The Wright Stuff

I was talking to my friend Mattie yesterday about Jayne Wrightsman. Some people talk about the weather, the economy, politics...and some of us talk about very important topics like Jayne Wrightsman. (In fact, Mattie is an authority on all things Jayne Wrightsman.) Anyway, the subject of the 1984 Sotheby's Wrightsman auction came up (the contents of her Palm Beach residence were on the auction block), and we were discussing our copies of the catalogue. I found mine at a local bookstore for $6.99, a bargain according to Mattie.

If you can get your hands on a copy, I urge you to do so. Her Palm Beach home and everything in it was top notch, top drawer, and any other superlative one can think of. I suppose that's no surprise as Stephane Boudin first decorated it with later refreshing by Denning and Fourcade, not to mention the house's amazing pedigree: it was built by Maurice Fatio in 1931 and counted the Harrison Williams as former owners.

Really, the furniture, porcelain, silver, and pictures are exquisite, but this post is not about that. What captivated me was the fabric used on the sofas, armchairs, canapés, and bergères. One print used throughout the living room was from Brunschwig I believe, while I'm wondering if another was a Braquenié. This was some serious fabric in prints that unfortunately are not popular today. It makes sense, though. With furniture as fine as this, no ordinary fabric would do.

That's the living room of Wrightsman's Palm Beach home, above. If the room looks familiar, it might be due to this:


Cecil Beaton's drawing of the room during the Harrison Williams' day.



I really believe that this fabric is a Brunschwig & Fils print. There is something about this print that begs for it to be used throughout a room, and it was in the Wrightsman living room at top.



Do you think this is Braquenié's Toile des Indes? I wish the photos were in color, because you can just tell that it's a riot of hues.





I'm not even going to venture a guess as to what these two fabrics are.


And just because I couldn't resist, check out this 19th Indian ivory bed. Perfection.