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The Power of Love ... at Home

The Power of Love ... at Home

Oct 23, 2020

Display of antique objects from Lee Stanton's home

Lifestyle changes usually happen over years and even decades. If you are like me, you can remember your lifestyle changes at home. Remember when living at home meant living with your parents? And then with roommates? Remember when you finally had a home you could call your own? Remember when you furnished your first home and the compromises you had to make? 

Then priorities changed. You got busy with your career and social life. Long days at the office, lengthy commutes, travel and late nights out with clients or friends limited your life at home. In essence you became an empty nester from our own home.

Recent events have changed our lifestyles once again and more rapidly than we ever expected. We are now spending more time at home with those compromised things in our homes. We are living in a space that we never finished or with things we "just got" to fill a space or serve a purpose thinking they “will do” for the time being. We never really “loved” them. We never really thought of them as a long term investment. We thought that we would eventual replace them. However, we never got around to it because we were busy with other priorities in our lives.

As an antiquarian, I am fortunate that the things that I have lived with in my home over the years have come and gone allowing me to edit and live only with the things I love. Whether it’s by the nature of my profession as a curator of antiques or the joy of being a collector with the satisfaction of upgrading my collection, I have managed to edit and eliminate the things I could live without and keep only the things I still love to this day. As a result, the more time I spend at home, the more I appreciate the things in my home from a different perspective. They have evolved with me. They tell stories. They tell my story. 

      
Home of late gallerist Karten Schubert 
via World of Interiors

With this in mind, I am reminded of an article in World of Interiors about a gallerist and collector in London who curated his home as he did his gallery. The photos from his home provided a visual understanding of his life through his belongings. As we all look forward to once again have guests into our homes, this story begs a big question. Do the belongings in your home provide an understanding of where you have been and where you are in your life. Are they a proper reflection of your life and what you love?

I feel a sense of pride when clients tell me that no matter how much their home has evolved they still get joy from the items that were sourced from me. There is a sense of satisfaction in knowing that as their lifestyles changed, especially as they spend more time at home, their love for these items remained constant and maybe even got stronger over time.

There is no doubt about it, our lifestyles have changed in a matter of months. We are realizing new priorities. As we spend more time in our homes, we are questioning the things in our homes. With this in mind, I say love it or let it go. Start a new relationship. Move on from the things you have “just lived with” over the years and start living with the things you love. Start realizing the power of love...at home.

- Lee 


Age Is Beauty

Age Is Beauty

Mar 19, 2020
There is no argument that antiques add a level of experience, knowledge and sophistication to our homes. They bring a layer of history, culture and character into our homes that we may have never otherwise experienced. When we think of antiques, we often think about fine and well-preserved antiques sought out by museums and serious collectors that are admired but hardly touched. However, antiques are often overlooked because of their patina that can actually bring texture and endearing beauty into even the most edited and or grandest of homes. The patina from age and the life that it has led humbles the historical, cultural and sophisticated experience. It adds a sense of familiarity and comfort just as just as a gentle smile of a favorite aunt, uncle or grandparent adds to our life. They come with a story that we can learn from and share with others. With that in mind, I suggest we explore the aging process and perhaps even consider objects with patina as an art form and embrace the patina that incurs with age as beauty.

Let’s start with furniture. We have all seen wood from a lumberyard. It usually is soft, porous and aesthetically one-dimensional. For that reason wood is often cured. The curing process allows the wood to release moisture, protects against decay, prevents it from warping and helps prepare the wood to receive surface finishes. Let’s relate this process to something we can savor. We don’t enjoy wine from grapes when they are first pressed. Wine makers usually put them first into stainless tanks to control temperature, stabilize and begin the fermenting process.

After the wood is cured it is used to make new furniture. What characteristics do you think wood has at this stage? It probably lacks the characteristics that wine lacks after first sitting in stainless steel tanks. As we know wine is aged in wood barrels. Fine winemakers transfer the wine into wood barrels to continue the slow and more natural process and allow the wine to age and take on the rich characteristics we all enjoy.

The fermentation and aging of wine is perhaps the most important aspect of creating an outstanding finished product. The aging process can make the difference between producing a mediocre product versus an award winning wine with characteristics that discerning tastes savor and appreciate.

Leather, metal and pottery also take on a discerning patina as they age that is hard to accomplish with items that have not been enjoyed and cared for offer time.

Taking the patina process to the next level, let’s consider raw objects in their purest state. Items such as workbenches, wine tasting tables, comfy leather club chairs and industrial pieces that were never really intended to be refined but rather used and abused. These pieces actually celebrate imperfection. The deconstructed nature of some of these pieces can actually become a work of art with a structural and modernist characteristic that cannot be intentionally duplicated. And don’t we all appreciate that sense of individuality? Imagine the satisfaction from something that is unique and will always be unique because no one can copy it. Savor that evolution from years of use, enjoyment, and care. Take pride in embracing a piece that earned it beauty and personality in it’s own right.

