Time to have MAGIC dining !!

Chers Amis de L’Ecole du Bon Gout, Bonjour!

Ones attitude about “time” is very flexible. Today many people live like they have a “poverty of time”! What gets one to that place is debatable! One possibility could be: our expectations of instant everything, conditioned by all our “electronic helpers” from the push button washing machine, all the way to the computer which has sent this email all round the world in a few seconds!

Somehow in Provence, there seems to be a different “reality of time”. Maybe it is just as simple as choosing different priorities for the use of “time”! Somehow “finding” time to enjoy visiting with friends is quite possible. Having one or even several friends over for a lunch or dinner party is the principle form of entertainment in Uzege in my group of friends and it happens often!!

The food for these entertainments can be as simple as a fresh vegetable salad or if one likes to be creative in the kitchen, more complex dishes could be chosen.

What really makes these events magic is: the beautiful room setting itself, some well chosen background music, the table set with flowers, candles, a spread of great china, silver flatware, hand blown glasses and nice linens! With all these “support elements” working their magic, you could serve a good canned soup and everyone would feel they had been treated to a very special and extraordinary moment!

In my July shipment, there will be some of the nicest “support elements” for dining, that I have had in years! See the following photos of dining entertainments in Provence to get you inspired, followed by photos of some of the “dining support” antiques arriving soon!

Please call me with your questions (337-332-2852), or visit the website at: www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Dining in Style!

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Where it all begins!

     Chers Amis,  Bonjour and bravo for today is the 7th year anniversaire of L’Ecole du Bon Gout!!

     With the idea of promoting the future of good taste, I would like to address today where it all starts.   Childhood is a period when so many life time perceptions, habits, attitudes, values and ways of looking at things are deeply set in an individual’s make up.   I propose that it would be better for a developing child to be interacting with mainly “real” and beautiful things rather than plastic toys and “virtual experiences” provided by computer games etc.  It is hard enough for a child to figure out the true realities of life when the things and experiences are the real ones.

     The first two photos below, I took last week at Musée Carnavalet in Paris. Note they are playing amongst their toys and furniture especially sized for their use!     What a privileged developmental life they must have had!

     Following these are photos of a number of child size pieces of furniture either currently in stock here in Breaux Bridge, or soon to arrive in the shipment from my recent trip to France.        Let the Bon Gout begin at an early age!

     Come by for a visit in person, call 337-332-2852 or view the web site at http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com 

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Louis XV ?? or Louis XVI ???

Chers Amis de L'Ecole du Bon Gout. Bonjour d'Uzes!

     If you look in the background of the first photo below , you will see, in a painting of the Marquis de Marigny, a bronze dore wall sconce which because of its obvious neoclassical design, would be labeled as "Louis XVI style" by most knowledgeable antique collectors. I propose this label needs to be rethought! The painting is dated 1769 and Louis XV is still alive and the king of France until 1774, SVP!

     Being "Director General of Royal Buildings , Gardens, Art, Academies, and Manufactories" made Marigny the most influential style setter of his time, second only possibly to his sister Mme. de Pompadour!! In 1749 he had taken, in the company of the architect Soufflot, the draftsman Cochin and the Abbe LeBlanc, a grand study tour of the ancient monuments of Italy. This "new" firsthand knowledge of the architecture and decorative arts of the ancient world was then infused into the architecture and decorative arts of France. The designs seen in these sconces, the Petite Trianon and even my next door neighbor here in Uzes, the Hotel de Ville (completed in 1772) are all a direct result of this infusion. In my opinion this style could be more accurately labeled: "Late Louis XV style"!

     See following photos of several very similar "Late Louis XV style" sconces, as well as some models with more completely "vegetal" forms of the Louis XV style, now in stock or coming in the summer shipment from here.

Call or come by for a visit in person (337 332 2852) or visit the website at www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Merci cordialement, Robert E. Smith d'Uzes

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

"Change is a good thing!"

Chers Amis de L'Ecole du Bon Gout, Bonjour, Yes! Change helps us see with "new eyes" our everyday surroundings. Changes in the seasons gives us a heightened ability to appreciate the qualities of each new season! We have just arrived, after what was a cold winter, to be more appreciative of the glories of spring's weather, flowers, etc.!!

In eighteenth century interior décor, there also was a tradition of having major changes in sequence with the seasons. There is an 18th century gold snuff box, at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC, which has a very detailed painting on one side showing a lavish salon in summer "dress" and on the other side, the same room in winter "dress". Here one sees an extreme case where not only the seat upholstery, curtains and rugs were being changed out, but also there was a change of the parquet flooring to another different pattern of parquet flooring!! Now this is a true bon gout seasonal transformation for sure!

Regarding seat furniture, the "mechanism" which made their seasonal changes quite easy, involved detailing the chairs and sofas with easily removable back and seat cushions. Such furniture would be called "à châssis". Some of the finished fabric choices for these sets of interchangeable cushions could be tapestry, velour frappe, damask, leather, or for summer there could even have been a set of inserts of caning which would have been a comfortable choice for those warm summer nights!

At Au Vieux Paris Antiques , we are happy to offer for the very first time, a set of six Louis XV, walnut, "chaise à châssis" seen in the photos to follow. Their large size (H 39¼" W 20½" D 20") indicates they were probably part of a set of seat furniture for a salon, however they would also be great as chairs around the dining table. Plan a visit soon to see these rare models as well as the rest of the current stock of bon gout!

337 332 2852 or visit the web site at www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Cordialement d'Uzes, Robert E Smith

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com

Topiaries from down to up???

Chers Amis de L'Ecole du Bon Gout!! Bonjour d'Uzes!! When I arrived here two weeks ago, I knew I wanted to get the courtyard replanted before the marathon of April through May shopping and restoration of the goods began!

Of all the plants I have tried in my court yard, "English Ivy" ( Hedera helix) seemed to prosper the best. It is a native to most all of Europe and western Asia, and here in France it is called "Lierre". You find ancient specimens growing in our local valley with trunks as big as six inches in diameter! But I wanted topiaries, svp!!!

Seeing some great looking ivy hanging baskets at a local florist, an idea was spawned ! Like the "wheel of fortune", what is down can soon be up! Next from a plant store in Nimes, called Truffaut , which has a truly staggering selection of plants ranging from enormous 500+ year old olive trees to miniature petunias, (both conveniently sold in pots, svp), I acquired some metal forms to which I added additional wire spirals. Next the hanging baskets were planted, and after separating them to their various single vines, it was very easy to entwine them up the cone starting with the longest first, which reached just short of the top. The individual leaves were a bit confused after their "down to up" transformation, but after only two days they were perfectly oriented to the sun and very happy! These topiaries were planted in 19th c vase Anduse which have the ability to make even the humblest species of plant like this "English Ivy", into a presentation of total "bon gout"!!

If you happen to need some vase Anduse for your topiary project, there is an assembled set of four 19th c vases, sold in pairs, available now at Au Vieux Paris Antiques ( 337 332 2852 or www.auvieuxparisantiques.com ). Just like the "wheel of fortune", if your spirits are a bit "down", you will certainly bring them "up" if you are inspired to do some topiaries of your very own creation !!!

Cordialement, Robert E. Smith

Visit the Au Vieux Paris Antiques homepage (click here)
Browse a sampling of the merchandise available (click here)

Mes Amities,
Robert E. Smith   (337) 332-2852
http://www.auvieuxparisantiques.com