More Tony Duquette and out and about in L.A.

While we were visiting Hutton and Ruth Wilkinson's fabulous Casa Contessa we were treated to a peek at Tony Duquette's iconic and inimitable Dawnridge.

A 1960's portrait of Tony Duquette by Marion M Pike. Many notables sat for her including Coco Channel, Norton Simon, Zubin Mehta, Rosalind Russell, and Ronald Reagan.

 

The main reception room is magnificent theater. Abalone panels made by Duquette with spray paint and glue, signature sunburst lighting, corals, golds, and whimsical Duquettery conjures a lost temple hidden in a jungle.  Until you look up at the ceiling!

This Venetian murano glass masterpiece cascades a perennial bouquet of lilies and light over the drawing room. Ventian style inspired Duquette, as Venice epitomizes the confluence of grand European and opulent Eastern design.  Carnivale masks and fancy dress were the Duquette signature entertainment. Elizabeth Duquette, adored wife of Tony nick-named Beegle, painted the entry doors to the house, setting the stage. 

Industrial salvage columns anchor the torchieres flanking the doors,buffed and sprayed in gold.  Theater set people were the original smoke and mirrors preceeding the current DIY movement. Hutton Wilkinson, Tony's creative partner, and current president and creative director of Tony Duquette, laughingly calls them his ironic columns. 

 

Lavish passementerie trim detailing around the door moldings in the entrance halls are the non plus ultra. Talk about industrious bees, the house was their life, their workshop, and mad design laboratory.

 Duquette archives via Kohler/Baker

Loretta Young wears her Tony Duquette mask at the bal de tête in Los Angeles. Here Tony and

Loretta accept first prize for her mask. Friends, we so did miss cafe society.

 The famed "meuble" that Tony Duquette created for Elsie de Wolfe, who later became Lady Mendl, was returned to the Duquettes through her estate. This was the secretary that launched a thousand interior design jobs, as Elsie de Wolfe, grande dame that she was, promoted him internationally. 

Detail of the inset

Brilliant Hutton Wilkinson has turned it into a knock out fabric for Jim Thompson's Duquette line.

 

Stacy Kunstel of Stacy Style and Annie Selkie of Pine Cone Hill and author of Fresh American Spaces, dressed for the occasion. It was also great  to finally meet fellow blogger Stacey Bewkes of Quintessence, who has also published her take on the wonderful hospitality bestowed by the Wilkinsons. 

Thank you Hutton and Ruth for all your amazing hospitality to the bloggerati during the Design Bloggers Conference! And.. if you haven't seen Hutton's dazzling designs for Coach, you must be blind. Its hot, hot, hot and all over media town. 

Visit Dovecote Decor's online store 

to see our ever growing line of 

furniture, accessories

and lighting.

One King's Lane Tony Duquette Blow Out Sale!

Vying for Duquettery on One King's Lane has left me swooning on the sofa (my new sofa). I was worse than a man watching football, as I screamed, swore and jumped for joy, as treasures bounced between shopping carts. For those of you who have never participated in the One Kings Lane acquisition drama, I will give you the play by play. By 11:05, literally all the furniture and accessories were on hold, as the pros swept through in concert and dumped the entire load into their shopping carts. Items remain in respective shopping carts for exactly 15 minutes, so it is a waiting game requiring a hair trigger mouse finger, to click on the coveted item when it pops out of your enemy's territory, and back into the sale. It is key to set the oven timer to 14 minutes, as you run frantically through the house measuring to see where your new beloved objet is going to live. Reality check phone calls to friend's and family are hastily made at this time, rendering measuring difficult. Meanwhile, you need to be skimming through the sale to see what else has become available. I think I lost weight. Here are a few things that went in and out of my cart:

I was considering this as an overflow dining table. It is 20th century, and for $1,200, without leaves, it is a good price (78"L x 46" W). It is too large for the space however, so I  was also thinking I could give it to one of the girls.  Until THE SOFA came back into play. 

Even better than the table, this original design by Tony Duquette for Tony Duquette, was center stage in his San Francisco apartment. 

