Audrey Hepburn in her bathroom in a publicity photoshoot. There is a vintage enamelware shaving bowl on the wall. She also had a vintage enamel salt box on her kitchen wall as we saw in a previous post.
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Mr Selfridge’s Polar Bear Ink Stand
Leonard Joel Auction House: "An Art Deco WMF silver plated 'Polar Bear' Inkstand, circa 1920, depicting a bear clambering over glacier form hidden inkwells above pen tray, marked EPNS and faint impression of impressed mark, Continue reading Mr Selfridge’s Polar Bear Ink Stand
The Dowager Lady Violet’s Chinese Foo Dogs
Lady Violet's Chinese glazed ceramic "Foo Dogs" hint at a traveled past and lend a touch of the exotic in the Dower house. The Foo-dogs do not represent dogs however they are Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lions. Continue reading The Dowager Lady Violet’s Chinese Foo Dogs
Elizabeth Taylor’s Cat Figurine Planter
Elizabeth is holding a ceramc cat that is also a planter. Similar cat figurines were sold by Haeger - The one aboe has a painted face like that seen on Made in Japan imports.
Irrational Man: Vintage Nautical Sconce
A ship wheel sconce seen in Woody Allen's movie, Irrational Man, looked vaguely familiar - where had I seen it before? I had been watching reruns of I Love Lucy and there it was, a wall light on Lucy Ricardo's kitchen just like it.
Marilyn Style Sweater
Cary Grant at the Hollywood Brown Derby
Cary Grant was one of a galaxy of movie stars that could be spotted dining at the legendary Hollywood Brown Derby restaurannt on Vine Street. Pictured above sometime during the golden era of Hollywood and the Studio system Cary is enjoying his food from one the willow pattern plates that reminded the diners of home. Cary is also examining the wooden cigarette box made in the shape of a derby hat that was placed on each dining table.
Lady Edith’s Chinese Horse Statues
When Lady Edith brings Bertie Pelham back to her London flat in season 6 of Downton Abbey we could not help noticing a pair of large green Chinese tang pottery horses above the bookshelves.
There are some very similar chinese horse statues on eBay currently. Click picture to see it on eBay
Lady Violet’s Louis XVI Regency Sconce
Add a touch of Downton Style with a French Regency Louis XVI ormolu sconce. The gilded bronze sconce (similar one below) is apparent in many of the scenes in Lady Violet's drawing room in the dower house on Downton Abbey
See details on eBay
Lady Mary: Crystal Perfume Bottle
I notice a pretty crystal glass perfume decanter bottle on Lady Mary Crawley's dressing table. I see a range of similar crystal glass perfume bottles on eBay Click HERE for a selection.
So what fragrances might someone like Lady Mary have worn? In her decanter she may have kept natural floral essential oil based toilet waters. 1912, the year in which the Downton Abbey sereies begins, was the year the fragrance L'Heure Bleue or 'the blue hour' was created by Jacques Guerlain. From the House of Caron in Paris came “N’Aimez que Moi” in 1916, and “Tabac Blond” in 1919, 1920 perfumes include Chanel No. 5 which was launched in 1921 and would have been familiar to somebody like Lady Mary Crawley. Guerlain’s Shalimar, was launched in 1925 and became one of the most popular fragrances of all time. Guerlain’s Shalimar was named after the Gardens of Shalimar in Lahore, Pakistan, which were built for Mumtaz Mahal, the woman for whom the Taj Mahal was built.