Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/184563
DECORATION We're Over the Moon About MILES REDD & The Big Book of Chic We adore this book and have been waiting for it … well, forever. Exuberant, witty design sensation Miles Redd transports us, whizzing us away with The Big Book of Chic (Assouline, $75) to '20s Paris, witty salons, inky-blue libraries and curious follies. Oversized and filled with quirky, cozy glamour, this book shoots shards of cherry red, French blue, cerulean and Venetian pink into NY high-rises and country Georgians, lush with important details such as nickel-plated nail studs, coral door pulls and exuberant trims. Shades of Cecil Beaton, Diana Vreeland and Gres! Plug in Cole Porter, pour a Scotch and fly away. Signed copies available at Curate Books in Uptown Park. Information curatebooks@papercitymag.com BUST INTO The Educated Eye Flame When his son was born, Napoleon bestowed upon the infant only one gift: a Cire Trudon candle. Granted, it was encrusted with three bands of gold, but that tells you plenty about the company's reputation as the oldest and most prestigious wax manufacturer in the world. (Latter-day fans include Sofia Coppola, who lit plenty of Cire Trudon candles while filming Marie Antoinette in Versailles.) Stage your own revolution with wax busts of the aforementioned cake-eating advocate, Monsieur Bonaparte and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's slave, amongst others. Meant to be collected or burned, each looks looks equally hot on a Saarinen table or a Steinway baby grand. $125 to $175, through Carl Moore Antiques, Chateau Domingue, Kuhl-Linscomb, Longoria Collection. Amy Adams BODUM PAVINA: My Drink Is So Cool ~ By DUTCH SMALL IN Cire Trudon WEDGWOOD Wow J Wedgwood and Bentley's Blues Arabesque vase at Bering's ust in: Houston's storied stop for gifts and luxurious home goods, Bering's, is one of five stores nationwide to host the North American debut of cool, contemporary collections of bespoke porcelain that bear the Wedgwood and Bentley moniker. The artisan-minted designs —blues, black basalt, queensware, opulent and sterling, as well as tableware — update the classic beauty of Wedgwood and Bentley, a collaboration that extends backs to 1762, when the "Father of English Potters," Josiah Wedgwood, teamed up with brilliant businessman Thomas Bentley. A partnership was forged that continues 250 years later. What to covet: a dramatic redux of iconic black basalt charged with neoclassical figures, winged sphinxes and acanthus leaves; tableware that can be customized with your monogram, family crest or other personal symbol; the black-and-white power of the sterling collection; and, our fave, an update of the blues, with the beguiling Wedgwood blue-and-white cameo getting a pop of azure. Along with the collections debut, Lord Wedgwood comes to town for two days of cameos. Wedgwood and Bentley collections unveiling with Lord Wedgwood personal appearances and signings: Thursday, November 15, 6 to 9 pm, at The Rise School of Houston's Gifts from the Heart Gala at Bering's, 3900 Bissonnet; (ticket $150, Ahsley Kress, 713.532.7473; akress@riseschool.org); and Friday, November 16, 11 am to 3 pm, at Bering's on Westheimer, 6102 Westheimer (gratis). Catherine D. Anspon 2003, I saw a story about the Bodum Pavina thermal drinking glasses, and I fell to my knees and cried with joy. Finally, someone had solved two of what I consider the biggest problems with drinking glasses: condensation and heat. The Bodum glasses encompass everything that should be considered in a well-designed item. The beautiful curvilinear form is further accentuated by a clever double wall, which creates the illusion that the liquid is suspended in the glass and also protects one's delicate little hands and fingers from heat and moisture. Each one is mouth-blown, so the level of craft involved in the production is very high. There is something lovely about someone who has spent years learning and honing their craft; it takes a great deal of skill to mouthblow glass with this high degree of intricacy. This process means that rather than perfect, consistent pieces, each one will exhibit the slightest bit of evidence of handcraft, such as a wee bit of waviness in the rim. The material of the glass has been duly considered: Borosilicate, a lighter, scratch-resistant, durable type of glass that handles changes in temperature better than other types. What I find beautiful about the design is that it isn't garish, and it doesn't demand attention. The soft and elegant interior form is repeated on the outside. It's always more difficult to make something pretty and simple — and they did it. Even though it's just a little drinking glass, it's gorgeous. And, starting at $15 a glass, it's affordable. It's easy to spend hundreds of dollars on artistic, mouthblown, well-considered glassware, but Bodum has managed to pull together all of these attributes in an affordable product with the same level of artisanal merit. This one object exhibits everything that is important in design. It has beautiful form, integrity in craft and function — and it solves a problem elegantly. If you can solve all of those things, you've got good design.