Magazine
This year, for The Treasure House Fair, Rose Uniacke’s curation is an exploration of dark and light as outlined in Tanizaki’s celebrated 1930s essay on Japanese aesthetics.
Restrained in palette, the stand offers the discipline of black lacquer and iron, in contrast with the sparkling play of light from glass; the subtlety of diffused light and the soft sheen of ceramics against the gleam of gold and bronze - everywhere, glimmer chasing shadow, in a stunning meditation on 19th century Japonisme.
The soft depth of Rose Uniacke Heavy Weight Cotton Velvet in Burnt Sienna warms and offsets the starkness and elegance of the stand’s star pieces: a Daniel Cottier ebonised pedestal desk, a Coalbrookdale cabinet and an Owen Jones bookcase, among many others.
The Cottier desk, in contrast to the heavy vulgarity common to much 19th-century furniture, has a refinement and strength that gestures towards the Japanese aesthetic with its soft black lacquer finish, its restrained design and the delicate threads of gold which highlight its elegant linearity of form. It is perfectly echoed and partnered by the deep black ornamentation of the Coalbrookdale cabinet and the spareness of the Owen Jones bookcase, whose classical columns are picked out in gold at top and bottom with the simplicity and restraint of a line drawing.
To bring this darkness to life, the stand offers Simone Prouve’s shimmering wall hangings and a stunning selection of vertical 20th-century white glass lights.
The pair of Barovier & Toso cordonato wall lights, whose design replicates the twist of a piece of rope, together with the exceptional cordonato wall sconce measuring 135cm in height, playfully exaggerate the lines of gold inlay in the furniture and bring stripes of vertical light to illuminate the stand.
This brightness will be echoed and amplified by the purity of Simone Prouve’s panels, made in white polythene, providing, in sharp contrast, the beauty of a hyper-modern material whose apparent softness of texture belies its permanence and strength.
At the centre of the curation is an exceptionally rare Poul Henningsen Septima chandelier, which casts his trademark diffused light over all, through petal-like glass shades, whose frosted sections create a pattern of layered light. The delicate fragility of its overlapping shades, mediating the light through both clear and frosted glass, and the softly patinated nickel-plated fittings perfectly showcase Henningsen’s unequalled mastery of his medium. Additional Poul Henningsen copper pendant lights echo the bronze and gold tones seen throughout the stand.
As context for the Japonisme offered and explored by this year’s curation, there is an oval walnut table with extravagantly carved frieze and over-shaped serpentine legs whose flowing lines and natural beauty open a lively dialogue with the more restrained Japanese aesthetic of the desk and bookcase. The occasional table reflects the North Italian Baroque style, characterised by ornate details and a sense of grandeur that is visible in the dramatic shapes throughout. The Os de Mouton settee, re-upholstered in Rose Uniacke Cotton Velvet in Pickle, with extravagantly curved legs that mimic the horns of a ram, echoes the lines of the sleek Italian 1950s console and offers a lovely movement and naturalism.
On the shelves of the bookcase, in further homage to Japan, a fine selection of ceramic and metalware vases sit alongside one another, including a signed Art Deco Jean Besnard blue and crackle-glazed gold vase, and a beautiful enamelled vase by Kunio Watanabe.
To bring the whole stand into the modern day, and to provide a contemporary edge, the floor is of panelled, skimmed concrete, offsetting the historicism of the 18th and 19th century pieces and giving everything the freshness and balance that is Rose Uniacke’s unique trademark.
Click here to discover the collection.
The Treasure House Fair, Royal Hospital Chelsea, South Grounds, London, SW3 4SR
Thursday 26th June - Tuesday 1st July
For more information, please contact mail@roseuniacke.com
Built in 1860, the coach house was part of the original footprint of Rose’s home, designed as stabling and as somewhere to keep the coaches.
In the 1950s it had been split off from the main house and sold, along with the lion’s share of the garden. Once Rose acquired it a few years ago, she began the process of transformation, into “a baby sister to the main house, but one with its own identity”.
In this new film, by Matthew Donaldson, Rose speaks about the reformation of the space into a magical urban cottage; from the raw pink plaster to the sculptural staircase, discover how the coach house evolved into a ‘little jewel’ that perfectly demonstrates Rose’s ethos of marrying function with beauty.
More information and pictures of the coach house can be found in Rose Uniacke at Work.