As British designer, Jasper Conran states in the attached video tour of his grand home in which we he embraces the pure along with the impure, “Patina is character. It represents the life an object and gives it soul. 
 

                         In Residence: Jasper Conran | via NOWNESS


LET'S GET COMFY

LET'S GET COMFY

Nov 20, 2019

Apartamento Magazine

François Halard via Apartmento Magazine

Comfort has come a long way from wooden and stone benches in the Middle Ages when it was thought that the body was diametrically opposed to the soul and that the body pulled us toward the sinful, sensual and earthly ways rather than the godly, spiritual and divine ways. The Renaissance was not only a fervent period of cultural, artistic, political and economic rebirth. It was also a period when we began to embrace the body in addition to the soul and the concept of comforting our body led to the development of comfort in the home. We started to see pillows on those hard benches in the 1600’s and eventually the concept of integrating comfort into a functional piece of furniture ie. upholstered furniture during the Elizabethan period in England and the Louis XIV period in France. Needless to say, it didn’t take long until the upholstered chair, settees, chaise lounges, canapes, daybeds and not to mention love seats became proliferate in Europe as well in England.

Needless to say comfort evolved and we saw entire rooms dedicated to comfort. ie. living or drawing rooms with the sofa as the mainstay. Sofas complete with designs that integrated carved wood frames integrated with upholstery were common in these earlier eras until the chesterfield in England retired the carved frames and introduced a fully cushioned yet still tailored sofa.

The delicate carved wood frames with swirls, stars, animals and angel wings were replaced with straight lines and geometric carved frames until the wood frame completely disappeared into the simplicity of the fully upholstered sofa as we know it today.

Ok enough about the evolution of the sofa. You are probably wondering about couches and how they fit into this story. It is said that sofas evolved from chairs with backs and arms to sit on whereas couches evolved from daybeds and chaise lounges. They did not have traditional arms and backs and were intended to lay on. Sofas are typically larger than couches and accommodate more
people to sit in a social setting where people congregate such as a sitting room, living room and family room. Couches are smaller and usually more comfy for you to lay on alone or more intimately with another usually in a more private area of the house such as a lounge or bedroom. Simply speaking, I like to think of them as a sofa for social or a couch to slouch.

Tufted Sofa, England circa 1880 via Lee Stanton 

Sources:
1st Photo:François Halard via @ApartamentoMagazine Instagram
2nd Photo: WRJ Design via @RushJenkins Instagram
3rd Photo: Clements Design via Architectural Digest

 


The Rise and Fall of Industrial Furniture

Sep 18, 2017

Finding their way into our homes, industrial furnitures have become statement pieces because of their strength in form and function. However, have you ever thought of where they came from and why they are in our homes instead of the factories and workshops where they were originally used?

 

Metal postmasters desk (AX7)

The workshops where the blacksmith, woodworker or glassblower painstakingly created objects by hand have given way to assembly lines with automated equipment. The interesting workbenches, handsome metal chairs, and unusual cabinets for specific tools in these workshops are more coveted today than the works of art these cratsment created. Unfortunately, most people today don't appreciate hand forged, hand carved and blown glass objects. As a result, these workshops have closed and the contents sold for us to enjoy in our homes.

When I travel to Italy, Belgium and France I can't help but notice the abandoned factories. Mills in Italy that produced beautiful silk fabrics, factories in Belgium that produced wonderful Belgium Linens, potteries in France what produced fine pottery and porcelains all closed and abandoned because of less expensive imports from the far east.

 

Photo: Atlas Obscura

These grand and beautiful structures made of brick and stone with metal windows, now abandoned and left with broken panes, were built in the prosperous days of the evolving industrial revolution. Again, the pride in the products these craftsmen produces is exemplified by the contents of the factories in which they were created. As I mentioned, these were prosperous times and the furnishings in these factories were often beautifully designed by the likes of MacKintosh, Le Corbusier, Perriand, Eames, Magistretti, and Jacobson. Today, these sleek and strong architectural objects now adorn our homes with a renewed purpose.

 

Photo: Atlas Obscura

As we put these handsome pieces in our homes, let us remember that the strength of their form represents the strength in their former functional life. Let us appreciate the cultural and economic history they represent. After all, the availability and rise in popularity of these industrial pieces in their second lives today are the result of the decline of the purpose for which they were originally intended.  


Do You Judge a Book by the Cover?

Aug 17, 2017

The Look vs Substance

 

We have all experienced it. We see something from a distance that has the right look, but when we get up close, we realize something is not right; it's a knock off. 

Whether it's clothing that we plan to wear in public, or a piece of furniture that we put in our home for our friends to see and us to enjoy, do we really think that we are the only ones that are going to notice that something is off, not right, or simply not the real thing?  

