20s Contemporary Now and Then

To introduce his 20s Contemporary style story, our Vice President/Creative Director Cecil Adams featured this quote: “She was not fragile like a flower, she was fragile like a bomb.” This description brought two dynamic women to mind, whom we will feature after we dig into this shapely, feminine trend so be sure to scroll down for the unveiling! You can see the products that fit into this beguiling category in our showroom during Dallas Market in the Interior Home + Design Center, Suite 1D228. Market gets under way today and runs through January 12. Click through to our sign-up form to rsvp if you plan to visit us. And be sure to stop by our website and take a look at our new products for winter, which we have just launched.

20s Contemporary

When we first introduced this style story in the spring of last year, we created the above video with a compilation of products in it to show the breadth of the offerings we have that lean toward this trend. Cecil described the different aspects of the 20s Contemporary style story as classic feminine inspiration with a modern strength of shape. It includes soft shapes and colors, tactile materials, clean lines with soft edges, jewelry-like materials for finishing touches, and healing elements like crystal and other minerals. The overall feeling 20s Contemporary evokes is a soft landing for home. Here are a few of the products you’ll find that will inspire this sentiment when someone walks into your interiors.

Made of wrought iron in a gesso white finish on the exterior and a silver leaf finish on the interior of its shades, the Peace Lily Chandelier is one of our designs that proves how a brute material can be made to appear delicate. The white chandelier with its floral motif is a versatile design about which its creator Tom Caldwell said, “I chose a gesso finish with silver leaf accents to fit it into the genre of 1920s Paris styling I had in mind.” We also offer the Peace Lily as a wall sconce that fits just as beautifully into our 20s Contemporary style story as the chandelier does.

Among our new offerings in seating, our Jacqui Ballet Slipper Chair is a feminine channel-back chair with solid Mahogany tapered legs in a caviar black finish capped by ferrules made of brass in a brushed brass finish. This beautiful pink chair is upholstered in Velluto ballet pink velvet that has a luxurious sheen to it to enhance the chair’s femininity. We also offer the Jacqui covered in muslin.

When a soft glow is desired, milk glass is one of the best materials to diffuse illumination. Our Daze Large Pendant is made of articulated panels of white milk glass that are joined together by ribs of metal in an antique brass finish. This white pendant, which joins a number of fixtures in the Daze family designed by Clarence Mallari, will turn luminous when it is switched on.

The Kira Accent Table was a bestseller during High Point Market and we believe it has that je ne sais quoi that will make it a long-lasting beauty in our product line. Classically designed, this occasional table has modern lines thanks to the tapering of the legs at top and bottom, and the clean-lined stretchers. Made of iron in a brass finish, the gold accent table is topped with a disc of white marble that ups the ante on its sophistication and makes it ideal for our 20s Contemporary style story.

Aimee Kurzner was inspired by a vintage Swedish Gustavian design when she envisioned the Ines Mist Ivory Arm Chair. Exhibiting the traditional light gray and pale white tones you’d expect, the mahogany frame has an ivory finish ornamented with antique gold accents. The white chair is upholstered in F0215 Prim & Proper Mist fabric, which is made up of 50 percent polyester, 35 percent acrylic and 15 percent cotton. We also offer the Ines Mist Ivory in a side chair, and the Ines family includes a darker finish on an arm and a side chair. It is also available in muslin.

The Arden Pink Vanity, which was inspired by a 1970s reverse-painted glass antique found at the Paris flea market, is one of our longest-standing products that is a shoe-in for our 20s Contemporary style story. The vanity features silver peony reverse-painted glass panels on the top, front, and sides with solid brass trim, hardware, and legs. The pale pink vanity has a beveled top, and drawers with soft-close glides. A beautiful matching vanity mirror is sold separately, and the Arden family of furnishings includes a number of pieces.

Contemporary Then and Now

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s official portrait for the Supreme Court. Image public domain.

And now for the two women we see as forceful representations of the concept “fragile like a bomb.” First, we tap Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom we lost this past September, to be the epitome of explosive power as we moved into the 2020s. There are so many powerful quotes attributed to her, but one in particular seems apropos to the times we have been/are living through. She so wisely said, “So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.” Let’s hope her wisdom prevails as we navigate through a pandemic and the turmoil of our times.

Simone de Beauvoir. Image public domain.

Our other force of nature is Simone de Beauvoir, who held sway during the 1920s, a 20s Contemporary for the record books to be sure. We thought we would end today with on a note of beauty from her book The Ethics of Ambiguity. She wrote, “I should like to be the landscape which I am contemplating, I should like this sky, this quiet water to think themselves within me, that it might be I whom they express in flesh and bone, and I remain at a distance.” We hope everyone’s New Year is off to a powerful start!