Obsolete

Uncommon objects; impossibly rare and infrequently found. If one can't breeze down to Obsolete in Main Street, Venice (CA), then a virtual thumb-through of the ever-changing inventory is mandatory. The mind boggles. Expect the unexpected... 

Anatomical chart depicting the nervous and sections of the skeletal system

Germany, circa 1831 (same as above)

Vascular Anatomical Chart of the Human Body (Germany circa 1880-1900)

Unusual color blue on paper backed linen (same as above)

Educational Anatomical Chart, France circa 1910

Another layer of the above chart

Detail from the above chart

Obsolete here

Through the Looking Glass (VII)

The seventh in the Through the Looking Glass series of photographs.

Villa Carlos via here

Photographer: Michael Himpel

In the Ring with Brooklyn Circus

My cohorts from Shine Creative told me that the coolest guys on the planet were coming into town to investigate the slew of vintage, thrift, salvage and quirk in Baltimore. I'm in, I thought. And we had an absolute blast with Ouigi 'The Bearded Man' and Colin, the Circus Trainer from Brooklyn Circus - a fashion-forward trend-setting boutique with a huge celebrity following and, to quote from their website, Visionaries fueled by a common purpose: Style, Character and The 100-Year Plan. 

These guys have the big picture down. They couldn't have been more fun or gracious as we sniffed out bargain basements in Value Villages, Village Economy Thrift, and Housewerks - the preeminent architectural antiques and salvage repository in Baltimore. Add to that DeBois, (which happened to be rather successful for me - a gorgeous floor length black dress heavily embroidered in gold, an orange and navy belt and an irrepressible safari giraffe-y dress, which would guarantee spontaneous combustion, should one choose to brush past a candle). 

Then on to Italian sandwiches consumed on a stoop near Lexington Market courtesy of Trinacria, followed by a jolly good rummage through the vast basement of H&H - an army surplus store (instant green/khaki/olive heaven!) Oh, and did I mention, it was hotter than July...

Ouigi, The Bearded Man

Colin, The Circus Trainer

Plaster Joseph - Housewerks

Colosseum model (Housewerks)

Housewerks

The elusive antler chandelier reflected in the mirror

One of the many vintage photographs

Plus cool

Housewerks

Haunting

Vintage switchboard detail (Housewerks)

Housewerks

Jamie Campbell and I getting our Karen Blixen on (H&H)

Take your pick (H&H)

Just in case one needs a hip wader (for vipers in the water)

All photographs by Philippa Berrington-Blew

It almost turns my head out of joint...

When surfing foreign websites, my most considerate computer politely offers to translate the text into English. I can't resist for sheer entertainment value...

It almost turns my head out of joint when you look at the ceilings of the Tessin Palace. A lavish pictorial world of Baroque is opening up. With the help of skilled restorers have cracks in the color disappeared and ceilings restored.

Lost in translation? Not at all. In fact, I think it just adds to the charm.

But I digress... the following images, showing details of the recently restored ceiling in the Palace of Nicodemus Tessin the Younger in Stockholm, speak for themselves. And, it tickles me that in the translation, the pre-restored condition of the ceiling is termed an 'injury'. It is a rather good credo with respect to rehabilitation, reclamation and preservation...

A piece of the parlor cornice

The Atrium

The Philosopher Diogenes

All images and research from here

Veruschka

A true lioness, purring seductively for the camera, Countess Vera Gottliebe Anna von Lehndorff (aka Veruschka) marked her territory as one of the great iconic it-girls. Her astounding background includes, quite notably, her father, a Prussian Count — who after being found to have been involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler — was hanged when Vera was three. Her extraordinarily adventurous life (more here) was colored by stints working with Salvador Dali, Peter Beard in Africa and a brief, but unforgettable, appearance in Michaelangelo Antonioni's Blowup. Journalist Naomi West, writing for The Telegraph in 2003, exclaimed that: 

"Veruschka was no ordinary 60's model; a German Countess, she could be anything from Greta Garbo to a leopard in a tree."

Franco Rubartelli (her lover for a while)

Photograph by Richard Avedon

Franco Rubartelli

Franco Rubartelli

Yves Saint Laurent Campaign by Franco Rubartelli

Franco Rubartelli

Franco Rubartelli

Franco Rubartelli

 Images from here and here

Through the Looking Glass (VI)

The sixth in the Through the Looking Glass series of photographs.

Via Pinterest (My What Nice Presentation You Have) 
Harper's Bazaar 1963

Contemporainstudio, Barcelona

Designer, Lázaro Rosa-Violán, once stated: "The interior designer is an actor. He must dress up and change roles, understand new identities and integrate them with his own." Lazaro is at one with his statement. In this creation - his eye, his sense of timelessness in design and his understated luxury is evident in the home studio he occupies in Barcelona (a former cotton warehouse). Truly, the pinnacle of his visual language. I have my heart set on the starburst mirror, the giant molecular/constellation cluster-like canvases and, as for the grey-tiered glass pendant chandeliers, possibly Venini... there are no words!

Australian Vogue Living has also featured the above-mentioned studio cum apartment, and while these photos are lo-res scans, I thought I would share them anyway, as there are some additional perpectives of interest (the demi-lune window and the unfinished herringbone floors to boot).

Photographs found in Australian Vogue Living and the Lázaro Rosa-Violán website,

via John About Town