When it comes to creating memorable spaces, nothing makes a statement like wrapping walls in a truly custom treatment courtesy of a skilled artisan. From églomisé and boiserie to treillage and embossed leather, these exquisite examples are more than just surface level—they’re true works of art. Here are just a few of the expert craftspeople that top designers call on to turn their dreams into reality.
-
At Féau Boiseries’ New York showroom, black straw marquetry à la Jean-Michel Frank and a Greek frieze detail borrowed from Emilio Terry line the walls of a chamber; on the outer wall, a cast-plaster wall treatment features a bamboo-leaf motif inspired by 18th-century Italian chinoiserie.
KEVIN KERR -
A scenic wallpaper is taken to new heights when framed in delicate gilded moldings and antiqued mercury mirror panels set within pilasters.
KEVIN KERR -
A Neoclassical room display features intricate details—including ornate swags, fluted columns, and crown moldings—based on designs attributed to 18th-century French architect and decorator François-Joseph Bélanger.
KEVIN KERR -
Ornamental flourishes such as garlands and bows can be carved in wood or cast in resin, then painted or gilded.
KEVIN KERR
Féau Boiseries
Guillaume Féau, director of Paris-based Féau Boiseries, has long collected the exquisite antique boiserie panels that inspire his atelier’s masterful team of woodcarvers, joiners, plasterers, painters, gilders, and more. Féau has now opened its first U.S. showroom in New York City’s D&D Building, where vignettes like those above showcase the firm’s remarkable craftsmanship capabilities.
Accents of France
Treillage, which perhaps reached its apotheosis in the gardens of Versailles, is now employed for imaginative interiors as well. In this solarium designed by Cathy Kincaid, custom latticework by the experts at Accents of France is detailed with a curved crown molding set against a lacquered background.
Miriam Ellner
Parisian Miriam Ellner is one of few modern masters of the ancient art of verre églomisé—painting and gilding on the reverse side of glass, which conjures a luminous, ethereal artistry. She painted the soaring mirror seen above with a chinoiserie lattice border for a grand salon designed by Juan Pablo Molyneux.
Linda Fenwick
From her studio in South Yorkshire, England, Linda Fenwick constructs exquisite custom seashell mosaics for architectural details or entire rooms (like this Bahamian garden folly designed by Amanda Lindroth), drawing on Georgian and classical designs but always adding her own contemporary twist.
Atelier Mériguet-Carrère
Atelier Mériguet-Carrère in Paris specializes in intricately embossed leatherwork. For this masterpiece of a Spanish Revival room by Michael S. Smith, the artisans gilded and embossed leather using engraved metallic molds, then hand-painted its extraordinary details and waxed it by hand.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN VOLUME 19 OF FREDERIC MAGAZINE. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE!