Now I am feverishly onto something!! "Original Duquette, Provenance," I repeat as a mantra while girl thinking takes hold in my brain. I am back in the dining room, where I have decided a sofa would solve the problem of underuse in that room. It would be a perfect haven for those sit around and eat parties, that I am prone to throw. Snapping out my measuring tape while I manned my cell phone for a life line, it has been determined that I NEED the sofa. Meanwhile, it bounced out of my shopping cart, and I had to recapture what was rightfully mine--One King's Lane understands its clients perfectly.  Below is a copy of my original Duqette sofa that Hutton reproduced for Dawnridge. 

Here are a few other items from the sale my friends and I agonized over. 

$99.00

 Hutton Wilkinson printed Indian cotton, coral branches with yellow background.

Condition: New, in its original packaging

Made of: Cotton

Dimensions: 42"W x 10 yards

unfortunately sold. 

Salvaged doors from beautiful armoires, or wonderful old homes are an economical architectural solution to fill large space and ornament a room . They could be hung horizontally above a long sofa, vertically in stair wells, or flanking space on either sides windows or doors. You can't buy art, or carpentry for this price to fill expansive space, and it is art.

I love eclectic, weird little chairs. These fantastic slipper chairs from India, with a chalky white finish and tree of life motif speak to me. My usual threshold for old chairs is $300.00, but I would make an exception for these at $450.00 each. I do shop, and they aren't out there. They go with everything and I will say, they were in my shopping cart twice for the agony of it all. 

This silvered Indian Regency-style chair, with peacock blue/green upholstery and ram’s-head terminals, were glazed with orange shellac by Tony Duquette to give them their special "silver gilt" finish. With the rich price of $699.00 it is still available. I am not against this chair, given its provenance and wonderfully exotic look. Kathy from Princess Anne County made the most prescient comment on my first post of the sale:  "Liz & gang....visited the sale....my fav pieces were out of my $$$$ range...but enjoyed the show(especially those sofas!) I have the beautiful Goodman/Wilkinson book in my living room and refer to it when I'm in a self-doubt frame of mind (often!)...he was FEARLESS!" That is the point.

Our Fearless Leader's Bedroom at "Dawnridge"

These Duquette signature malachite painted Louis Philippe side tables, with ormolu decorations are seriously too fabulous at $4,000.00 for the pair. They never made it into my cart, but they are gorgeous! 

A pair of green lacquered Chinese cabinets painted with scenes of playing children

These cabinets used to decorate the drawing room at Dawnridge, Tony Duquette’s house in Beverly Hills.  For $749.00 for the pair, they were a steal and went instantly. 

Home Chan!

O.K., O.K., I know this is $7,000.00, but it is a stunning decorative antique with incredible wow factor. This Chinese palanquin or sedan chair, extravagantly carved and gilded, with sliding carved windows and doors, is extremely rare. The original red lacquer chair is inside, with the original carrying poles, and painted pagoda roof, it was later placed on a custom iron stand by Tony. Imagine the elegant ladies floating above the hoards.  It is still available..... Back to the bargains. 

I couldn't have been happier when this charming little (28") sink cabinet fell out of somebody's shopping cart. I nabbed it for a client's powder room for $149.00! Checking my e-mail, I was happy to reply that at least two items are in good hands: 

"I THINK YOU WILL BE HAPPY WHEN YOU SEE HOW REASONABLE THE PRICES ARE AND HOW INTERESTING THE PIECES ARE... ALL DECORATIVE EXCLAMATION POINTS FOR A ROOM!!! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GET... I NEED TO KNOW THAT MY BABIES HAVE FOUND HAPPY HOMES!!! ALL BEST... HUTTON"

And the Winner is.....

Susan Stafford Kelly!

Congratulations, you have won a signed copy of Hutton Wilkinson's beautiful book More is More: Tony Duquette.

And while we're at it, congratulations Susan on all the great reviews you received for your new book entitled By Accident.

Check out Susan's website for more information on all of her books.  Or click here to buy on Amazon.com.

Thanks to everyone for following our blog, we are so grateful for all of your support!

-Liz, Benji, and Viive