Amazing Edwardian orientalist Fire Screen

This is a simply amazing Edwardian Fire Screen. The original tapestry  is still present and in fine condition. In our summer inventory but will not last long

Renaissance Revival Hall Table

 A recent acquitsition is this Renaissance Revival hall table.

Lovely top with burgundy velvet ..

Nice design and details all around.

In our shop. Victorian Antiquities & Design, 630 S 15th St in Logansport Indiana.

Summer Collection

2023 Summer collection. A specially currated collection of just some of our current offerrings. Open daily 10-6. Victorian Antiquities & Design , 630 S 15th St in Midtown Logansport

Aesthetic Movement Bespoke Pedistal

 

I have, as of late,  been more involved in doing bespoke one of a kind custom painted pieces. These "art pieces" are my interpretation of the design elements used in the high end furniture makers of the era and take an ordinary piece into a unique piece of "Furniture Art".

The top of the pedistal was worn and damaged and I elected to do an upholstered top with fringe. The fabric was part of a 4 yard end bolt I had acquired years ago and I had been looking for the right piece to use some of on. It has a sort of Aesthetic Movement/ Arts and Crafts design that compliments the piece well.

The stenciled design is one of my flower pattern designs and is similar to stenciling used by manufacturers of the era.

This is what I started with (shown on right ) These art pieces take quite a few hours to do, It is signed and dated under the top so it may not be confused with an antique period orignal, Considering original pedistals by the top Victorian manufacturers of the era sell in the 4-6000 range its an affordable alternative. Available in our showroom.

Aesthetic Movement: Moorish Tete a Tete

 

So this project was special because we took a rather ordinary tete a tete that had seen better days and remade it in spectacular style,

The Aesthetic Movement was all about art and textiles and we chose  a combination of materials that would accentuate the lines and be more period appropriate. From paisleys , to damasks and  a variety of gimps.

The bullion fringe really sets off the piece.

Aesthetic Chair Renewed

 

This chair has a bit of a back story. I acquired in 2002 on my way back from a vacation in New Orleans. we stopped in a little rural antique mall at a highway interchange in Tennessee. 

Amid the obligatory booths of country primitives' and rustic farm ware, tucked in a corner was this chair. Its not everyday you find an Aesthetic Movement Victorian chair in a country antique mall. It was covered in some rather uninspiring red fabric from the 1930's. I got a deal on it because the Dealer had just sold the settee earlier that morning (which I could have bought them both!!!!)

I brought it home and it sat in a back bedroom for years and then was in storage for a period of time. After 18 years I found the right fabrics and began the restoration. The webbing was dry-rotted and I had to completely do  new webbing and cushion for it. A lot of cotton batting and horsehair involved here.

But now that its complete, its is quite grand and definitely a rare example, and yes its staying in my private collection

Dining room Updates: Burgman House

It only took FIVE YEARS to select just the right fabric for the walls of the Burgman Building upstairs residence dining room.

We selected this because it was available in wide width 110" (less seaming) was very high quality and will reflect evening chandelier light well. It will also play well of the ebonized wood wainscot.  Its a copper color with gold. We needed 24 yards

Will do some posts on the installation process once we start install.

Aesthetic Movement Inspired Artist Easel

Reality check...I'm not dropping a couple of grand on an antique easel to fill the corner in  the Persian Parlor...solution...I'll make one.We may offer these in the shop soon. In case you want to reserve a space in line.

We started with a stock artist easel. Some paint, some fringe, some stenciling and here you go.

The fringe hides the plastic wheels

Herter Bros and Neo Grec style Stenciling add some style

We think this would be appropriate in any old house parlor

Making a mantle scarf in the Aesthetic Movement Moorish style

Of course like many we are adjusting to the new normal. While our showroom remains closed we have expanded our in line sales at our Ebay store gallery1884 . That has given me some much needed time on my hands to do some projects for the residence upstairs and one of those has been to do all the textile projects upstairs in our Persian Parlor. I will be detailing some of those projects over the next week or so.

