Trained as a cabinetmaker in his native Bohemia, Wenzel Friedrich immigrated to the United States in 1853, settling in San Antonio, Texas, and opening a revival-style furniture business. In 1880, he became more innovative, realizing the potential of the Texan stockyards’ abundant supply of Texas Longhorn cattle horns as a material for use in furniture...
To celebrate the opening of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color (May 11, 2018-January 13, 2019), Object of the Day this month will feature colorful objects from the exhibition. This post was originally published on May 1, 2013. For many of us, a glance at everyday appliances elicits a wince or a groan: they’re dull looking,...
In Europe and the US, middle- and upper-class women followed strict and complicated etiquette guidelines in daily life, including after a family member’s death. Etiquette dictated that a survivor follow at least two phases of mourning—deep followed by half, or second, mourning—to publicly proclaim her grief. Deep mourning, when she was expected to seclude herself...
In the genteel Victorian parlor, fashionable women participated in various leisurely pursuits, like making needlework and playing musical instruments. In what today is a more unusual activity, women transformed the hair of a loved one—either deceased or living—into a picture to be hung on the wall or into a piece of jewelry to be worn....
A valentine from graphic designer Marian Bantjes is more than just a valentine—it is an artwork, to be cherished and displayed year-round. These unique cards are coveted by design enthusiasts; by lovers of ornament, who believe that at least sometimes, more is more; by the curious, the whimsical, and those who, like Bantjes, wonder. Each...
For many of us, a glance at everyday appliances elicits a wince or a groan: they’re dull looking, break easily and frequently, and never work quite as well as we’d like. Our lives are full of minor annoyances that we try, often unsuccessfully, to ignore. But when James Dyson is annoyed by an appliance, he...
Today’s luxury designers sometimes find unique ways to brand their products without a label—Christian Louboutin’s red sole, Bottega Veneta’s woven purse—while others create logo-patterns, as Louis Vuitton has done. Many mid-range product lines, like those of Apple or Starbucks, proclaim their name loudly with simple, meaningful logos. While it may seem that logos and brand...
This blueprint in the Cooper-Hewitt collection depicts architect William Lescaze’s radical and trendsetting four-story townhouse at 211 East 48th Street, New York. Little, if any, changes were made between this design—or between a sketch, also in the museum’s collection—and the final structure, built in 1933–34. Lescaze’s townhouse, which he used as his home and office,...
The chandelier reinvented. The lightbulb redecorated. Stainless steel brought to life. Moving patterns stopped in motion. Through his work, Tord Boontje aims to celebrate ornament in design. When creating the Wednesday light, Garland’s predecessor, he looked to the romantic design aesthetic of the 17th and 18th centuries. (Wednesday was a stainless-steel piece self-produced by Boontje...
