Category: Press

Apparently all of Palm Beach has contracted a case of the merries because the money is flying around, the stores can’t keep the good bubbly on the shelf, and when people talk about “past due” they’re referring to a day at the Breakers Spa.
And the gatherings for which everybody was “too busy” during the bad old economic days? Well, they’re nonstop.

Even the bankers are happy again. Two of them, Victoria Ricker and Robert Riva of Morgan Stanley, recently hosted a luncheon in honor Jane Grace and her decades of support of and hands-on voluntarism at the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. The luncheon took place at The Silver Fund, the art/antiques/jewelry/silver store on Worth Avenue, and was co-hosted by store owner Michael James. There was champagne, caviar served on some of the exquisite Georg Jensen sterling pieces – what, you were expecting Corelle? — from the store’s cache, a seated luncheon at tables set with yet more fabulous silver, and the presentation to Jane of a gold charm with the Peggy Adams logo.

Best of all, there was a big fat donation to the League from Morgan Stanley in Jane’s honor.

See? Happy bankers.

There: board president Joanie Van der Grift, board members Pauline Pitt and Vicky Hunt; and Paula Butler, Candy Hamm, Jean Tailer, Kate Pressley, Arlette Gordon, Dale Coudert, Mashi Azmudeh and Susan Lloyd.

Then there was the cocktail reception honoring designers Suzanne Kasler, Gil Walsh, Lars Bolander, Jenny Garrigues, and William and Phyllis Taylor, who were selected to create the “designer vignettes” for the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show. Scott Diament and Campion Platt hosted the kickoff for the show, which opens Feb. 13.

There to raise a glass or two to the honorees were Pamela O’Connor, Nina Wasserman, Michel Cox Witmer, Tatiana Platt and Chelsea Menzies, who are young enough and beautiful enough to know that when somebody talks about a “lovely old thing,” they’re referring to the furniture.

The prevailing wisdom is Masterpiece has now surpassed all others and can honestly be called the finest show on earth for decorative arts.  And for many international collectors it is their favorite show to visit. Masterpiece offers a hugely diverse range of exhibitors and their treasures, as well as dining at some of London’s finest establishments contained within the fair, against the backdrop of Christopher Wren’s Royal Hospital Chelsea with it’s 300-year history.  All of this walking distance from the heart of London.

I invite you to visit the fair for the last three days. And if you can’t make it this year, please make sure you put it in your diary for next year. – Michael James

Architectural Digest
“Booth upon booth is loaded with century-spanning eye candy, from the elegant to the extravagant: important jewels with supernova brilliance, magnificent paintings bearing serious signatures and head-spinning provenance, statement furniture demonstrating centuries of cabinetmaking prowess, and so much more. And that includes four chic temporary restaurants, one of which is a 56-table outpost of Le Caprice.”

Reuters
“The glitterati, who visit London in their droves in June to attend sporting events from Ascot to Wimbledon as well as design, art and antique fairs, have adopted the five-year-old Masterpiece in chic Chelsea as a staple of the social calendar.”

Huffington Post
“With 158 galleries’ stands, you can wander past pictures by Warhol and Magritte, life-size horse sculptures by Nic Fiddian-Green, dazzling diamonds by Cartier or collections of medieval armour.”

FAMILIAR to fairgoers in London and throughout the US The Silver Fund have opened a 2500 sq. ft. flagship store at 330 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, a location to die for alongside the biggest names in luxury goods and fashion.

The Silver Fund are known for 20th century design, particularly the silverware of Georg Jensen, and now have the space to offer a wider range of 20th century decorative arts, including furniture.

British owner Michael James, who founded the firm 20 years ago in St. James’s, London, said of his move: “We have attracted many long time Palm Beach residents and were not satisfied seeing our clients only at the premier fairs we exhibit in New York, Palm Beach, Miami, London, Chicago and San Francisco.”

He continued: “We thought it would be best to have a flagship gallery where we could provide world class service at our client’s convenience. I expect to spend a lot of the Palm Beach winter season here.”

However, Michael will continue to live in London although he will be seeing even less of it in the future.

The elegant and exclusive Preview Party of the 15th edition of the American International Fine Arts Fairin Palm Beach drew Newport Seen once again. and we returned again and again during the Fair for a closer look at the dazzling paintings, jewelry, furniture, photography, china, vintage furniture, suits of armor — and to hear the fascinating expert lectures, one on “Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Renoir and the advantage of old age“, given by Robert Ward, Chief Curator of the Norton Museum of Art. and repeated later in the week, by demand.

The attendees at the Vernissagewere greeted by stunning Graff models offering glasses of champagne, which decidedly set the mood, wearing exquisite jewelry by Graff Diamonds.Tiffany & Co., was there, along with art, antiquities, paintings and furniture. Dealers came from London, New York, Paris, Italy, Monaco….. The Convention Center in West Palm once again became an elegant architectural agora of fine shops, enclaves, dining areas, and interestingly spaced interior walls, its own evanescent Musée.