The goal was to do a period style mantle scarf for  our slate mantle upstairs all the while keeping with the very "Aesthetic Movement" nature of the Persian Parlor our large formal parlor. Given the room was painted in 1885 we are not changing anything so we are working with a mostly blue color pallet. We needed to create something that looked authentic and will relate to the formal draperies so we wool the basic design of the valance and adapted it to the mantle scarf.

We used  a combination of materials including a blue damask on top of the shelf. The Moorish Style Jacquard blue and gold fabric, the 5 inch long gold tassel gimp, a smaller 1 1/2 inch tassel gimp and last but not least the burgundy velvet which is one of the accent colors for accessories in the room. All in all I think it works well and looks period. 

Our Town did something: Pandemonium and mayhem will ensue !

Our town "did something" this week...it elected a 28 year old Republican as Mayor and in the only contested city council race, chose a 19 year old Republican for city council.

In less than two minutes after this earth shattering event, and my messenger and my email began filling up with people in a panic..."What does this mean? How could they do this? They elected a kid? We are doomed!!!" Now to be fair most of those people are the same people who don't understand bike lanes either.

Everyone was looking for "meaning". I had a feeling this could happen and had told several people this was possible, although I try to avoid politics as much as possible, don't ever endorse people because I am communication director for Logansport Landmarks, but there was some handwriting on the wall.

The reason? Well there were many. Low voter turnout ( a lot of people are burnt out from the 24/7 political cycle our country is in). This was not considered an "controversial election", there were no big policy issues here. It is hard to tell the difference from the typical Republican or Democrat in this town...typically moderate to conservative, common sense people on either side of the aisle. People will also tell you our soon to be former mayor, Dave Kitchell is a great guy who really cares about his community and has accomplished  a lot  in his four years, He has done a good job,  and I have worked with him on preservation issues and found him to be very responsive. ...however I think the reason for this change is the changing demographic in our community and the people who see Logansport's future,  rather than clinging to its past.

Since 2014 when we moved our home and business here from Indy, MUCH, has changed in Logansport. Our Midtown neighborhood  now has few vacant homes, new ones being built on vacant lots and property values have close to doubled. City wide real estate grew at over 30 percent this year. and of course last year, Logansport was named the number 1 small city you'd actually like to live in....in the United States! by realtor.com . Our business continues to grow and we have had visitors from 40 states now.

But a lot more is going on since we opened. The downtown has two coffee houses downtown. Black Dog Coffee and Intersection  Coffee Shop. Both draw a new crowd, young and old, who "see possibilities" in the downtown.

The Record Farm has become a regional icon among collectors and aficionados of vinyl bringing people in from all over

Air B&B has come to Logansport with several air b&b operations ranging in style from Period traditional to urban loft offerings.

The State Theatre draws crows from far and wide with an eclectic offering of music.

In short, the demographic and perhaps expectations of Logansport are changing. People are moving here from Indy , Chicago, Carmel, Fishers and Westfield. I recently met someone who moved to Logansport , from San Francisco, and loves it here. There are more people here living here now who never hung out at our now dead mall on the east end, never road the railroad, and they don't wax eloquent bout the good ole days downtown, because they are too busy enjoying today and think Logansport, and our downtown, is coming along just fine.

So am I concerned about a young mayor? Yes and no. I understand there will be a learning curve. Most 28 year old's don't probably know that a police car cost 70 grand or a firetruck can run a million, but the fact is that the city council is the primary decision maker of the city. The mayor is basically the ambassador or cheerleader for the city, and hopefully our new mayor may be able to throw a lot of energy into that mix. Time will tell but I'm optimistic. If nothing else we have shed the image of politics as usual and perhaps this is a new beginning and a great start as the city grows and expands.

At a time when the "old guard" is still complaining about bike lanes and waiting for the 'magic factory' that will give everyone without a high school diploma some high paying job...maybe, just maybe...things are changing and a new "brand" for Logansport may occur. A city looking forward, not backwards and not afraid to 'take a risk' to make this city better.