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This past weekend, my boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary by visiting the Morgan Library and Museum. We could have spent the entire day in the three-story East Room, the space that still houses John Pierpont Morgan’s collection of rare printed books.. There are secret doors in each corner that lead to the upper levels, and the bookshelves are inlaid with walnut. The architecture reminded me of the apartment Athena Calderone, founder of EyeSwoon, and her husband bought last year in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood.
Its wood-paneled walls, coffered ceilings, and other rich details—added to the circa-1908 building in the 1920s—are a departure from the interior designer and Live Beautiful author’s former Brooklyn home. These days, Calderone is on an Art Deco kick (she even collaborated with Beni on a rug collection that’s partly inspired by her new home’s architecture), so we asked her to share a few things that are fueling her newfound aesthetic.
—Lydia Geisel, home editor
Current Mood
What I’m loving right now: Lacquer. I am deeply attracted to the glam of the high-gloss finish.
Why I love it: Its sheen feels sensual and evocative of a bygone era. In fact, lacquerware has an incredible history, with origins in China as far back as the Neolithic period around 10,000 B.C. Aside from its elaborate decoration, I am fascinated by the labor-intensive process of this traditional art form, which requires collecting resin made from the highly toxic sap of the Rhus verniciflua tree and then building up thin layers that harden to form a waterproof surface. While lacquer objects appear delicate, they are actually quite solid and sturdy, allowing for these pieces to last a lifetime and imbue their elegance into a space for years to come.
I’d recommend it to someone who also likes…and appreciates 1920s design.
My shopping criteria:
French 1920s or ’30s lacquer pieces are always on my radar.
Three places I’ve spotted it in the wild:
- Architect Eileen Gray’s perfectly designed black lacquered wood Brick Screen.