Esoteric Survey

Ray Komai Karl Lightfoot Karl Lightfoot for Lightfoot Studio, 1949

Modern lore, auctions and dealers abound would say Maria Kipp textiles were used in this Paul Laszlo interior.  Photo: Julius Shulman  Google would also lead you to believe that Maria Kipp did the lampshades. Auctions too Source: Orange Hat Auction The lamp is surely Laszlo. The problem is the shade most likely isn't by Maria Kipp.  Source: Orange Hat Auction As we can see here in this 1953 Architectural Digest photo of a Paul Laszlo interior, it was William Webb and not Maria Kipp who provided the drapes and lampshades. Source: Architectural Digest Laszlo incorporated a lot of Webb Textiles into his projects, as seen here in the Ohrbach residence in Beverly Hills. These drapes were electrically controlled.  Apparently, Webb was THE stick weave guy. Source: LA Times William Webb and his brother Robert operated William Webb Textiles Inc. out of a Pasadena studio located on West Union St. Founded in 1946, the brothers started by selling looms and would teach their cust...

  Kipp Stewart, Arthur Umanoff, Kurt Versen, David Stewart, George Nelson and La Gardo Tackett These came from a designer who was doing prototype packaging for Frank Bros. The two smaller boxes have design games that were sold at Frank Bros.  The large box is still sealed! Scandi Stuff. Henning Koppel cookware, Stig Lindberg, Hans-Agne Jakobsson Jack Rogers Hopkins  Signed Isamu Noguchi poster from the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Plaza I was in Mexico City the weekend before last and visited Casa Pedregal  again. The friend I was with had a discussion with person giving the tour about these Don Shoemaker chairs.   My first shopping stop back in the US, I found one.

Nepenthe (1949) by Rowan Maiden Located on Highway 1 in Big Sur, Nepenthe started as a three-story log cabin built by the Trail Club of Jolon in 1925.  Local writer Lynda Sargent began renting the cabin after the Trail Club stopped using it and eventually let Henry Miller stay there when he moved to Big Sur.  Then in 1944, Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth purchased the property and used it as a retreat during their short marriage. In 1947 Bill and Madelaine "Lolly" Fassett  purchased the land out of the divorce settlement from Hayworth. The initial plan was to use it as a vacation home but Lolly said   the site and its magnificent vistas were too vast, too wonderful to keep to themselves – “no individual can own it, it belongs to everyone”    They chose  Taliesin Fellow Rowan Maiden to help construct their vision.  Rowan studied under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West from 1939 to 1941. He married  Germaine, whose father was Frank Lloyd ...