CALIFORNIA STYLE: A PRIVATE COLLECTION FORMED WITH MICHAEL TAYLOR, VALERIAN RYBAR, AND BRUCE GREGGA (LOTS 201 - 288) CALIFORNIA STYLE: A PRIVATE COLLECTION FORMED WITH MICHAEL TAYLOR, VALERIAN RYBAR, AND BRUCE GREGGA (LOTS 201 - 288) This private collection was carefully formed over 20 years, with the guidance of three legendary yet distinct tastemakers: Michael Taylor, Valerian Rybar and Bruce Gregga. These renowned design innovators contributed to the varied delights of the collection, all set against a backdrop of striking contemporary art in a setting flooded with natural light. In the 1950s and 1960s Michael Taylor was the originator of the 'California look'-a light and airy style employing sophisticated layers of monochromatic color and natural materials. Taylor was the clients' original advisor and designer, giving the collection his distinctive combination of traditional and contemporary influences. With Taylor they acquired a number of elegant yet understated pieces of European furniture, such as a Venetian giltwood blue and clear glass mirror that hung in the master bedroom (Lot 205). Some items came from Taylor's own collection, including a sculptural late 18th century Dutch giltwood clock (Lot 287). After Taylor's death in 1986, the owners turned to Valerian Rybar, recognized for his extravagant and opulent designs and for working with a high-profile international clientele, including such illustrious names as Schlumberger, Onassis, Du Pont, Rothschild, Niarchos and Newhouse. Yet Rybar had a practical side: 'It's perfectly possible to be functional yet luxurious', he once said. Instead of employing his signature gold satins and red velvets, Rybar carefully selected pieces for the collection that had an intrinsic theatrical presence. Among them are the rare pair of Spanish rosewood, ivory and tortoiseshell-inlaid cabinets-on-stands, inlaid with the arms of Vilchez of Andalucia (Lot 288), arguably the centrepieces of the collection, which formed a spectacular backdrop for the dining room. Rybar also selected a dramatic and massive pair of Italian porphyry vases with dolphin handles inspired by the 'Vase aux Dauphins' in the Louvre (Lot 250). In the early 1990s the owners chose the highly talented Bruce Gregga for an architectural renovation of the house and a freshening of the interiors. Building upon the collection started by two other design legends, Gregga says, 'We had fantastic things left to work with, pieces of great quality-spectacular.' He helped the couple build on existing collecting areas, such as the blue john vases that adorned the mantelpiece of the wood-panelled office, an idea begun by Michael Taylor (Lots 261 - 268). As the renovation involved expanding and reconfiguring rooms, Gregga was also involved in the acquisition of many wonderful items, such as a set of four Venetian blue-green painted armchairs (Lot 210) and an ormolu-mounted brass and pewter-inlaid ebony and Boulle marquetry commode (Lot 260). When asked about the challenge of further developing a collection shaped by earlier design luminaries, Gregga says it's simple: 'It was wonderful-we made it better.'

A PAIR OF SWEDISH PORPHYRY (PROBABLY MÖRKRUT) URNS

SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details

A PAIR OF SWEDISH PORPHYRY (PROBABLY MÖRKRUT) URNS
SECOND QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
Each with campana urn-shaped body with waisted foot and on square plinth
16 in. (41 cm.) high (2)

Provenance

with Didier Aaron, Paris.

Lot Essay

A vase of this shape based on the Borghese vase in the Louvre is shown in a French catalogue of 1805 advertising porphyry from Elfdal in Sweden (H. Sundblom et al., Porfyr, exhibition catalogue, December 1985 - February 1986, p.31). A vase of the same shape and size in Blyberg porphyry was also included in this Exhibition (no. 24). Älvdalen (Elfdal) in Sweden appears to have been the only place in Europe since Antiquity where porphyry has been mined seriously. Mining started in the 1780s and the works were bought by Charles XIV, the first of the Bernadotte Kings of Sweden, in order to realise Bernadotte's ambition to bring the splendour of the French Empire style to Sweden. During this period many items in porphyry were distributed throughout Europe as diplomatic presents and sold by the Royal Family in 1856. The works were destroyed by fire ten years later and subsequent production was sporadic and limited.

A pair of nearly identical vases was sold from the Property of the late Dowager Countess Howe, Christie's, London, 4 June 1992, lot 102, and another single urn from the collection of Peter Glenville and Hardy William Smith, Christie's, New York, 17 October 2004, lot 27.

See also lot 531 in this sale.

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