You know you’ve made it when you spend lazy weekends soaking in your white Carrara marble bathtub, ideally while feeding grapes into your mouth while being fanned by a large leaf.  In all seriousness though, this is certainly a “wow” piece for any home.  The lion’s head is clearly the standout detail here, but the carved waves on the side and the way the rim has been carved to look like fish scales makes it the whole package.

Incidentally, Carrara marble is an interesting material – quarried from the town of Carrara in Tuscany, it is the same material used to carve such treasures as the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column, Michelangelo’s David as well as many of his other works, and the Marble Arch in London, directly in front of Buckingham Palace.  You can see the famed blue-gray veins in this piece off to the right of the picture.

Available until April 1st as Lot 308 in the Fine European Furniture Including Tapestries, Silver, Ceramics and Carpets Auction at Sotheby’s New York Office.

With spring just around the corner, I’m feeling the desire to paint my apartment bright colors and pack it with airy, happy furniture like this Swedish banquette in the Gustavian style.  Again, this piece has been reupholstered, but I think it has a great look to it, bold without being loud.  The Gustavian style is uniquely Swedish, and originates from the period of Gustav III, who served as king in the late 18th Century.  Most people would say the style is rooted in the Neo-Classical movement, but it also has a kind of minimalist French Rococo feel to it, which isn’t surprising given the king spent a fair amount of time at Versailles before assuming the throne.   This particular piece is circa 1880, so very much toward the tail end of the movement, but aside from IKEA, it’s really the look most furniture-philes associate with the country.  Available at David Duncan Antiques in New York.

There are fireplaces and then there are fireplaces.  This is the latter.  This particular piece is especially notable because it was commissioned for the Habsbourg-Lorraine family in the 19th Century, the royal family of Austria at the time.  While the Habsbourg-Lorraines weren’t the same family as the more famous and influential Habsbourgs , they took over control of Austria after the true Habsbourgs died out and took on the name.   This fireplace features three coats of arms – the Habsbourg-Lorraines on the left, the House of Austria in the center and the House of Bavière (a region of Germany just to the north of Austria) on the right.   Spectacular in its construction in detail, it has the far rarer appeal of historical significance that pushes the price up somewhat considerably.  I’ll tell you though, if I owned a sprawling castle in Austria, this would be just the thing to keep me warm après-ski.  Available until April 1st as Lot 256 in the Origines, Architecture, & Heritage, Decoration and Garden Sanctuary Auction at Sotheby’s in Paris.

Where to start with this chair, there’s so much to like about it!  The finely turned and seductively thin wood, the distinctive elongated height, the mathematical precision at the top of the chair, it’s all quite enchanting.  The patina is also wonderful and while the dealer is upfront that the seat has been reupholstered, I think they’ve chosen the perfect color to accentuate the wood and overall unique look of the piece.  Lastly, it’s an absolute steal – would you believe only $850?  I’m almost hesitant to share the source, but against my better judgment, here you are. Available at Lawson-Fenning in Los Angeles.

While not as famous as Josiah Wedgwood, Elijah Mayer porcelain was among the best produced in the late 18th Century in England.  His particular specialty was so-called basalt or Egyptian black porcelain, and this coffee pot is a striking example.  The carved relief striping is what I really like about this piece, but the spout is also interesting to me.  It almost looks Art Nouveau in style because of the sharp, angular shape juxtaposed with the curly leaves at the base.  Available at Leo Kaplan in New York.