Obsession: Papier Mache

I'm currently in love with the complete exuberance and ridiculousness of Victorian papier mache decorative arts and furniture. Black lacquer, gilt, and mother of pearl... could it get any more sybaritic? I don't think so. 

 

I love everything about this papier mache desk blotter... particularly the gilt tendrils of foliage.  I don't do too much blotting... but I have a feeling I'd do a little bit more if I owned this...

 

 A papier mache sarcophagus shaped tea caddy, English, circa 1860, from 1stDibs...

 

An English lacquered, gilt, papier mache, and mother-of-pearl side chair from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art... 

I recently saw a chair extremely similar to this at an antiques store... I may have to make a trip back to bring her home...  

 

A more typical example of a Victorian papier mache chair via 1stDibs...

I'm dying over the simplicity of the back... I'd love a set of dining room chairs that were just like this, except with a plain black front and this spectacular back.

 

 A pair of Victorian papier mache pole screens with Chinoiserie scenes, sold at Christie's...

I'm not sure how these were initially used, but I think they're beautiful just as sculptures...

 

An English Victorian papier mache tray which illustrates a more restrained aesthetic...

 

A fantastically sculptural English etagere from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

and finally perhaps the most exuberant of all papier mache creations...

 

a ridiculous Napoleon III salon suite, circa 1850. This set, which sold for almost 16,000 at Christie's, contained a center table, canape, a pair of bergeres, four side chairs, and a pair of footstools. 

Although I would NEVER want more two or three pieces of papier mache furniture in one room, I would love to have seen this in its original setting...

like a tacky, lacquered, gilt, and mother-of-pearl-ed train wreck, I know I wouldn't have been able to look away.

The Opera Garnier

One of my favorite buildings I've ever visited is the Opera Garnier in Paris. The building was designed by Charles Garnier under the reign of Napoleon III. Two of the lesser known rooms in the structure, but in my opinion are the most spectacular, are two small rotundas dedicated to the sun and moon.

 

The Salon of the Sun has two mythological dragons in the center medallion with a massive sun burst filling the dome. All the details have a goldish tint so that the entire room glows. Even the infinity mirrors which reflect across the room have a gold tint to the glass. 

 

The Salon of the Moon has a series of bats in the medallion with silver moon rays and gilded stars on the dome. The details are picked out in silver-leaf instead of gold and the mirrors have a bluer tint to them.

All of the rooms of the Opera Garnier are over the top... but these rooms are perfection... they're just enough and the subtle detailing provides a break from the riotous marble, statuary, and gilding of the other rooms of the opera house...  the scale of these rooms is also more human... I'd love to make one of these rooms my bedroom...