Wealth, New York City, politics, modern art, banking . . . the name Rockefeller evokes such strong associations of privilege that most people assume they couldn't pick up anything from their style. After all, what room wouldn't be improved by a Renoir or Picasso? What dinner wouldn't be beautified by a service made for Napoleon?
Looking over the Peggy & David Rockefeller auctions, though, there's a lot to be gleaned by the average decorator. The areas in which they chose to collect (apart from blue chip art and gems) are both indicative of their milieu and easy to imitate, with high quality reproductions or inspired modern products:
- Granny's antique porcelain dinner and dessert services, with hits from virtually every active region of creation in the 18th and 19th centuries (Sèvres, Coalport, Minton, Wedgwood, Edo period Japanese, Chinese export, Herend, Meissen, etc.)
- lots of coats and crests engraved on silver, almost all George II & George III, with emphasis on tea and chocolate pots and salvers/waiters/trays
- animalia in textures from Meissen porcelain figurines to vintage wooden duck decoys
- exotic souvenirs including Greek relief pottery, gilded Buddhas, Chinese watercolors, African masks, and Persian miniature paintings
- English furniture, again almost all George II & George III, with a focus on veneers and inlays in amboyna, amaranth, and fruitwoods
- Americana: hurricane lamps, naïve portaits and nautical paintings, southwestern Native artifacts
- comfy Victoriana: andirons, tea caddies, bedwarmers
The classic palette is also of note: hallway and kitchen walls are ivory; rooms for entertaining are mustard yellow, cherry red, apple green, and papered; rooms for relaxation and reflection are wood paneled. Floor length curtains with matching pelmets are the only sort of window treatment, with chintzes featuring prominently. Upholstery is the aforementioned chintz, silk damask, cotton velvet, or needlepoint. Rugs are antique Oriental carpets only.
Finally, the arrangement of objects is very classic: art and lighting is always centered, tablescapes always symmetric, lamps and side tables only come in pairs, every mantel is furnished with a garniture. Lighting comes from sconces, chandeliers and table lamps, no overheads or standing lamps. Folding screens artfully hide doors; most every surface has a decorative bowl or grouping of humorous porcelain figures flanked by a pair of table lights. Display cabinets abound, and mirrors are set up to reflect careful arrangements of objects, rather than expand the feeling of space.
The online sale lasts a week, starting May 1st, and there are several items with estimates below $1000. If you need a special touch or conversation piece for a room, these are my picks:
