"As good as old, Better than new"
General de Gaulle could have commented this quote with his famous words “Vaste programme”
Indeed it is, we’ve tried to make this quote ours, manufacturing leathers that looks ancient, with the same commitment to quality as in the glorious days of the gilded leather.
From the remote area of Gascony you will be invited to share daily life, Architecture, arts and perhaps even some Gastronomie.
The Lutson Team: Lut, Fevy and Frederic
The Plaisance was inpired by a circa 1750 design which is to be seen in the Museum Plantin Moretus, Antwerp. The Plaisance is very close to the original panel we magnefied the design, the result is that the flowers are large, thus more detailed and the stems and leaves are stronger and more detailed as well.
— The sample panel was made over 25 years ago it’s to be seen at John Nelson Inc our Miami distributor whom placed the order.
— Here under the panel we supplied J. Nelson Inc.
— The A to Z of the painting of a poly-chrome panel
— Above: The panel is embossed, gilded and antiqued this is the basis on which we start painting.
— The basis colour of the leaves is applied.
— All the basis colours of the flowers are applied
— Again several stages further: the flowers have been painted and the leaves had some shades applied.
— Now the nerving of the leaves and highlights on leaves and stems are painted.
— To bond the colours and downtone the gilding we antique the panels once more
— The panel on the left side of the picture above is a new panel the one on the right side is the original panel… All done, now packing !
This book will inform you in the technical matters of the gilt leather trade. Monsieur Fournet retraces for your benefit the geographical evolution of the trade and the fashion of the giltleather tapestries. He travelled for decades to see the ancient leathers in situ. Mr. Fournet knows which design sits in the cellars of which museum because he was there! He indexed and photographed and eventually told the conservators what sort of gilt leather they had in stock.
The nearly 400 pages counting book is just out, I don’t doubt that it will become a work of reference in this specific field.
Definitely worthwhile, today, available in French, I hope soon an English edition we see daylight.
It’s just a small Roman chapel that sits on a “promontoire” which means a dream location… in the French Alps. From the outside one will note that the tower has no tiles, nor slates, but is built in solid masonry, in contrast, the radiating chapels which have thatched roofing. The strongest next to the most care demanding roofs united in one building …
Inside the chapel there are two Alters one specifically dedicated to Marie.
Principal Alter
Side Alter: of “Marie” the dominant colour is red which is unusual
Meanwhile the Alters have been dismantled, Stored and have been restored.
The principal Alter
The Alter of Marie
Samples for the colouring and the metallic backgrounds had to be made for the Architects of Historic Monuments to choose from. At this stage the samples focus on the metallic ground, 6 samples were produced in 3 different metallic grounds. From each of these metallic grounds a sample was painted with a red flower and one with bleu flower when the metallic ground is chosen it’s easy to adapt the colours afterwards. The painting is in the early 18 century tradition.
Classic Gilding
Flat Silver-gilding
And Flat Silver-gilding with a yellowish varnish
This is where we are presently and awaiting the dicision of “les Monuments de France and la Drac” and who else ?
This is the Altar of St Martins Church in Vic-en-Bigorre
Here under the draped Altar cloth is replaced by a Gilt-leather Antependium, mind you its only photo-shopped picture, yet it tells the story.
Some examples of Lutson Gilt-leather alterantives to a fabric Altar Cloth: Double Damask: Gilded and hand painted Antependium
Fleurance: Tender colours on a silvered ground
Marot: Full Polychrome
All the designs for Lutson Gilt-leather Altercloth’s are traditional 17th and 18th century designs, they don’t carry specific symbols, they were not made for a specific Religion nor for any Christian denomination which makes our Gilt-leather suitable for all situations where one wishes create a setting with a great decorative impact.
The Baroque chairs as they came from Larvick Museum, Norway.
What happened to the Larvick chairs at the Lages upholsterers facility in Nora Sweden.
This is Master Leif and behold, he means business !
Master Leif attacking precious Lutson leathers with his hammer !
After hours of removing all the sick internals, putting in new springs, horse-hair, stuffing and canvas, after hours of cutting with dexterity and hammering like mad, but alert and vigilant so the hand and the hammer do what the mind orders. Its time for Mistress Annika to appear, sharp eyed to judge the work done.
Leif worked hard, Annika inspected severly and found the work excellent !
Mistress Annika taking the pose.
A detail: note the nice trimming cut from the excess of a panel its perfectly positioned and hold in place with the appropriated copper studs.
The Panel above was made for Larvik Museum few years ago. Its function was to show a posible renovation for a set of chairs which needed care, also to induce fund raising for this project.
