One way of getting the feel of a place.
Santa Fe, NM
April 26th, 2019
Window Shopping in Santa Fe
Tag: arts and crafts
Straight Windsor Lines & Shaker Oval Boxes
1/ & 2/
Windsor Armchairs & Settee, mid 18th century
3/
Decorated Boxes
Used to store everything from grains, spices and dried fruits to combs, sewing accessories, jewelry, tobacco and documents, these boxes were often decorated as gifts.
4/
Oval Shaker Boxes, ca. 1840-60
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing became more commonly known as ”Shakers” because of their ”ecstatic and violent bodily agitation” in worship. A Christian sect founded in 1747 in Manchester, England they emigrated to America to avoid persecution. Their first settlement was in New Lebanon, New York and eventually eighteen other communities were established, reaching a total number of 5.000 devotees during the decade preceding the Civil War.
Though men and women lived separately in Shaker communities, they believed in gender equality; they also believed in celibacy, common property and the second coming of Christ.
The Shakers were hard working, excellent farmers and equally great artisans who embraced new technologies and used them to create fine furniture, tools, equipment and artifacts, guided by the principles of simplicity, utility and honesty.
Perhaps the best known of these artifacts are their distinctive oval storage boxes secured with swallowtail ”fingers” or laps. Oval box making began in the 1790s at the New Lebanon, New York, community (the Shakers’ spiritual centre) as one of the first Shaker industries, and survived well into the 20th century. While boxes were produced for use by the Shakers themselves, the vast majority were sold to outsiders, becoming one of the Shakers’ most profitable commercial products.
Little did the first settlers know that, two hundred years later, their simple, honest designs would be admired by art enthusiasts as museum pieces!
4/
Sargent Claude Johnson, 1888-1967
Untitled (screen for pipe organ)
July 16th, 2017
Cat people
Ulrike Müller
Rug (gato chico), 2015
Wool, handwoven in the workshop of Josefina and Jerónimo Hernández Ruiz, Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico
The 2017 Whitney Biennial
June 10th, 2017
Do not feed the pigeons, they’re already stuffed
Street art by Mother Pigeon in front of The Whitney. You gotta love a craftwork with a tongue-in-cheek title that makes you smile, don’t you?
June 10th, 2017
LV Loves America
And the feeling is mutual.
Hat trunk in leather, once belonging to Marjorie Merriweather Post
Nicolas Ghesquière embroidered dress worn by Emma Stone at the 2017 British Film Institute Festival
Marc Jacobs feathers headpiece
With this last, highly instagrammable chapter, we end our walk through the history of a House whose name became synonymous with travel. Have you packed your wardrobe/hat/shoe steamer trunks yet? Me too! The question now is… where do we go next?
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
LV & friends
Yayoi Kusama
Robert Wilson
The Music Room
Since the founding of the House of Louis Vuitton, exacting customers have been able to place unique special orders to fulfill their private purposes and dreams. There is no fantasy or extravagance that cannot be packed. Shower, trunk, altar trunk, bed trunk or cigar trunk – in every situation, Louis Vuitton matched the traveler’s ambition and unique needs with equal expertise. Musical instruments, fragile and delicate, are probably the most vulnerable items to pack. Whether a violin, a guitar or the conductor’s baton, cases were designed by the trunk-maker as protection and enhancement.
Supreme
Skateboard trunk
Cindy Sherman
Studio in a trunk
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
L’eau de Voyage
Because no voyage is complete unless accompanied by fond memories.
And nothing evokes fond memories faster than an exquisite fragrance in an elegant glass bottle.
As delicate as our very existence. As enduring as the spirit of a true traveller.
***
Louis Vuitton perfume bottles designed by Camille Cless-Brothier in early 1920s.
L’Arbre pleureur, enameled crystal perfume bottle; design by Camille Cless-Brothier, 1922.
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
LVoyage – Voyage
In the nineteenth century, the evolution of transportation reduced distances. Steam vessels were put into service in the 1830s, linking Europe to the Americas. Railways in 1848, the invention of the automobile in the 1890s, and the advent of commercial airlines in the 1900s ushered the world towards new habits and life experiences.
