Further Thoughts on Walls: Hangings Connected by a Theme

10/03/2023

A recent visitor to our home said to me, “I really like your walls…” At the time we were looking at a wall of antique bird prints in our bedroom. Thinking about this in relation to my recent post ‘The Gallery Wall: Memoir in Frames’ gave me the idea to write about rooms where the hangings are connected by a theme.

This photo from Milieu  magazine (Fall, 2022) of Cris Briger‘s (Casa Gusto/Studio Gusto) sitting room in her Palm Beach home shows a wall centered around a large group of portraits of Roman emperors.

Garden designer, Madison Cox, has a home in Tangier. This photo of Mr. Cox’s sitting room from Haute Bohemians by photographer/writer Miguel Flores-Vianna demonstrates how his personal style reflects his passion for garden design. On the walls is a collection of 18^th century floral prints; the chair in the foreground is upholstered in a needlepoint flowered fabric.

This collection of 18^th century animal prints hangs in a home in Malibu featured in the new design book on Richard Halberg’s work titled Richard Halberg Interiors: Worlds of Wonder. The description of the home on Broad Beach includes his design concept; “Furnishings in this modern box were meant to feel like they swept in on the tide.”

Designer Daniel Romualdez’s home on the shore of Montauk in Long Island, New York reflects the life and history of the coast and shore. Exotic fish prints hang above a console table covered in gigantic corals and shells surrounding what looks like a dried pufferfish. A tiny bit of what is propped against the wall underneath can be seen in this photo from Haute Bohemians; a shadowbox frame filled with starfish.

This collection, shown in The Wandering Eye,belongs to Jesus Garabieta of Bilbao, Spain. The framing reminds me of silhouettes, but these medallion portraits seem to be either metal or plaster. Together or alone, they make quite a statement.

Our bathroom is comprised of several rooms; a dressing room, bathing room, wash basins, and water closet. As you can see in the photos, one area is visible from another area. In order to create a further fluidity of space the wall hangings in all areas relate to a single theme.

The general idea and colors for the space began developing as I considered the colors for the bathroom space; black and white with accents of brown, gray, and gold. These brown and white transfer cache pots have been with us for a few years as has the bronze clock. It belonged to my great grandmother. The ornate clock with the cherubs and the sea creature are a nice counterpoint to the crisp cabinets and counter. The clock also introduces the idea of antiquity into the space.

During a visit to Paris we went to the Musee de l’Armee Invalides and were fascinated by Napoleon’s tomb in the Dome des Invalides. Later, looking through a box of prints in a vintage shop on Magazine Street in New Orleans we found our first Napoleon print. After this, each time we went to New Orleans we visited the same vintage shop in search of additional prints.

When we had collected a set of four it seemed a good time to have them framed. We put these four vintage prints near the wash basins.

You might think about the possibility of searching for books containing prints to frame. A good source is the used bookstore. The Views of Venice by Canaletto is from the Galveston Bookshop. The last time we were there they also had a folio of prints by Canaletto.

As we had already hung the Napoleon prints in the area near the wash basins, it seemed like a good idea to search through our book for prints of buildings in Venice where Napoleon had lived or worked during his time in Italy.

These four views have been framed and hung on the wall at the foot of the soaking tub where you can spend time looking through the window at the hills outside or along the streets of Venice on the wall inside.

We bought this mirror from Chairish when we still lived in the loft in Houston. We hung it in a long, brick lined space (closet) where we used to sit sometimes and have a glass of wine before dinner. It is a wonderful piece over the soaking tub, though we cannot light the candles on the mirror frame as they drip into the tub! The mirror continues the theme of the wall hangings in this series of rooms.

The brown and white colors continued into the water closet where we hung a set of 9 sepia prints we had previously collected and framed.

The prints came from the Italian Sketchbook by John Bradshaw. Mr. Bradshaw made the sketches during his grand tour of the continent in 1804; a period coinciding with the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte.  The cover flap of the book of reproductions relays the story of the original prints which were kept in an elephant skin folio in the garret of a country house from the time John Bradshaw passed away at age 24 to 1963 when the sketches in the folio went up for auction at Sotheby’s.

While working on this post and looking through back issues of Milieu magazine (Spring, 2020), Cris Birger’s home in Mexico came to my attention; the walls of her sitting room are filled with 19^th century wood engravings of Napoleon’s campaigns. There is a bust of Napoleon on the wooden bureau!

As you consider wall hangings connected by a common theme examine the books on your own shelves. You too may have books containing reproductions of drawings suitable for framing. Aside from used bookstores and vintage shops, books such as these may be found in museum gift shops. These striking reproductions of sketches by Georges Seurat portray people walking.  They are in our book, Georges Seurat: The Drawings, purchased at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Of course, there is a golden eagle on top of the bull’s eye mirror. Maybe a further reflection of the thematic wall hangings in this space! You too may want to examine what you have and think about gathering pieces for potential themes on the walls in your rooms.