When you woke up this morning, you didn’t know what was missing from your life, but surely you know now; faux malachite wingback chairs. In the world of faux stone, I can’t say that I really put fabric upholstery at the top of my list, but these are nothing short of hypnotic – or maybe I should say, psychedelic, even though malachite as a motif is quite ancient.
Of course, I’m not sure if it’s hypnotic in a good sense, or if it’s more like watching a train wreck that you can’t take your eyes away from. I still haven’t made my mind up, but these were too striking not to post. These feel like the kind of ‘experts only’ piece that you’d really have to know how to work with. Perhaps they’d look great is a really minimalist and neutral space, where they could be the uncontested center of attention. Or, I can also see them working in a completely over the top space jam packed with interesting things and misfits, where they would feel right at home.
Malachite, as many of you will already know, is a greenish mineral of copper that has a long history for its use in decorative objects. The Egyptians carried malachite amulets, and even ground it into a powder they used for eye shadow. It was also quite popular in Russia during the 18th century, when it was also used for jewelry until a large deposit was found in the Ural Mountains, and they started facing tables and columns with it.
Today, you typically see malachite as an accent to a larger piece like gilt clocks, mirror frames, the base to small statuary, obelisks, veneered boxes, and things of that nature, though even now and again you see some designer who really goes for it and makes something massive and in your face with the material. For example, the famed interior designer Tony Duquette produced a rug that looked like a solid sheet of malachite back in the 70s that was perfect for his ‘More is More’ aesthete.
Available at Modern Drama 20th Century Arts in Chicago.