Travelling by train meant that one could relax in their sleeping car, socialize over a cocktail in the restaurant, daydream, work, test the latest fashion trends on their fellow passengers. And, more importantly, one did not have to travel light. Desk trunks, library trunks, whole wardrobe trunks, designed to make travelers feel at home away from home, were considered an integral part of an experienced, sophisticated traveler’s baggage. 
Portable chest (hasami-bako) in black lacquered wood with gold lacquer patterned using the hiramaki-e technique, Edo period, late 18th and 19th century
Ideale Library trunk in monogram canvas, 1927
Desk trunk in natural cowhide, once belonging to Frank J. Gould, 1928
Jenner & Knewstub Berry’s fitted travel bag in leather, ca. 1864
Client records. For each client the house creates a record detailing special orders and customization requests, 19th to 20th century
Milo Anderson, silk satin nightdress worn by Lauren Bacall in ”Young man with a horn”, 1950
Brettes hat/shoe trunk, vanity case in monogram canvas
Alzer suitcase and Stratos case, all once belonging to Lauren Bacall
Satellite suitcases, vanity case, Deauville bag in monogram canvas once belonging to Elizabeth Taylor
Jeanne Lanvin hostess dress, worn by Mary Pickford, Winter 1948-49
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
LVolez – The art of traveling light
In the early twentieth century, Louis Vuitton closely followed innovators who, from the airship to the airplane, blazed new trails in the air. To equip aviators and then passengers, the Aéro trunk could hold ”2 pieces of clothing, 1 overcoat, 10 shirts, 3 nightgowns, 3 pairs of underwear, 3 waistcoats, 6 pairs of socks, 12 handkerchiefs, 1 pair of shoes, 18 detachable collars, gloves, ties and hats” all weighing less than 57 pounds. Its dimensions were identical to the Aviette, a more feminine version.
The dimensions of the Aéro trunk were:
H12.99in x W32.28in x D18.11in
H33 cm x W82 cm x D46 cm
All things considering, an early twentieth century Aéro trunk would still be every airline’s darling, even in today’s ever restrictive rules and shrinking space.
Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs long dress and cropped jacket with long skirt, S/S 2013
Marceau travel bag in cotton canvas, attributed to Dora Maar, c. 1950
Champs-Élysées travel bag in cotton canvas, once belonging to Madame Henry-Louis Vuitton, ca. 1950
Louis Vuitton by Sofia Coppola, SC Bag in monogram canvas, 2009
Boris Lipnitzki
Outfits by Paul Caret, next to a Nieuport airplane equipped with a Delage motor, Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), 1929
Model of the Blériot XI airplane, 20th century
Heures d’absence perfume, 1927
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
LVoyagez – A Roadtrip
Organized between 1924 and 1925 by André Citroën, the Croisière Noire was primarily an ambitions anthropological and technological mission. Traveling through Algeria, Mali and the Congo aboard vehicles (such as the Gold Scarab and Silver Crescent half-track) developed especially for this excursion, the crossing was marked by physical and technical achievements, as well as scientific, ethnographic and geographic accomplishments. The House of Louis Vuitton accompanied the expedition at the request of Mr. Citroën. Special orders [for photos, see first post of this series] were made so as to offer trunks that were suited to climate, modes of transport and the practicalities of daily life for the explorers (tea sets, toiletry kits, etc.). The second expedition organized by André Citroën, the Croisière Jaune, took place a few weeks before the official opening of the Colonial Exposition of 1931, with the objective of crossing the legendary Silk Road through Asia.
Chauffeur’s kit in vuittonite canvas, 1910
Dornac, 100 à l’heure travelling coat in Scottish wool twill, ca. 1923
Ladies’ flat hand bags in Morocco leather, ca. 1910
Driving googles, ca. 1900
Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs coated cotton coat, F/W 1998-99
Special car trunk for motobloc vehicles in vuittonite canvas, ca. 1908
at the American Stock Exchange Building, through January 7th, 2018.
Admission is free
November 12th, 2017
The Humble Fabulist 