Newporters James (Jay) Serzan, and KSN (a media shy fellow) made the rounds greeted friends, studied the art works, and Mr. N. and was smitten with a Childe Hassam– like painting by John Henry Twachtman. Dress designer Annika, in her own  “Black Swan”  creation, and the elegant  Charlotte Hamilton, author of “FitFace” added drama to the evening.

Several Fernand Botero paintings were on display from different dealers, and there was a small Van Gogh portrait. An enormous 18th century French clock by Pierre Philippe Threniere, from the Toulouse Gallery,  gave new meaning to the word rococo. The lively jumble of French Moroccan café chairs, a set of 24, flanked the opening of Mallett Galleries, of New York and Bond Street, and attracted great attention.

Other lectures, interspersed throughout the week, and followed by caviar receptions in the VIP lounge, included “Fragile Beautry: Chinese Export Porcelain 1500-1900”, by Ron Fuchs II, Curator of the Reeves Collection, Washington and Lee University, and “Picasso: The Birth of Genius” by Marlene Strauss.

The Fair this year closed with record attendance of 42,500 and strong sales reported by a number of dealers. during 10-day event, with many dealers reported outstanding sales results. “We had the best fair in the 14 years that we have been participating in Palm Beach,” said arms and armor dealer Peter Finer of London. Italian goldsmith and jeweler Buccellati echoed these sentiments: “This was also the best year in our long fair participation as well.” In reporting multiple important sales, Jonathan Green of Richard Green Antiques commented “We were very pleased with our Palm Beach results this year.”

“The U.S. economy, the general mood of the attendees and our sales has clearly improved this year,” said Michael James of The Silver Fund. “All the right people were here this year”. One day we were processing three black American Express cards at the same time!”

San Francisco had its gold rush, but it took a 21st-century Briton, Michael James, to deposit the treasures of the Silver Fund, the American branch of his London silver gallery (now closed), at 472 Jackson Street, just a block from Gold Alley, where forty-niners’ gold dust was assayed. In the big back area, the Silver Fund displays hundreds of works by the pioneering Danish silversmith Georg Jensen; French silversmith Jean E. Puiforcat; William Spratling, who revived silversmithing in Taxco, Mexico; and modernist Mexican jewelry designer Antonio Pineda. (The shop’s front area houses another highly regarded silver purveyor, Argentum– the Leopard’s Head.)

“It is the largest collection of 20th-century silver on the West Coast,” asserts James. “Many of the top Californian collectors of silver are in the Bay Area, and they like to buy here.” At the heart of the collection are rare vintage pieces by Danish master Jensen, whose work is displayed in more than 100 museums around the globe. The Silver Fund is the world’s biggest source for Jensen estate silver.

“Georg Jensen is unrivaled as ‘the Father of Scandinavian Silver,’ and he’s one of the greats of the 20th century,” says James. In the early 1900s, when the public was intoxicated by the elaborate, swirling patterns of Art Nouveau, Jensen’s plates, bowls, and tea sets showcased his streamlined vision. “He was a bit of a contrarian. Jensen’s silver is more spare, with a distinctive matte finish, than the other artists of his day.” Inspired by nature, Jensen highlighted his elegant work with subtle designs incorporating acorns, berries, leaves, and clusters of grapes, which became his signature motif. “He took no shortcuts. Everything was handmade.”

Jensen also taught many of the masters who succeeded him. One of the most notable Jensen studio pieces, found at the Silver Fund, is a two-foot-long covered serving platter ($265,000) created in 1927 by his colleague and brother-in-law, Harald Nielsen. The hand-hammered silver took a thousand man-hours to make. “There’s a warmth to the finish, a moonlight-glow patina,” says James. The cover is topped with a leaping dolphin and curling wave.

The Silver Fund also has exquisite Mexican- influenced bowls by Spratling, bold jewelry by Pineda, and trays by Puiforcat, who challenged the conventional aesthetics of his day with his sleek Art Deco designs. The shop also indulges in the occasional serendipitous oddity: for example, a beautifully sculpted, foot-high sterling silver bull produced circa 1910 by Christofle ($18,500). Perfect for the cattleman in the family, it’s the near-proverbial bull in a silver shop.

The Silver Fund exhibits at 15 antique shows a year, including Palm Beach, New York, and San Francisco; check the website for updates. www.thesilverfund.com

It isn’t that Georg Jensen silver is easy to steal. It’s just that everyone likes the Danish design house right now, and that includes thieves.

Queen Rania of Jordan is a fan. But apparently so were the four people who in June stole the 60-setting continental silverware she had ordered from Jensen’s workshop in Copenhagen. (They were later arrested.) The month before, silverware valued at 800,000 kroner (€107,500) was taken from a Jensen exhibit at the National Art Gallery in Copenhagen. And last month thieves made…