In one of his most powerful plays, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams wrote, “Memory takes a lot of poetic license.” We at Currey & Company believe there is a parallel between memory and art, as many of our products have such longstanding traditions behind them given how generations of artisans have passed down their insight to sustain the artforms. During the very busy month of September, we have so many great events going on we’ll highlight them first; then we’ll take a peek at a few new glass products debuting during High Point Market in October that are particularly artisanal in their makeup.
Currey & Company September Events
We’ll be at What’s New What’s Next in New York on September 13 in the New York Design Center at 200 LEX from noon to 8 pm. Stop by the showroom to meet Dallas design star Denise McGaha, and New York’s celebrated architect and designer Barry Goralnick. You’ll be able to get a first look at their new collections for Currey & Company that will debut during October Market.
On September 14 at 10 am, Amy Flurry will present “Pitch your Projects: Mastering the Art of Getting Published.” The Ivy and Recipe for Press founder will give a behind-the-scenes reality check on what editors love (and loathe) in a pitch. She will demystify getting published and discuss where to find the right contacts, how to package your pitch, the proper follow-up etiquette, and smart ways to steer clear from big mistakes. The first 150 in attendance will receive a copy of Amy’s new book, Recipe for Press: Designer Edition, courtesy of Currey & Company. Book signing, light bites, and beverages will follow so join us in Kravet’s new showroom in the San Francisco Design Center, Suite 120.
From September 17 through October 14, our products will be glinting within the Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer Showhouse, presented by the Richmond Symphony Orchestra League. The organization has chosen the renowned Holly Lawn estate for the 2018 Designer House. Located in the Hermitage Road Historic District, the gorgeous Queen Anne style home, completed in 1901, was once home to the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs and is on the National Historic Register of Places. Come by and see our products showcased in this wonderful setting at 4015 Hermitage Road in Richmond.
Come by and raise a glass to help us celebrate the debut of Currey & Company at the Witford showroom in the Laguna Design Center, Suite 165, on September 26 from noon until 1:30 pm. We will be pouring champagne and offering a delicious luncheon buffet while Cecil Adams, our VP and Creative Director, and noted lifestyle author/blogger Anne Sage, circulate within the showroom filled with sparkling lighting and beautiful furnishings. Afterwards they will lead a panel discussion on Design Influencers. RSVP to brandi@witford.com.
The Newest Members of Our Glass Menagerie
Speaking of sparkling lighting, let’s take a look at a few of our new glass lamps to illustrate the remarkable talents of our artisans who create them.
When the Greek gods and heroes passed into the afterlife, their resting place was a paradise after which we’ve named our Elysian Table Lamp. Life was free from toil and the weather was always beautiful, the perfect climate for growing things to flourish. Mimicking this mythical setting is the attractive pale blue and aqua pattern growing up from the optic crystal base along the painted glass surface of this lamp. The polished nickel hardware and optic crystal finial add to the luminosity of this composition that we’ve topped with a gray birch silk shade.
Achieving a tortoise shell finish by painting glass is a true feat. The artisans who create our Ninon Table Lamp know this as well as anyone. The deep orange that spreads along the surface of the glass body of the lamp has been mottled with black to feel of a piece with the black silk shade. While the antique brass hardware and finial echo the golden tones in the lamp’s body, the black stacked optic crystal base accentuates the darker hues.
Crisscrossing the glass body of the Pinnate Table Lamp are bright green and yellow bands of luminosity. Even when the lights are switched off, this creation will shine. A black optic crystal base anchors the composition that we’ve topped with an off-white shantung shade. The hardware, in an antique brass finish, and the finial in the same hue make this lamp so perfect for traditional and transitional interiors.
A Pleasant Disguise of Illusion
The Glass Menagerie took Tennessee Williams from obscurity to fame when the actors in the photo above starred in the play’s debut in in Chicago in 1944. Dowling was the first actor to play Tom, whose opening lines of the play begin with: “Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.”
A pleasant disguise of illusion could certainly describe all of our artisanal lamps, many of them hand-painted on the interior of the glass. You’ll see these new beauties in High Point before you know it! Given the fact we have September events from coast to coast (and a few points in between), we hope we’ll be seeing quite a few of you as we gear up for one of our busiest times of the year!
This post by Saxon Henry, a content strategist and The Modern Salonnière.