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| Nat “King” Cole, at home in 1957 - Icon-Baby, the blog |
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| James Mont - Slipper chair - Superb lines... Icon-Baby, the blog |
Showmanship and fantasy: the designs of James Mont - From the early 1930s and into the 1960s, Mont was one of the most prominent designers and decorators on the East Coast. The flamboyance of Mont’s designs was exceeded only by that of his lifestyle.
Some of his stuff is incredibly tacky, but a lot of his designs are exquisitely beautiful, really well made and I love them.
His forte was creating furniture that offered a dramatic, yet stylish take on historical forms (the Greek key design for example) and classical elements taken from pre-Communist China and historical Asian designs. His exotic and expressive designs were large scaled, mostly in the Asian style with simplified silhouettes, amplified with lavish hardware and finishes. In the era of Prohibition, his earliest specialties were collapsible bars and tables and desks with secret compartments.
The popularity of Chinoiserie in Mont’s day was as a matter of zeitgeist. Chinoiserie, the sensual, fantasy style, was present in Paris and New York before the war, and through the fifties in the work of designers as Dorothy Draper or Tony Duquette, and also James Mont. It's amazing, given the scandalous nature of James Mont's life, that his designs would become so sought after and highly regarded. His bold, exotic, often Chinese-inspired pieces stand out in decadent relief against a field of restrained modernism.
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| Icon-Baby, the blog - Mid Century Modern Pagoda Mirror in the Manner of James Mont |
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| Icon-Baby, the blog - James Mont Screen |
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| Icon-Baby, the blog - Silver Leafed Bamboo Console by James Mont |
