Here it is the glorious Klismos chair. Someday I will have one. (If not an entire set!) If you ever happen to find yourself on the Côte d’Azur, you must plan a visit to the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu sur Mer. (The villa's website is listed in "Artnosh Picks.")
A Belle Epoque fantasy of an ancient Greek villa, it was built by Théodore Reinach, a French archeologist. It is simply extraordinary and full of all sorts of Klismos furniture. Going there, you feel like you've been given a window back into antiquity—a perfect stage set for a Mary Renault yarn.
Though I like the version pictured here best, Klismos chairs come in many variations of shape and materials. I’ve seen some vintage metal versions that, though not cheap were less costly than a mint wood one and I may settle for one of those so long as they have the right graceful curve of legs and back and a trompe l’oeil version of the original woven leather seats.
For no particular reason except that I think it is a thing of beauty I am including a lamp designed by Carlo Mollino. What a bravura shade and such simplicity and grace in the slender adjustable arm and almost jaunty, quadrifoil base. On a lighter note, Pierre Chareau designed a lamp he dubbed "La Religieuse" (nun in English). The name could also apply to this one, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Sally Field's head gear in The Flying you know what.
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