ON THE HUNT: TWG AT THE SAN FRANCISCO FALL ANTIQUES SHOW

Brenda Mickel, Design Prinicpal at The Wiseman Group, arriving at the SFFAS preview gala Photo - Drew Altizer Photography

The San Francisco Fall Antiques Show opened its doors last week, and TWG staff were in attendance. SFFAS provides a quality shopping venue for The Wiseman Group, always in search of fine, one-of-a-kind items for clients' homes. The staff attended the preview opening, fanning out to canvass dealer displays. It was a "target-rich" environment with many lovely items to consider for client approval. 

Paul Wiseman at the NY show with vendor Daniel Harrison of H. M. Luther Antiques

Due to unusual circumstances, both SFFAS and the International Fine Art and Antiques Show in New York were held the same week this year. It was the first time in SFFAS history that Paul Wiseman was unable to attend. Paul usually leads The Wiseman Group design staff through the SFFAS to talk about key vendors and particular items of interest. A flurry of emails and iPhone photos allowed Paul to communicate with the staff in SF while he attended the NYC show, killing two birds with one stone. While at the NYC show, Paul found an important Art Deco verre églomisé screen for a client in California.

French Deco screen made of twenty-five reverse-painted glass panels (Paule Ingrand c 1942) found by Paul Wiseman at Bernd Goeckler Antiques at the International Fine Art and Antiques Show in New York

Victoria Kennedy, Assistant Architectural Designer, stands in front of an unusual patchwork zebra skin rug from Galen Lowe Art & Antiques

After contacting clients with suggestions for purchases, several items from the SFFAS sold quickly. An unusual patchwork rug of zebra skin squares went to a TWG project in Tahoe. The rug will be hung on the wall as a tapestry. Two Italian Gio Ponti horn-shaped candelabras were found at Rachel Prater's booth. They were originally designed for Christofle, Paris, in 1927. Each one is on a circular foot with the conical stem capped by a dolphin finial. The candelabras went to a Hillsborough home recently installed by TWG. These pieces will become accents for the clients' new dining room.

Rachel Prater of Gallery 925 holds a rare Gio Ponti "Dauphin" candelabra, sold to a TWG client

More items that caught the tasteful eye of the staff:

A 1950s Belgian tapestry designed by Richard Lucas for sale through The Lotus Collection

TWG designer, Anna Sweeney, with Andre Arbus sconces (France c 1940)

A set of Japanese boxwood hair combs (20th c.)

A contemporary woodblock entitled "elmigration" by British artist, Julian Meredith

An important bronze lamp by Agostini (1957)

A set of Meiji Period (1868-1912) lacquered trays

Late 19th c. Pakistani silk shawls at The Lotus Collection

For over thirty years the SFFAS has been benefiting Enterprise for High School Students, a non-profit career development agency serving San Francisco youth. According to their website, it is the "oldest and most prestigious continuously operating international antiques show on the West Coast, and recognized as one of the top five in the world. The Show features approximately sixty dealers from across the United States and Europe, offering for sale an extraordinary range of fine and decorative arts representing all styles and periods including American, English, Continental, and Asian furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, jewelry, rugs, textiles, paintings, prints, and photographs."

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IN THE NEWS: PAUL WISEMAN'S BELVEDERE HOME FEATURED IN THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN

Kirsten Honeyman, blog writer for TWG Design Journal, recently published an article about Paul Wiseman's Belvedere Island home in The Mediterranean Garden, a publication of the international Mediterranean Garden Society. The non-profit association was founded in Greece in 1994 and acts as a forum for everyone who has a special interest in the plants and gardens of the mediterranean climate regions of the world. The forum operates through the quarterly journal, The Mediterranean Garden, with articles and book reviews written by members; through its web site; and, on a more local level, through events organized by branches formed in the countries where members live and garden. To see photographs from the article, go to the Mediterranean Garden Society website.

