Baby Steps...

I have previously shared my love of classic cars, vintage car hood ornaments and petrol caps. I fear I may never be able to own a vintage Roller, but I am able to own the vintage hood ornament of one. I found it in an antique shop in Armadale on my recent trip to Melbourne. I think it makes a splendid paper weight for my desk.

These days the figurine of the Spirit of Ecstasy remains the same, but the technology to protect such an ornament from thieving little oinks has been updated...

Actually, it is also a safety mechanism. If the car is hit the ornament immediately retracts as the airbags go off.

The Silver Lady as she is also known was designed by sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes. It was modeled on Eleanor Velasco Thornton, the secretary and secret lover of John Douglas-Scott Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. She died when the cruise ship she was travelling on was torpedoed in 1915 by the Germans. 

Rolls Royce had become concerned that its patrons, caught up in the craze for bonnet decoration, had starting afixing what it considered inappropriate ornaments to their bonnets. Royce decided to commission their own figurine to manage the image of their cars and curb this troublesome craze. At the same time Montagu had commissioned Sykes to make an ornament for the bonnet of his Roller, based on his mistress. Sykes created 'The Whisper' - Eleanor in flowing robes with her finger pressed against her lips intimating the secret of their love. Some refer to this figurine as 'Ellie in her Nightie'.

The first of these ornaments made for Royce was in 1911. They continued to bear Sykes signature until 1951. As my ornament does not carry his signature, I can only conclude that it was made after 1951, but given its size and form it probably dates from the late 50s.

Baby steps. Perhaps, one day... hmmm.

Chimney Stacks and Chimney Pots...

One knows one is down to researching the very last details of building an authentic period country house when one gets down to looking at how one is going to detail the chimneys!

Above: Victorian brick chimney pots. Lovely - but not for a Georgian house!

During the whole research process informative blogs such as Treasure Hunt have provided inspiration for many details. When discussing country house chimneys One can't but mention Burghley House, which we visited recently and will be the subject of another installment of the Great Estates Series.

The rooftop chimneyscape of Burghley...

Photo by Jonathan Foyle

Whilst there are many decorative chimney pots out there...

... we are going to stick to something more Georgian and more country house...

But the winner is this one, which is classic, stylish, and understated...

What's Wrong with Red Trousers?

I happen to own a pair of red trousers which I think are rather spiffing. They are comfortable and fun. I defy anyone to wear a pair and feel anything less than cheerful. Recently I wore my pair of red cords to work (on a non-clinical day). Let's just say they did not receive critical acclaim. 

Now, I can understand that in the fashion backwaters of Dubbo anything that is not a chequered western shirt coupled with RM Williams jeans and boots is considered avante guarde. I was surprised however, that in the last month there have been disparaging remarks on The Now Show and The News Quiz about red trousers. John Finemore has even written a song about them.

 Red trousers are fun...

So I decided to do some digging to find out where the anti-scarlet sentiment was coming from. Not surprisingly the vile Daily Mail had a suitably borish article on the RT. The Guardian weighed in on the issue too before The Telegraph came to the defense of the vermilioned posterior. It seems that much of the recent 'to do' was sparked by a poll, which asked people what they first thought of when they saw someone wearing RTs:

By far and away the first thing people thought was Red, followed by Gay. From all the photos I could find there was nothing that seemed to demonstrate that the RT was a Gay phenomenon (I certainly never received the memo).

There is even an entire blog dedicated to the Red Trouser - the following photos are examples from the blog 'Look at my F... Red Trousers'...

There are a few Hooray Henrys...

But I say...

Blenheim Suite Furnishing and Balloon Chairs...

Last week we finalised and placed the order for all the furniture for Willowbrook. We had been working on the designs for about a year. For much of the house we have designed Chippendale styled furniture to match our own antique pieces. Much of the design was taken directly from Chippendale's Director. 

The pieces are being handmade out of sustainable mahogany. We had to search around many different manufacturers before finding one whose workmanship was passable for authentic period carpentry and whose carving was suitable skillful; but who also had ethically sourced mahogany. There is a one year lead in time for a house lot of furniture, so we had to place the order by the end of October to ensure it arrives on time October next year.

One of the less formal and more fun pieces we chose was a balloon chair for the Blenheim Suite.It will be upholstered in a tuquoise silk to match the Zoffany Manchu wallpaper and the custom designed bed stead, similar to the examples below.

Below: Zoffany's Manchu Turquoise Wallpaper. One can see the pomegranates in this swatch, but not the crimson birds which are very jolly indeed.

The bedstead is in the Chippendale Chinese style, with a gilded bedhead with birds carved into the surround. The birds tie in with the wallpaper and are also replicated in an oriental Chippendale-styled mirror for the suite.

Above: The bed head. What is shown in gray undercoat will be gilded, and the upholstery will be in a Chinese silk to compliment the wallpaper.

Below: Detail of the foot of the bed. Again, the upholstery will be in the same silk as the headboard.

Below: The Oriental Chippendale styled mirror.

It was great fun to design our own furniture. We printed out the entire director along with hundreds of photos of furniture we liked and then cut and pasted all the details together to create the perfect pieces of furniture. The carpentrty firm we are using has been very supportive and onboard with what we are doing, which is also very helpful. And the ever patient Robyn of Aureum Imports and McPherson Architecture has coordinated the whole project and helped us pull it together on time. Many thanks to her.

More Balloon Chairs...

Photos from Tumblr