I recently had the rare opportunity to meet and see Michael Savoia with his exceptionally crafted embroidery and linens at a gathering with other designers in which Mary Douglas Drysdale hosted and was so kind enough to include me.
Mary had recently used embroidery by Villa Savoia on the alpaca drapery panels in her room at the RSOL Design House. The designs in this room and the ones Michael showed us were all stunning and all hand done by Michael. Unfortunately, since I was without a smart phone (I’m holding out for the day when Apple allows Verizon to compete with AT&T for the iPhone), Susan Jamieson of Bridget Bearie Designs was kind enough to allow me to use hers from her post in this one.
Other designers, Gloria Blalock, Paul Fogg (Janus et Cei) and Scott Cooke were just as spellbound as I was to see such handiwork.
It’s rare to find this caliber of fine artisan craftsmanship with such precise attention to exquisite detail and execution. Especially when Michael mentioned Lesage’s work to me, I can easily see a museum exhibition showcasing such work for fine embroidery and linens.
There is so much history, with Lesage, dating back to supplying embroidery and linens to Napoleon III and embroidery in general that having an exhibit would be a wonderful way to bring knowledge of this work to all. As I was an Art History major, I’m fascinated with this stuff!
Michael does a wonderful job of highlighting his work and examples of embroidery and linens on his blog Villa Savoia, Inc., and Lesage’s photo gallery below as well as Lesage’s work used by Francois-Joseph Graf, are well worth the visit to see more.
Footnote: my early experience with professional interior design was when I worked as an intern while in high school for Gerrie Bremmermann, a New Orleans interior designer, who happens to be the mother of Ann Holden of Holden & Dupuy. Coincidentally Rhonda, below, does the [All the] best post on Bremmermann Designs and Perch does another post on the 2 Anns of Holden & Dupuy Interiors. Strangely life’s events converge.
Well, the next past week was equally as fascinating. I was lucky to be included on Rhonda Carman’s guest list to attend a SFERRA fine lines event at Timothy Paul Carpets + Home that she organized for another amazing group of talented designers. Mary was supposed to be there but was stuck in traffic coming back from Richmond and a photo shoot of her room for an upcoming issue of Traditional Home. I was pleased to meet Rhonda and discover that we have mutual friends in New Orleans, as well as meeting other designers, Malcom James Kutner, Bary Dixon again and Tricia Huntley, with whom I had a delightful conversation about the business of blogging and how much time it takes. I’ve enjoyed reading Luxe & Lucid, her “irreverent dialog about all things design” blog, as she describes,”is a platform for saucy dialog about interiors, fashion, life and love!”
Rhonda mentioned that she and her entourage were staying with Barry Dixon later that evening and here is her account. She has a way of getting famous folks to express their everyday side and this is lovely to see because it’s unexpected and a very pleasant thing to witness. I remember having the privilege of visiting Elway, Barry Dixon’s gorgeous home, with my volunteer group a couple years ago. It was one of the most down-to-earth and educational experiences at the same time.
Learning more about SFERRA’s luxurious and sophisticated linens is another pleasure. The company began in Italy in 1891 by Gennaro Sferra as a purveyor of fine hand-crafted Italian lace. It expanded in 1905 with a factory in Venice and then the entire production was moved to the United States in 1912 and passed down through the next generation of Sferra sons. In 1977 the company changed hands when Paul Hooker and his partner, George Matouk, purchased SFERRA, which is presently celebrating 116 years of luxury. I like their clever slogan, “Lose Count, there’s more to your bedding than a thread number.” Listen to Aaron Stewart, SFERRA’s Creative Director’s helpful explanation. Here are just a few of their many examples on their website.
Timothy Paul is the only store in DC to carry SFERRA and the Kelly Werstler collection.
Timothy Paul Carpets & Textiles + Bedding & Home, by the way offers an abundance of home products. Mia, the owner was our gracious host but I didn’t feel I had the focus being in such company to really observe all that they had to offer, so I am eager to return. It’s in the hip Logan Circle/ U Street corridor sandwiched between the Studio Theatre and the Black Cat with Cork & Fork and Mitchell Gold right across the street. I could make a day and night of this. It was interesting to discover, btw, that they launched about the same time we did. A testament to surviving tough economic times.
And in circling back to embroidery, SFERRA offers their Madison pillow that I think is pretty divine, with its elaborate embroidered flowers in some of my favorite colors. Their description is, “A smart little pillow with a delightfully fun ruffled flange.” Luckily for me and the other attendees we walked away with a very nice goodie bag, including a set of SFERRA Festival cocktail napkins, the perfect thing to wet our appetite.
Now the Sound of Music song is just spontaneously playing in my head…“And these are just a few of my favorite things” as well as being inspirational for Casart Coverings.
— Ashley
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