What Is Tole?

In the world of decorative arts and historical interior design, the word "tole" is the official term for a type of painted metal. With its roots in the 18th-century French decorative traditions (from the French tôle peinte, meaning "painted sheet metal"), household items made of tin and other metals like pewter or thin steel were often embellished with folk art-style floral motifs and gold accents.

via Harp Gallery Antique and Vintage Furniture

These utilitarian objects--trays, canisters, coffee pots, sconces, even chandeliers--were transformed into works of art through the application of enamel paint and varnish. Toleware was especially popular in America during the 18th and early 19th centuries, where it often reflected the rustic charm of early colonial homes. Practicality was at the heart of toleware, but artisans elevated these everyday items with painterly elegance, making them ideal for kitchens, pantries, and dining rooms.

via The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles

via The Journal of Antiques and Collectibles

via 1st Dibs

via Giamer Antiques and Collectibles

There were even lamps with tole embellishment...a type of lamp developed during the Napoleon-helmed Empire style was the bouillote (boo-yacht) lamp which at the time held candles. In the 20th century, these antique lamps got rewired to hold bulbs but happily the metal shades remained.

via 1st Dibs

There was a toleware revival in the 1920s to the 1950s where we see chandeliers with intricate vines and flowers made from pressed tin and steel. Such lights can be a great addition to eclectic or maximalist interiors or with Chinoiserie or Regency-inspired design.

via 1st Dibs

Happy designing!

Ketra Invents Natural Light

I am amazed by this marvelous new lighting product from Austin Texas-based company Ketra. It took four years to design a light that changes color temperature throughout the day, starting with bright white light just sunshine to a warm firelight-like glow in the evening. Research has shown that this candlelight glow in the evening and night hours helps our bodies produce melatonin and prepare us for sleep. (Even the newer phones and tablets now have a "Night Shift" option where the light from the screens is warmed, eliminating the bright blue-white light that stimulates the brain, making it harder to sleep.)

Ketra makes a variety of fixtures and lamps (bulbs) along with interfaces and apps to control them. Watch the videos below to see the products in action.

Happy designing!

The Mid-Century Starburst

Back in March of this year, I published a month-long series of posts about Mid-Century Modern design. I started the month with a post about George Nelson Associates clock designs in which I mentioned the iconic starburst pattern. The post-war years saw a lot of change. The end of World War II was brought about in part by atomic bombs, and the atom and science were now a part of everyday life. "Better Living Through Science," the motto promised. A sudden boom in the middle class meant the explosion of suburbs brimming with open-plan ranch homes to be filled with furniture and products. And many of these products naturally sported the atomic starburst pattern! Dinnerware, glassware, and lamps as well as drapery and upholstery fabrics were peppered with stylized starbursts or stylized atomic models.

And consider also that, at the time, there was a suspenseful race to space: the United States and the USSR were in competition to see who could make it to the stars, and the Soviets won the first round by launching Sputnik 1 to orbit our planet and then later put Yuri Gagrain in orbit, the fist man in space. We were living in the Atomic Age and the Space Age at the same time!

Vintage objects like these, or even reproductions offer a fun, retro moment for interiors! A bar set with the starburst pattern is actually quite current, as is a ceramic lamp with the classic fiberglass shade, seen in the last two images below. Such collectible items can be judiciously mixed in with contemporary interiors...remember Design Mantra #1: "Contrast brings interest!"

Happy designing!

The Furniture of John Dickinson

John Dickinson's San Francisco-based interior design career spanned decades, through the 60s and 70s, but he will be best remembered for a collection of whimsical, stylish, furniture and furnishings created in matte chalk white. Since his death in 1982, his console tables, side tables, lamps, and mirrors have become highly coveted items by interior designers and collectors. His original designs feature wry details like animal feet and the illusion of draped fabric but made in metal or plaster.

Dickinson's African table is an homage to the kind of rough-hewn anthropomorphic objects from that continent.

The following images of his Etruscan chair and table are a combination of historical elements from Greek and Roman furnishings (and even as far back as the Egyptians who put animal feet on stools and small tables) with the neo-classical sensibility of eighteenth century Europe.

His footed and hoofed demi-console, lamp, table, and stool are now iconic.

Another trompe-l'œil effect from Dickinson is his organic stacked stone console table. The unexpected style comes from the fact that it is executed in his hallmark matte white.

His tin console (part of the permanent collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and table look as if they have luxurious linens draped over them, cascading down into box pleats at the corners.This idea was so copied that we now see the idea in acrylic from various manufacturers and designers.

And finally, Dickinson ventured into "faux-bois" territory ("faux-bois" is a style of furniture that rose to favor during the Victorians and featured pieces in cast concrete that resembled rustic log furniture) with his twig lamp and mirror.

His pieces look wonderful as accents in rooms of any style. See if you can spot his pieces in each room below.

And here is a pine wood version of his African table in Dickinson's own San Francisco home, a renovated fire station!

Dickinson's original pieces were made in plaster but Sutherland Furniture has retooled the formula and has reissued some of these pieces in a mix of concrete and fiberglass. You can see and purchase them here. Take a look at the tableau from Sutherland below which features Dickinson's twig lamp and mirror over the tin console.

Happy designing!

Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort

All of us in the design world are pretty excited about the brand new lighting line design icon Kelly Wearstler has created for the extraordinary lighting company Visual Comfort. A collection of chandeliers, wall sconces, and table and floor lamps all feature Wearstler's signature flair for stark geometric shapes and interesting materials. Burnished brass, alabaster, ceramic, quartz crystal, silver leaf, and perforated metals suggest, as most of Wearstler's designs do, both a retro and contemporary sensibility. Current and future clients be forewarned: you should expect a Kelly Wearstler light in your future!

Cleo Desk Lamp

Cubist Chandeliers

Liaison Triple-tier Chandelier

Linden Table Lamps

Marmont Table Lamp in Burnt Gold and White Porous Ceramic

Melange Sconce

Melange Table Lamp

Precision Sconces

Halcyon Desk Lamp

Strada Flush-mount Light

Strada Sconce

Kelly Wearstler for Visual Comfort is available to the trade. If you like what you see, give me a call and we can scatter some gorgeous Wearstler lights around your house!

Happy designing!