09.30.24
EDITORS’ LIST
Jill and Monica share their September picks, including schnapps decanters, dirt glazes, an under-the-radar Gae Aulenti design, and an out-of-print Helen Frankenthaler that someone should really republish!
Jill’s List
 1. LUMPY MUGS FOREVERThis isn’t the first time I’ve featured the London brand Completedworks on this site, and it won’t be the last. Today, I’m enjoying the fact that they’ve somehow made lumpy mugs — which have been a thing for quite some time now — new again. These look like what would happen if you made a mold out of a pillowcase that’s been rubber-banded for tie dye, then cast the clay inside of it; they’re actually inspired by the way drapery has been used by painters to convey movement since the Renaissance. Similarly made wonky little candlesticks are available as well. |
 2. AN UNDER-THE-RADAR BEDIf you spend enough time haunting Live Auctioneers, eBay, and Italian design retrospectives, you’re probably familiar with Gae Aulenti’s Stringa series, for which she made sofas and chairs with felted seats and hung leather cushions, cosseted by a frame of tubular steel. However, I had never seen the bed version from this particular series, and it’s my new favorite. It’s the perfect color burgundy, it features the same tubular metal frame without giving hospital room vibes, and its twinset mattress–base is covered in the cutest ticking stripe textile. Anyone got a spare $15K lying around? |
 3. A DEDICATED SCHNAPPS DECANTERI’ve talked before on this list about my love for specialized kitchen items, but this one potentially takes the cake: While in Stockholm last week, I visited Svenskt Tenn and discovered this pewter fish decanter, designed in the 1920s by Svenskt Tenn founder Estrid Ericson and then simplified a decade later by designer Björn Trägårdh. It’s meant to hold schnapps and lay flat on a tray surrounded by ice, and it’s possibly the weirdest item Svenskt Tenn sells. I realize that schnapps means something different in Europe than it does in the States, but I got a good laugh imagining this beautiful piece filled with apple Pucker or Fireball. |
 4. KERAFAKTNot much to say about this one, but I generally have a thing for flattened vases and glass, so this patterned piece, which was made by the Swedish designer who goes by Kerafakt in collaboration with the OAS Company, is right up my alley. |
 5. NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE MERCHI’ve been sitting on this one for a while, unsure of how large the overlap is in the Venn diagram of design snobs and Red Hot Chili Peppers fans. However, it must be said that Parks Project merch is absolutely slamming, and this collab with RHCP — which pays homage to their album Californication, currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, as well as iconic Yosemite imagery like native wasps and glacier peaks — is weirdly amazing? |
 6. DUILIO BARNABEI discovered the work of Duilio Barnabé on the Instagram of the new LA gallery Trevor Cheney, but in researching the artist — who studied under Giorgio Morandi and created works with schematically simplified geometries — I found that I vastly preferred his still lifes. How good is this one? |
Monica’s List
 1. EMERALD CHAIN TRAYI just recently discovered Anastasio Home, which makes really cool home styling objects in stone and metal. There’s lots to love here, like this amoeba-shaped tray in cast aluminum, but I think the green marble chain-edged catchall above might be my favorite. This is one of those great secret sources for things you wish you could find vintage but just don’t have the patience to hunt for. |
 2. PAOLA LENTI SCIARA TABLEPaola Lenti has a line of indoor/outdoor tables and consoles with handmade lava-stone tops that are ridiculously stunning — the one pictured above is my favorite but there’s a handful of different colors and patterns, from an allover lilac swirl reminiscent of mid-century pottery to smaller tile configurations as well. Definitely the chicest patio ever with one of these. |
 3. EMILY FRANCES BARRETT JEWELRYCould not wishlist this series of earrings and rings faster — they’re by the London designer Emily Frances Barrett, and each one is an artful composition of found gems, glass and pottery shards, and pearls, plus some cast-metal shells. Some of them are serious statement pieces. |
 4. DANIEL GRATALOUP’S HOMEI cannot stop thinking about this home recently published in World of Interiors. Its Brutalist, engraved-lead kitchen cabinetry made the rounds on Instagram earlier this month, but the sculpted walls (here and at top) are completely unhinged-good. It’s the home of architect Daniel Grataloup, in Geneva, and you should go read the article because I’m so in awe I can’t even talk about it. |
 5. HELEN FRANKENTHALER BOOKIt’s so crazy to me that books like this 1989 Helen Frankenthaler monograph by John Elderfield can be so rare, and so in demand, as to go for thousands of dollars on eBay, and yet the powers that be can’t just put it back into production so that the rest of us can have the chance to own it. If there are any Harry Abrams editors out there reading this, please make this book again! Maybe there’s some copyright issue but if not, take my money! |
 6. GIOVANNI BERTONCELLO VASENew eBay search alert: Giovanni Bertoncello. Not much to say about this 1970s vase, I just love the combination of the exaggerated form with the weird, almost trompe-l’oeil-dirt glaze. The listing says it was made for the Italian brand Schiavon which maybe deserves its own search alert too. |