Replica distressed wood and rusted iron cannot compare to the original; Trestle Table (BC57)

Do we really think that the ladies we lunch with are not going to notice that knock off designer bag? Do we really think we are the only ones with proper vision, or the discerning eye for what is right or wrong? Do we even care what is right or wrong?  

Replica distressed leather does not provide the same luster as the original; Borge Mogensen sofa (BD172)

Do we really think that the friends visiting our homes are not going to notice that our supposedly 'curated' furniture actually consists of objects that lack the substance, quality, or real factor that we desire and they expect? Do we really think they will not notice the patina not eh bookcase is sprayed on, or the the hand carving is really pressed fiberboard? 

The hyper-shine on the replica reflects its incorrect proportions and form; Postmasters Desk (AX7)

When I shop for pieces for my showroom, I always have to have two sets of eyes. One set that is looking for great items with "the look", and another set that looks at the construction, the finish and the over all purity of the piece.  

Tufts in all the wrong places; authentic tufted chair (AZ116)

I know I must sound like Miranda Priestly in the classic cerulean blue sweater scene in The Devil Wears Prada. But really? I don't know which is worse, not caring about the difference, or thinking we are the only ones sophisticated enough to recognize quality and know the difference. 


Every Piece Tells a Story

Jul 28, 2017

As clients visit my showroom and admire the antiques, they often ask me about their history and, after an explanation, they inevitably respond, "wow, every piece must tell a story." 

It's true. When people purchase a piece and place it in their home, they are adding a story and a bit of character to their home. 

The candlestick that once provided light to read a book of poetry, now adorns our table as an object to enjoy and create ambiance within our rooms. 

 

Photo: Pinterest

We enjoy our morning coffee at a vend age table that once unfolded from a corner in a wine cellar, enabling previous owners to sit and taste wine from aged barrels. 

The wing-back chair that once shielded against the draft in cold homes warmed by fireplaces and coal furnaces, now is a design feature that provides stately character to our living room. 

 

Photo: Pinterest

The partners desk that once sat two people to conserve the space of two desks in a small room, now provides a large surface to spread out our projects in our spacious libraries or home offices today.

The portrait of a grandfather or a famous distant cousin is now the painting of some handsome guy in our hallway.  

The bookcase that once housed the books that people actually read for entertainment, curiosity or knowledge, now display our interesting curiosities, good-looking books and flat screen monitors, which enable us to watch videos, search google or research on wikipedia. 

 

Photo: Pinterest

The tea caddies that once stored cherished teas, now adorn our bookcases or sit on our end tablets store the remote control devices.  

I can't help but think that as our lives become more complex, the purposes of these interesting pieces have become more simple. 

So yes, as we live our busy, complicated and modern lives, stop and think about the stories told by the objects in our homes. Think about the history and original function of these great pieces, as they now have a renewed purpose in our homes today.  


Art of the Tuft

Jan 14, 2017

The chesterfield, an iconic staple of British furniture, epitomizes the sophistication and charm of English lifestyle. It was the 4th Earl of Chesterfield that requested a sofa that would allow a gentleman to sit upright in the utmost of comfort without wrinkling the garment. Ever since the creation of the chesterfield in the mid 18th century the style has continued to live on. The details revealing themselves in different furniture styles and eras, from the traditional wingback armchairs seen in libraries to midcentury designs in Paris.

A leather tufted wingback chair (sold)

The style of the tufting varies according to the furniture's designer. For example, these chesterfield chairs from Sweden have a very shallow tuft yet the stitching is iconic chesterfield. The ebonized carving of the wood legs in the style of chinoiserie design make this pair of chairs quite unique.

A pair of Swedish Chesterfield chairs with ebonized chinoiserie carved base and legs (BD152)

The English furniture style, while sometimes overly traditional, lives on through new mediums and eras. The iconic Barcelona chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich draws tufting inspiration from the chesterfield while being applied to an architecturally new body shape just as this Danish egg chair does by designer H.W. Klein.

A leather tufted egg chair with foot stool by Bramin in Denmark (sold)

As trends continue to evolve so will designer's inspiration. However, one thing remains constant, traditional English furniture will always be an inspiration and will never go out of style.

A single tufted cognac leather chair (sold)
A pair of tufted upholstered original leather chairs (BC151)
A leather tufted stool bench (BD95)
A leather upholstered ottoman (BA57)
A Gainsborough arm chair with original leather upholstery (AM17)

Cheers To The New Year

Dec 31, 2015

As I reflect into the past year, I am grateful for all my creative friends and colleagues who give me encouragement, inspiration and support to curate a collection of beautiful objects from the past in their interiors and in their projects. I am also grateful for the lifestyle that is associated with my career from the buying trips abroad and the beautiful things I find on these trips to the relationships that have evolved from my lifestyle. I am also grateful for the success of the Legends event and the people that help make it such pivotal event in our industry.

 View more at leestanton.com or stashla.com