Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Risking Chinoiserie Outdoors

Mark Sikes

 
Mark Sikes took this photo and posted it on Instagram of this beautiful home in Southampton. Look at the the size of those blue and white Chinese vases/urns!!!! What a stunning home.

I know I am on the risk averse side, but I would be so nervous about them being stolen or accidentally knocked over or blown over in a summer storm. 

Here is another view I found. They certainly make a statement!


Pinterest

I read a fascinating article that in Great Britain garden theft is about a $500 million a year industry. People use exterior alarm systems, barbed wire, and all sorts of anti-theft devices to protect their garden statues, pots, tools, and such. Fortunately, that has not become a problem in the U.S. where I feel like weather is more of an issue. They must have a better class of criminals in the UK.

I previously posted this photo below of a Palm Beach home with blue and white ginger jars in front. 

Even more of a crazy choice here in South Florida IMHO with our storms worrying about them getting toppled over. But having spent lots of time in the Hamptons, summer storms and winds can be very strong there too.


Les Ensembliers

That's why I much prefer using blue and white Chinese garden stools and fishbowls outdoors. They have a lower center of gravity and are far less of a concern. I had blue and white Chinese garden stools in my gardens in NOVA for decades safely. But in a hurricane here, my blue and white Chinese porcelain will all chill in the garage. 

Speaking of gardens, I am off to prune all of my growing family of topiaries with my British topiary shears before it gets hot here.


CCC


23 comments:

  1. Please tell me about the British shears.

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  2. These are gorgeous photos! I suspect that the tall pieces of porcelain were placed specifically for the photos! When our houses were photographed for two different magazines, the photographers and stylers took liberties to place things outdoors on porches that would never be left there --even overnight. I do love this look!

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    1. I agree those tall porcelains probably don't live outdoors on the edge of the porch full time. Maybe they're place there for parties, or when special guests are expected. But I can't seem them there all the time. For one thing, they'd fill with rain water and be a breeding ground for mosquitos. Who'd want that right next to the front door?

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    2. Susan - not a photo shoot - Mark Sikes just snapped the picture, and according to comments from locals, the urns are always out.

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    3. Bg- Apparently, they do live outside and an easy fix for water and such is just to fashion inserts out of wood or cork or whatever that fit inside the necks but can't be seen.

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    4. A corked neck would solve the standing water/mosquito problem for sure.

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  3. I find them odd at that scale at that entrance. Not even considering potential breakage, the scale doesn’t feel well thought out.

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    1. I love the scale, I just couldn't sleep at night worrying about them - LOL.

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  4. They could be bolted at the bottom and filled with sand, too heavy to steal and very stable. Plus they are probably reproductions that are easily replaced.

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    1. I could not bear to make holes in them and bolt them and fill them with sand.

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  5. Hi Beth. I have fallen in love with that periwinkle blue paint that you used in the Mid Century Modern and Chinoiserie room. My fiance & I are going to be selecting colors soon for redoing the rooms in our house & I would love to add it to our choices. Would you mind sharing it with me? Your also using it on the ceiling gives one the feeling of being in a special jewel box & I wuld love to sleep in a room that gives me that feeling. Thanks.

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    1. I am confused as to which room you are asking me about.

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  6. Filled with gravel will deter a thief or a storm.

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  7. That house in Southampton is just gorgeous. I've always loved vine or ivy covered houses, and would love to introduce that on my house. It would be perfect, but what stops me, aside from the watering issue - I live in California, which seems to be in a perpetual drought - is a concern that rodents would move in. Not a good thing. They must have some sort of method for keeping them at bay, although I don't know what that would be. If you or any of your readers know what that is, I would love to hear about it. They are very smart creatures, and have the ability to multiply exponentially. Yikes! I shudder to think about it.

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    1. Rats are an issue and ivy is supposedly bad for bricks and mortar as well as stucco which is what I have.

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    2. Yes. I think there are a couple of theories about ivy or vines and the damage they do to the exterior surface of a brick house. I've never owned a brick house, but the maintenance on mortar has to be repaired/replaced every so often anyway, so I assume, aside from the rat dilemma, that the ivy is just removed in order for that to be done, then allowed to grow back, or not, depending upon the homeowner's preference. I've yet to hear a home owner or home builder ever address this issue.

      I also have a stucco house which is 86 years old, and I live in earthquake country. (Of course, more recently California has become fire country as well, so ivy covered wall walls would create a fire ladder.) It has held up fabulously. I'm sure some of that has to do with the foundation and the fact that it was not built on fill.

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  8. Beautiful! Everything about this house...The Blue and White urns are like the cherry on top! No way I could handle that, lol. In my yard, yes, but not in front for all to see and be tempted by. If you're wealthy enough to own a house like that, I suppose you can easily afford to replace these huge jars if something should happen to them. While I do love the look, slightly smaller ones would be less ostentatious and perhaps more fitting, imo.

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    1. I agree, but I do think the scale of the urns is fabulous.

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  9. I have a LARGE porcelain Chinese horse that I admired for nearly 2 years outside in DC. I finally approached the house to ask the owners where they had obtained it. They asked me if I was interested in buying it? Turns out the woman was in imports. :) The horse now resides in my living room.

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    1. What a great story. The house I lived in during law school in Georgetown later had a huge pair of foo dogs in front.

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  10. Weather dictates all on my porches, middle rural Georgia. WIND. Stunning winds, cold days, hot days, stormy days, cloudless days....oh my the dust, dirt, pollen gifted.

    Feels like watching God's manna dropping as He intended, feeding of Earth.

    Those huge blue/white urns? They got the Garden Design memo: DINKY IS STINKY !!!

    Oh my, that parking court too.

    Garden & Be Well, T

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I am having so much fun gardening down here and I am learning so much.

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