Karma

I paired this ceramic Kenzo lotus flower with a Thai green celadon offering bowl, mirroring both the green and the pink in my sitting room colour scheme. In Buddhism the lotus flower symbolises purity, acknowledging that it grows from a muddy pond to produce this divine beauty. The fact that the flower blooms and sheds it seeds at the same time also reflect the theory of karma - what goes around comes around.

This bowl with its lotus petal decoration, has on its base the blue seal mark for the Qianlong period (1735-1795), but is probably much later, and is for sale at auction on Saturday. Although very pretty, in its shape as much as the colour combinations, how many decorative bowls does one need?

Blue and red, and white and yellow

My own mix of red lacquer with the blues of the sky in the China Trade pictures.

Pleasing juxtaposition

In my previous post I mentioned that I find the colour combination of blue and red to be irresistible, and here are two further examples of that scheme working together, in entirely different contexts.

In the first picture, the C19th Chinese reverse mirror painting has a significantly distracting gilded wood carving, and in the second the Serapi carpet has a variation in hues, to empahsise the durability of the combination. This durability is enhanced by the fact that both pieces come from very different cultures.

Same same, but worth it

In Thailand there is an expression, "Same same, but different", and hence today's post title; this is the same Pheasant-designed interior that I've been writing about for three days, so if this makes you think that I'm quite keen on it, you'd be right. Today's pictures are of the dining room, with the second one showing a glimpse of the hallway.

The subdued colouring and the classical setting are offset by the modern art piece resting on the chimneypiece, demonstrating once again the ease of mixing classical with modern, and the effectiveness of the image in the modern art repeated in the circular shape of one of a pair of convex gilt mirrors.

There is a further room from this tear out from House & Garden, but it has literally been torn out, so it may not be scanable, (do I hear relief?) I think you'd find it worthy of being reproduced too. Promise.

More Pheasant

These are two further images of the interiors of the house designed by Thomas Pheasant, of the drawing room. The cream and muted tones provide a sense of tranquility. The two screens, (my current fad), either side of the chimneypiece create an interesting "texture" to the otherwise bland walls.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm all for subdued wall colours, and the entire effect is magnified by the similar hues in the furnishings. Masterful in my view.