Neoclassic or Louis XVI Settee

‎"Innovation is often the ability to reach into the past and bring back what 

is Good, what is Beautiful, what is Useful, what is Lasting." 

Parish Sister

France 1760 - 1789

Furniture designed during this period is known as

Louise XVI or Neoclassic.

 ... this was the era of Marie Antoinette and 

of course the French Revolution.

I love the delicate tapered fluted leg; and this is definitely one of the characteristics of Louis XVI chair. 

Won't you like to have a slice of cake or macaroon and a cup of tea on this settee?

This is definitely a timeless piece.

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2012 Winter/Spring TV Airing Date for Beautiful Living @ NYC

www.BeautifulLiving2020.com

contact info@christopherong.com 

the details of how to participate in

Beautiful Living 2020

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French Pavilion - Versailles

Some footsteps I left at Versailles during my college days

way before the internet and digital camera's era ....

French Pavilion was designed by architect, A.J. Gabriel in one of my favorite styles, Neoclassicism. This was built as an escape from the formality of Versailles for Louis XV and his mistress Madam de Pompadour. But alas, Pompadour didn't get to enjoy it as she passed away before it was completed in 1769. It was Madame de Barry and Marie Antoinette got to enjoy this beautiful Pavilion.

This is indeed a miniature palace!

One could see it is symmetrical in every way!

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Soho Mondrian

Soho Mondrian in Manhattan

a great place to meet friends for breakfast or lunch

or afternoon tea or coffee or a cocktails 

There are classic elements in this restaurant

and yet it is very contemporary!

The skylight create provide plenty of light

and those various heights and forms of glass decanters

are absolutely beautiful!

I love this blue chair on the lawn ( fake grass)

with a snowball ( real snow) on a blue chair

caught my attention.

  

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Year of the Dragon 4710

Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 
Chinese New Year!

Manhattan Skyline

~ A Conversational Piece ~

‎"I'll always put in one controversial item, 

it makes people talk."
- Dorothy Draper

How about bring Manhattanite Skyline

into a home office?

Executive office?

or a boy's room?

Notice the neon light?

and pendants on the taxi, heli and king kong on top of the Empire State Building?

give a push and the object swinging left and right ...

this would take your mind off work for a minute?

or struck a conversation about Manhahttan experience for a minute?

I spotted this piece at New York Christie's.

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Conversational Piece

‎"I'll always put in one controversial item, it makes people talk."
- Dorothy Draper

Would you use this Lucite Park Bench

with a traditional painting in gold frame?

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Grand Heraldic Panels from the 1939 World's Fair

A massive polychrome decorated and parcel-gilt plaster heraldic panel depicting John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, Knight of the Garter.

Sculpted by Gilbert Bayes from designs by Gerald Cobb,

for the British Pavillion of the 1939 Worlds Fair.

Dimension: 102" H x 98" W

There are 14 Grand Heraldic Panels at the New York Christie's.

The large panels depicted modeled and colored heraldic shields that were crafted to illustrate the history of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. 

The 14 panels convey fourteen preeminent individuals who epitomizes the importance of Great Britain's genealogy and insignias that were emblematic of each individual and family's contribution as ambassadors of Great Britain.

~.~

Using a panel at a foyer in New York City high ceiling loft would make a great statement! 

And it would certainly be fun for a boy's bedroom!

This could be great for a reception area or conference room at a corporate office that relates to British's history or economy?

‎" In restoring a house one must first realize its period, feel its personality and try to bring out its good points. " 

- Nancy Lancaster

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Gothic Treasure - St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel

A Victorian masterpiece restored...

Sir John Betjeman called this Gothic treasure "too beautiful and too romantic to survive" in a world of tower blocks and concrete. 

After years of devoted restoration, the St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is being hailed as the city's most romantic building. This London 5-star hotel features glorious Gothic Revival metalwork, gold leaf ceilings, hand-stencilled wall designs - and the grand staircase are as dazzling as the day the hotel opened in 1873. 

Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott to receive travellers through St Pancras Station, the former Midland Grand Hotel offered its guests a world of grandeur, luxury and fantasy behind its fairytale red facade. Innovations such as ascending rooms (elevators) and revolving doors heightened the sense of awe. In 2011, the doors of his luxury hotel in London are spinning again, sweeping guests into a world where modern amenities mingle with the extravagance of rail's golden age.

Exterior Details

The Entrance and Lobby

 

The Grand Staircase 

  

St Pancras Architecture

Thomas Wallis Hay Mural

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New York Botanical Garden

Spent a Sunday afternoon at the

New York Botanical Garden ...

 

Exotic orchid

I like this light fixture at the library.

‎"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. " 

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

vibrant yellow and red!

Can this transformed into an ottoman!

who would like to sit on it?

 
"Emerging"

1)Move out of or away from something and come into view.
2)Become apparent, important, or prominent

Are you emerging from you cocoon?

 
lively orange!

 
Possible for a fabric pattern?

 
quiet courtyard for afternoon tea?

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