Photo - Doug Jones

OUT AND ABOUT: LE SOUK

James Hunter of TWG with Davis Dalbok of Living Green Design

James Hunter, Design Principal at The Wiseman Group, recently attended a grand opening at Le Souk, a San Francisco marketplace filled with antiquities, art, and decor from southeast Asia. The occasion? Le Souk was welcoming two new vendors under its roof: Living Green Design and Samana. The new vendors joined three other businesses located at Le Souk: Christian Armstrong Collection, Gil's Upholstery, and La Follia.

Richard Gervais, owner of Le Souk, first opened his doors as a small boutique in the Polk Gulch area of San Francisco in 1970. His business grew, and he eventually moved the Richard Gervais Collection to his current location, a cavernous 15,000–square-foot warehouse in what is now the up-and-coming Garden District. The shop is well-located off the burgeoning Third Street corridor.

Alton Irby, Zahid Sardar, and James Hunter

Davis Dalbok of Living Green Design, runs a multi-faceted business. Under his guidance, the company has been creating notable gardens throughout the Bay Area and beyond for over 30 years. Living Green represents some of the industries' finest lines, including Luciano Antiques, Wijaya Classics Lighting, Gladding McBean Ceramics, and Nature's Treasures — Minerals and Fossils. At his new location at Le Souk, Davis has transformed a former functional storage yard into a thriving exterior landscape. Living Green can now display garden-oriented water features, sculpture, unique plant material, and cutting edge vertical living walls. Within weeks of inhabiting the new space, birds and dragon flies have found a new home in this lively oasis. This new venue captures the spirit of what Living Green has always been about: using beautiful plants and soulful objects from southeast Asia to create outdoor living environments that are both well-appointed and spiritually grounding.

Stone roses and barnacles

Samana is new to the Bay Area scene. Their original store is in Los Gatos, California where they feature one-of-a-kind home furnishings, accessories, and gifts discovered or designed by the owners, Barbara Horscraft and Sandy Martinez. "The inspiration for the store's name derives from an ancient Hindu philosophy practiced by wandering monks that stressed individual, 'unconventional' form and traditions on the path toward enlightenment. And so, now we too wander the world and return with design inspirations and treasures to brighten your home and spaces with truly original offerings."

Michael Donnelly of dogfork and James Hunter

The celebration started with a Hawaiian blessing by Patrick Makuakane and continued with music by Betty Roi and the her Kingtette. The Bogo Fusion dance band closed out the evening.  Exceptionally warm San Francisco weather was the backdrop for this delightful garden party. In attendance were Todd Cole of Strata Landscape Architecture, author Zahid Sardar, Ann Lawrence, Michael Donnelly, Alton Irby, and a host of other local design luminaries.

Davis Dalbok with chanteuse Betty Roi

Visit the Le Souk at 1465 Custer Ave. San Francisco, CA 94124. Hours are Mondays to Fridays 10am to 5pm; Saturdays 11am to 5pm.


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IN THE NEWS: DERING HALL FEATURES THE WISEMAN GROUP

Dering Hall, an online marketplace for the finest interior designers, architects, artisans, and design galleries to showcase their work and sell new, high-end home furnishings and accessories, has featured Paul Vincent Wiseman and The Wiseman Group in their most recent newsletter.

Stack of floating pendants, made of laminated Japanese rice paper over acrylic, create hanging lanterns in the living room

The project Dering Hall chose to showcase is a wonderful example of TWG's creative prowess and versatility. The design of this Hawaiian home, for which Paul Wiseman and Design Principal Brenda Mickel also credit architect Mark de Reus, is Asian-inspired, "showcasing feng shui at its best."

Desk with Japanese pavilion curve on both ends, reflecting the home's architecture

Visit Dering Hall to read about this tropical paradise. Be sure to note that several products created by TWG are also available for purchase on the site.

Chandelier available for purchase on the Dering Hall site

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INNER SPACES BOOK: SNEAK PREVIEW

The Wiseman Group is in the process of creating its first book of interior design. Author Brian Coleman will be writing the text and photograper Matthew Millman will be capturing the interiors. Stay posted for news of this project as it moves forward. Publication is slated for fall of 2014...

Photographer Matthew Millman and author Brian Coleman on location in NYC Photo - Paul Wiseman

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