Veranda Jul/Aug 2020

“Art is not always about pretty things. It’s about who we are, what happened to us, and how our lives are affected.” SO SAID ELIZABETH BROUN, the long-time director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC. Her words strike a particular chord today, as the world battles a public health crisis unlike anything we’ve seen in generations. As we modify our lives to distance from one another, what are we creating now—and how will we share it with each other? Art, especially when broadly defined to include decorative arts and material culture, brings us together. The things we make reflect our shared experiences and provide comfort, context, and connection—particularly during periods of difficulty. In 1870, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art? opened to the public with this…

THE COLLECTION • Custom-designed dinner service, hand-painted with family insignia MEET THE MAKER • The second producer of European porcelain, Vienna-based Augarten traces its history to the early 1700s, when its founder, Dutch soldier and spy Claudius Innocentius du Paquier, gained permission from the crown to begin making the rare ceramics. Since then, pedigreed clients have ranged from the princes of Liechtenstein and Marie-Antoinette to 20th-century notables like Jacqueline Kennedy and Jacques Grange. THE BACKSTORY • “Dinner services bearing family monograms and coats of arms predate porcelain’s arrival in Europe,” says historian and Augarten project manager Alexandre Boutry-Orengo. “People would travel to Asia just to get it. We’re seeing this demand return today. People want to reach across generations with something beautiful.” MAKE IT YOURS • Porcelain dinnerware, price upon request; augarten.com. —Ellen…

FOR THE IN-HOUSE TAILOR With seven compartments for needles and notions, this masterful Japanese seamstress’s kit might as well be a treasure chest. Sewing box, $245; nalatanalata.com FOR THE GARDEN RAMBLER A mighty tote made more gratifying by its winsome grid pattern—a reminder of those pretty planted rows. Tiiliskivi gardening bag, $160; marimekko.com FOR THE CIGAR COGNOSCENTI At last, a woven, brass-trimmed matchbox worthy of his secret smoking lair. Colette Cane oversize matchbox, $350; aerin.com FOR THE UNBRIDL ED BON VIVANT Kaleidoscopic stripes on this Murano glass pitcher tend to start the party before the first guest arrives. Canne jug, $475; lagunab.com FOR THE POWDER ROOM AESTHETE A generational outfit of Middle Eastern makers sculpts essential oil string soaps that read like artful still lifes. Cluster soap, $40; floatinghousecollection.com FOR THE EPIC STORYTELLER Printed tin plates inspired by Jules Verne’s Twenty…

America’s Free-Spirited Floral New York designer Peter D’Ascoli channels the bohemian bravado of the Laurel Canyon artists of the 1960s and ’70s in his latest collection. All his linens—including this Brabant cloth blooming with hydrangeas, roses, and wildflowers—are handmade in India, where D’Ascoli has a studio. D’Ascoli Laurel Canyon Clarita tablecloth, $250; matchesfashion.com. A Playful Hungarian Damask Drawing upon the rich textile traditions of her Hungarian Palóc heritage, designer Zsuzsanna Nyul’s hand-dyed linens feel like fresh strokes from a painter’s canvas. Dancing among her handbrushed stripes (reminiscent of vintage folk hemps) is a damask pattern reinterpreted from more Western floral traditions. Red Emperor linen tablecloth, $259; zsuzsannanyul.com. Australia’s Darling Banksia In a bold tribute to the raw beauty of their landscape, a new collection of hand-illustrated linens by Bruce Slorach and Sophie Tatlow of Australia’s Utopia Goods…

BIG SUR Hudson lounge chair, $965; kingsleybate.com. • John Robshaw for Sunbrella Diba fabric, to the trade; johnrosselli.com. • Nantucket Strié border, to the trade; samuelandsons.com. HUDSON VALLEY Newport lounge chair, $2,488; summerclassicshome.com. • Bangalore fabric, to the trade; michaelsmithinc.com. • Gibraltar Ombré border, to the trade; samuelandsons.com. THE HAMPTONS Winch Design Arc lounge chair, to the trade; summitfurniture.com. • Cadence fabric, to the trade; perennialsfabrics.com. • Dashing cord, to the trade; linkoutdoor.com. MIAMI Matisse Alta club chair, $1,798; janusetcie.com. • Boujad fabric, to the trade; no9thompson.com. • Palma braid, to the trade; houles.com. PALM SPRINGS Barclay Butera Savannah lounge chair, $2,386; castellefurniture.com. • Carnivale fabric, $142 per yard; thibautdesign.com. • Laborie tape, to the trade; brunschwig.com.…

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