As one person described Arthur Court's San Francisco shop, "it's a world of wonders - elegant and exotic". A new and innovative aluminum casting process led Arthur and Arthur Court Designs into a new era. His unique aluminum furniture and accessories featured cast antler chandeliers, chairs, tables and bookcases. Department stores across the United States brought his aluminum creations to loyal followers and collectors; reupholstered in brown cowhide.
purchased in Rome in the 1980's, the well-carved chubby winged putti in opposing stances and poised on one foot over a rock-work base; depicting the grape harvest also known as the allegory of autumn (see detail image of Jean-Jacques Lagrenée's 'Putti Harvesting Grapes'); interior image courtesy 'Edward Lobrano Interior Design', NYC; excellent antique condition with overall rubbing to refreshed gilding
each cube-form chair with 'floating' backrest above a tubular chromed steel base; newly upholstered in a butter-yellow velvet with foam wrapped down cushion and seat; minor wear to chrome; Milo Baughman (American, 1923–2003) was a furniture designer who was born in Goodland, KS. After studying at the Art Center School of Los Angeles and the Chouinard Art Institute, he joined Frank Brothers as a custom furniture designer. In 1947, Baughman established Milo Baughman Design, Inc.
Each beautifully decorated chest with concave top with canted corners above a conforming body fitted with 2 short over 2 long drawers all raised on splayed bracket feet; with overall red ground and gilt decorated chinoiserie motifs including bird, floral and vine, architectural follies and waterscapes; good antique condition with refreshed surface; professionally restored with overall craquelure and patina; japanning possibly later
Hollywood Regency lounge chairs from the Sophisticate Collection for Tomlinson, 1950's; each stylish walnut and upholstered lounge chair with convex front and incurved back fitted with a loose seat and back cushions; raised on turned supports at the front with splayed legs at the rear; excellent vintage condition; professionally refinished and reupholstered
each tall and finely crafted fluted bronze hall tree adorned with finely detailed gilt-bronze neoclassical decoration with berry finials, bows, ribbons, and tassels centering a trophy with lyre; the dramatic medusa mask emanating writhing snakes (for coats) with coiled snakes further down the shaft (for umbrellas); all over a square openwork base; purchased in 1994 from Leah's Antique Gallery, New York City (receipt attached); in good antique condition with minor wear to gilding and bronze; some oxidation to bases
each neoclassical open armchair with beaded framed oval back above a bowed tight seat over a beaded apron flanked by scrolled arms and uprights with acanthus carving; raised on reeded and fluted supports with acanthus collar and ending in a spheroid foot; wear and patina to refreshed painted surface; sturdy frame and good antique condition with new upholstery
the lushly painted still life depicting a woven basket full of finely painted bearded irises, parrot tulips, hydrangeas and peonies with discreetly painted bees and a snail; all resting on a draped table; good antique condition; signed lower left: M. Luber München; height: 36" (overall) 26.75" (canvas), width: 28" (overall) 18.5" (canvas); Max Luber (1879-1950) was a German academic painter who studied and worked in Munich. His paintings primarily depict lush, dark still lifes in the Flemish style.
a good example of American Abstract Expressionism by established contemporary artist Jan Wunderman, depicting stacked asymmetrical rock-like forms, which is rooted in the artist's nod towards nature; painted in translucent tones retaining a rich and strong color sense which is part of the artist's vocabulary; signed 'wunderman' lower left; good overall vintage condition with minor wear to the canvas; some scratches to the wooden frame
epoca presents San Francisco Artist, William Stanisich, Watercolors and other works "The world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty, the beauty of speed." -- Filippo Marinetti In brilliant colors complemented by velvety blacks and the virginal white of untouched paper, William Stanisich’s nocturnal street scenes are a paradoxical combination of speed and utter stillness. In these virtuoso watercolors, every surface pictured, wet with rain, has been transformed into a vehicle for light. The paintings themselves tell their story, of color applied and moved; of how an artist can take water, paper, and pigment and make moving pictures--in more than one sense of the word. Studying them, you can almost hear the sound of cars on wet pavement; of horns and engines, speeding away from you, into the night.
Holiday Entertaining: Red, Green & Gold, these colors are nothing, if not festive! epoca's cocktail and bar cart combination draws on these definitive holiday hues for a most glamorous and celebratory soiree, Pomegranate and Cranberry Mojitos served on a PAIR of Glam Mid-century Hollywood Regency Bar Carts! Remember "Christmas Comes But Once a Year"
Paul T. Frankl, October 14, 1886 – March 21,1958 / Johnson Furniture Co. 1908 - 1983, Grand Rapids, Michigan
An émigré from Austria, Frankl settled in New York in 1914 and quickly saw a country awash in reproductions of uncomfortable European styles. From the start, Frankl took a different approach, designing sleek, unadorned pieces that reflected advances in American technology and changes in culture. In the early 1950s Johnson Furniture Company produced several lines by Paul Frankl, among them the “Contemporary” line, incorporating an early use of biomorphic designs.
Modern, inside-out Paul T. Frankl's sleek simplicity gave rise to a California look.
L.A. Times Article August 16, 2007 by Bettijane Levine
"Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design.", Christopher Long, Yale University Press, 2007
epoca Holiday 2017 drinks: A polished, proper & posh pairing certain to impress: Queen Elizabeth's Gin & Dubonnet and an English Art Deco Demi Lune Bar
In honor of International Women's Day, epoca highlight's the work of an amazing mid-century female sculptor, Joanna Gichner Kendall. Joanna Gichner Kendall (b. 1899, Baltimore, MD. d. April 20, 1989) A portrait sculptor, she fulfilled numerous commissions for portrait busts of notables, including President John F. Kennedy and Will Rogers .
With a nod to forties-era glam, we pair a sophisticated Regency style bar cart with a signature cocktail from New York's Legendary "Stork Club". While this may not be your standard holiday cocktail, it's definitely an impressive drink to serve guests this season! A sophisticated French 1940's Regency Style Ebonized And Bronze Mounted Drinks Cart In The Manner Of Maison Jansen, Paris 1940's and "The French 75" cocktail.
epoca's "Seventies Style Fun" pairs a cleverly-designed French 1970's minimal, mod and metamorphic bar table with a sweet holiday take on the mad 1970's favorite: Holiday Grasshoppers. Guaranteed to transform any ho-hum-holiday get-together into Mad Mod Fun-Silly-String Style!
Epoca in the pages of this Fall's Luxe Interior + Design San Francisco Edition:
"The fabulous 1950's are in at epoca with this midcentury modern pair of English ebonized benches featuring "floating" saddle seats of luxurious leather. Designed by G-Plan, England, these benches satisfy the postwar craving for a modern lifestyle, 17"H x 19.5"W x 16" D... "
