Plain or SPLENDID ???

Chers Amis de L’Ecole du Bon Gout!    Last month, when I was in Paris, as usual I visited one of my favorite museums: Musée Carnavalet .  Possibly in some attempt to be creative, the curators had subtracted various splendid  pieces normally in the period room settings and substituted furniture from the 1990’s .  The flyer accompanying this exhibition, waxed on about “the fluid movement between the past and the present”......”one’s gaze is carried from what was, to what is, and to what could be....”.   Well this erudite experience did not happen for me!!

In the first photo you see a truly splendid 18th c boiserie salon by the cutting edge architect Nicolas Ledoux (B 1736-D 1806), from the grand Parisian town house of none other than the Duc d’Uzes.  The Duc d’Uzes not only had this town house, but also the splendid Duche palace across the street from my home in Uzes, as well as truly sumptuous accommodations at the Chateau de Versailles, with boiserie walls set with large plates of mirror.    I wonder what the 18th c Duc d’Uzes, so accustomed to sumptuosity, would think about this sofa, pillows and screen now in his salon????

Today I sense some sort of “discomfort” with the “fabulous”.   Many seem to be more comfortable with “plain”, “ordinary” and “familiar”.    One strange example of this is if you look around in the first class cabin on an international flight, many occupants of those pricey seats are dressed in “t” shirts , cut offs and flip flops! Well as for me, I think pursuing and enjoying the “fabulous” in this world is the best way to go, be it a grand boiserie salon or a splendid sunset!!

See here some photos of some things I consider splendid, followed by photos of some rather splendid antiques available now at Au Vieux Paris Antiques in case you too are interested in “splendid”!      Vivre le bon gout!!

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

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