the son of Cuban exiles.  These naming rights have been controversial, to say the least, causing some of the museum trustees to resign in protest.  But there is no doubt that Mr. Pérez is a strong voice in the urban redevelopment of Miami, currently well underway in becoming a major international city.


A design of colored string decorates the wall of one gallery.
Photo by John  J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

Although much of the art has a Latin influence, it is obvious that there is an attempt to appeal to a broad audience, often showing art created from very humble materials and/or found objects.


An upper gallery at the Perez Museum of Art. Miami.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

Silk-screened figures on frosted plexi-glass make good use of the exterior walls of glass, covered as needed with solar mesh roller shades.

A gallery at the Perez Museum of Art exhibiting part of the
Ai Weiwei retrospective.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

A pile of plastic crabs is part of the retrospective exhibition by the Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei.  The twelve "Zodiac Heads" sculptures on the entrance deck is one of this writer's favorites.  Previously exhibited at the historic Pulitzer Fountain at Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, the inspiration for the sculpture is an 18th-century Qing imperial fountain whose bronze heads were looted by the invading Europeans during the Second Opium War.  The recreated figures are intended to raise issues of China's ongoing relationship with its own history and national pride. 

An upper gallery featuring a concrete floor and ceiling,
but painted gyp board walls.
Photo by John J. Tackett for The Devoted Classicist.

Besides the traveling exhibitions, many of the exhibited art objects are loaned and/or promised by local collectors.  At present, it is intended that the entire installation will change every six months.  The Miami area must be one of the highest concentrations of artists and art enthusiasts in the world.  With the base of locals plus an ever-increasing influx of wealthy international tourists, there is a climate hungry for culture.  The location could hardly be better, on the mainland end of the MacArthur Causeway that leads to South Beach, passing the luxurious island villas on one side and the constant traffic on cruise ships on the other.

The "A" marks the location of the new museum.
Image:  Google Maps.

Any home dedicated to art is appreciated and the effort to give a nod to local environmental forces and vernacular buildings ranks high on The Devoted Classicist's architectural scorecard.  It will take more time to evaluate how well it works, however, but a visit is encouraged so Devoted Readers can decide the success for themselves.