The sample panel was dispayed in our catalogue and franckly I thought the project dead. This order proves I have to reconsider the defenition of “dead”! As this seemingly dead the project, was after all alive, as in a SiFi movie.
I didn’t make pictures during the manufacturing process, till … the thought downed to do so and indeed I took 2 pictures while my camera can store a 1000 pictures, maybe i’m not a strong commercial thinker after all ?
The panels were ordered by Lages AB our Swedish distributor and upholsterers working for hertitage and interior designers. https://www.lagestapetserarverkstad.se/
Once the chairs have found their place in the Larvik Museum I hope to get more pictures, which I will be glad to share in a following posting. https://vestfoldmuseene.no/larvik-museum/
Melbye. Her wrintings are musings about the choice she made to live in a tiny-house, called “La chouette” which is French for owl but not only as its also an exlamation that precedes a happy event “Chouette, we go to the beach !!” I’ll stop explaining and leave you to discover her writings first her introduction than the integral posting.
The Dragons and the tiny house.
The old and lovely tradition of gilt leather as wall coating is not usually associated with tiny houses. Indeed, there is a strong link between the tiny house movement and a certain purism of simple living. Also, there is a link between size and power in western agricultural society, making anything that might signal wealth tied inseparably to large things and buildings. Regardless of all that’s usual, I have known all along that I wanted gilt leather on my living room wall. It embodies a durability, an integrity, a delicate toughness and a pride in craft that I wish to include in my house.
After much consideration I chose two dragons. I needed panels that would give meaning to the room and not compete with it. This pattern gives me something new to look at every day, as it changes constantly with the different lights through my stained-glass window. There is also much company in my two dragons and they are very good at discerning visitors, recognizing at once those who know how to appreciate the subtle beauty of the world and make sure to capture their glance.
Everything in my house is chosen for its ability to affect all the senses, leaving nothing empty, nothing unconnected. In my time living and traveling with my house, I have found that all these things come together to form a unity,a living, breathing thing that has a life of its own. And my dragons are a vital part of this unity.
A house, as a person, as any living thing, must change if they are to live. But when you know what your center is, you need not fear threats to the borders. Knowing that I have my dragons as part of the center of my house makes the external threats and changes of travel easier to handle and lends the house a graceful calm when the wind and the road gets hard.
The posting as on Tinyowl:
For the wallpaper in my living room area I have chosen hand embossed gilt leather. It looks like this.
Yes, the panels have a dragon on them, yes the dragon has tits. I have two panels, and the dragons are named Sharon and Maude.
This, I know, is not a usual choise for a ‘tiny’ house, or indeed for any house. A feature this flamboyant is nowadays mainly used by banks, fancy restaurants and other places that wish to seem to embody power, using things to signify status rather than having the thing itself for itself.
I think tactile visuality is important, or ‘having something nice to look at’. But not only in the two-dimensional sense, but in terms of how the light falls and reflects off a surface. For instance, things seen on a screen will never be anything other than looking at a screen no matter what that screen shows. It will be frozen in distance, tactility and lacking in the things not quite seen, but that reflects shadows in the corner of your eye. All these aspects are important for what we think and how, for how we feel and what sides of ourselves we nurture. But there is a difference between surrounding yourself with beauty and using representations of beauty to cover up overall surroundings that can and should be changed, like the colourful posters covering the wasteland in Terry Gilliams increasingly realistic and brilliant movie Brazil.
Giddyup, Rocinante
Consumerism makes it appear as if anyone can have access to things only dreamt of before, but all you get access to is the symbol of that thing, a pale replica. Consumerism is a direct threat to all things beautiful as it denies anything to have a value in itself, only as a quick fix to feel better or as an instaworthy shot of status. I mean to have this wallpaper for decades, centuries if someone else takes over. It’s something I’m committing to, something I’ll care for.
And I don’t want my wallpaper to cover a wall that is something else. I want the things surrounding me to have as much integrity as possible. The wall is there for the gilt leather, not the other way around. These pieces have to them a touch, scent and visual quality that is filled with itself and does not represent anything else, cannot be confused for anything else. It is not merely a picture of a dragon, it is its own thing. Also, it’s absurdly beautiful. Also, it’s somewhat absurd. I mean, who does this sort of thing? No one. So I will. I’m not denying the side of me that grew up with Huysmans and longed for ‘The willed exile of the Introverted Decadent’.
Thanks you for these words Tone I wish you well wandering along the rivers, over the hills, enjoying panoramas, decending into the green valleys, visiting towns, seeing friends. Musing & Writing.
