The Society inc. Newspaper Volume 5.

BY SIBELLA COURT

THE SOCIETY INC

EDITION 5

Mrs Hood | Photographed by Mikkel Vang | Bow made by Robert Geddes

Contents 03 captain’s letter 04 forgotten trades

Captain’s letter Many years ago I stumbled across a secondhand copy of John Seymour’s The Forgotten Arts & Crafts published in 1984. I poured over its pages and dreamt of these crafts being reinstated and becoming an aesthetic, a way of life in our consumeristic society. From the 1960’s, John was writing about self-sustainability, the detriment of plastic use, general respect for the earth and many of the current hot topics. This book, and I do believe my ancestral history as well, sparked a seeded curiosity, something that felt somewhat familiar so that for the last couple of decades I have been collecting a black book of specialty trades. I dedicate this 5th edition of The Society inc newspaper to heritage trades & specialty crafts.

Over the last 10 years I have noticed great advances in the resurgence of and participation in the heritage trades & specialty crafts. In my first book, Etcetera etc pub. 2009 I wrote a list of arcane trades (definition: understood by few, mysterious and secret) but perhaps now is the time to drop the Lost or Forgotten part of these celebrated trades as we watch the likes of Restoration Australia on Netflix, visit the ever-growing Lost Trades Fair in three Australian sites and weave these traditional crafts into our home renovations, product designs and hospitality spaces.

For this special issue #5 of The Society inc newspaper I delved into a familiar tale we all know and love, the adventures of Robin Hood, set amongst the leafy scape of Sherwood Forest. I imagined our new character, Mrs Hood, and her necessities as we added a touch of make-believe and Australiana into this beloved story and I had my very own bow crafted from Red Oak for the stave and maple notches by Victoria based bow maker, Robert Geddes. My dear friend, New York-based photographer Mikkel Vang and a small band of my merry men traipsed through the Victorian scape and scampered up a gum tree to seek out the coin to give to the poor.

05 the society inc vernacular Naming the Range

06 blacksmith collaboration 07 styling with hardware Tips & Tricks

08 - 09 ateliers & workshops 10 - 11 field notes Rajasthan, India

12 - 13 the dictionary of occupational surnames & tools

Stay curious,

16 - 17 meet the maker Lisa & Glen Rundell, Robert Geddes, Lauren Muney of Silhouettes By Hand & Andrew McCaig of The Natural Bedding Company

19 vaucluse house 20 - 21 field notes Tasmania, Australia

The Society inc by Sibella Court Suite 3.02, 75 Mary St, St Peters NSW 2044 Australia +61 2 9516 5643 | hello@thesocietyinc.com.au

22 - 23 an ode to the past Where I Find Inspiration

www.thesocietyinc.com.au | @sibellacourt @thesocietyinc | @thestylistsguide | #scfieldnotes

24 - 25 alchemy workshop Step Inside the Imaginarium

FRONT COVER ILLUSTRATION | Features silhouette crafted by Lauren Muney PRINT PRODUCTION | POD Marketing Solutions www.pod.sydney

26 - 27 design studio Slowbuilding, Homestead, Bushcraft

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FORGOTTEN TRADES A

ll my product design, both for The Society inc hardware & dry goods range as well as bespoke pieces for my interior design work, draws upon the hand of the specialty crafts that are carefully collected in my black book of makers. For those less duplicated pieces we have them crafted in Australia using whip braiders, blacksmiths, bushcrafters, dyers, weavers, glassblowers and stone masons amongst many others. To see the subtle marks of the maker, the movement of how the material was tooled is the part that charms me. It may be the bristle lines in a dry brushed hand-painted sign, the hammering of steel in a forge or the textured finish of sand casted brass. I am forever insisting upon these marks being celebrated and not perfected to a smooth, manufactured finish.

There is romance in the notion of slow living. Where you work in a studio set amongst your garden of self-sufficiency, garden beds dense with edible produce and a small orchard down yonder. You carve out a large & educated clientele to survive on making the things you love with materials harvested from nature. And although this sounds like a dream, much of it can come true in the setting of your choice. I make it my journey to visit as many makers and museums worldwide that I can, that retain this magic from tools and products from craftsman. I never say no to a workshop visit to understand process, materiality and the general pride in people’s work. I like to look at a makers hands – my blacksmith’s are embedded with grease and have broadened over the years, my dyer’s are different shades of blue on different days and the knot tyer has tough skinned edges to protect them.

John Wright Brooms workshop, Maitland, Australia | Photographed by Sibella Court

It may be the bristle lines in a dry brushed hand-painted sign, the hammering of steel in a forge or the textured finish of sand casted brass. I am forever insisting upon these marks being celebrated and not perfected to a smooth, manufactured finish.

Many years ago on a roadtrip through Pennsylvania I stopped at the Mercer Museum. I had previously photographed at Henry Chapman Mercer’s house, Fonthill Castle, for Gourmet magazine. A handsome eccentric who lived between 1856-1930, Mercer was an archaeologist, clay tile-maker, early adopter of reinforced cement, collector of native plants and American preindustrial tools. The structure of his museum, like his homes, embrace the imperfections of structure and finishes, in the same romance as sandcastle-making rather than the strict perfection of most modern buildings today. The museum is an experiment in reinforced concrete that is 5 stories with catwalks that wrap around each story to overlook the central well. This gives the visitor the best visual to take in the dramatic central installation of suspended carriages, boats, penny-farthing bicycles and other large structured vehicles and farm equipment. There are rooms dotted along the catwalks that you peer into, with each representing a trade and all the equipment & tools required with all the walls and ceilings covered in the everyday objects pf preindustrial America. It is perhaps more Cabinet of Curiosity than museum as we know it.

I could write a book about the wonderful places & people I have visited from a tool collection in Parma, seventh generation knife maker in Uzbekistan, sand casting in Moradabad, wooden boat building in Nantucket, marbling in Pondicherry, papyrus paper weaving in Cairo, tile making in Morocco, and my favourite Colo Forge tucked away much closer to Sydney where my collaborator and dearest friend, master blacksmith and metal fabricator, Saul lives & works.

For The Society inc, I carefully chose India to manufacture our hard goods. This is a country where master craftsmanship and everyday handmade trades have never been forgotten or lost.

They are deeply embedded in the hierarchy and workings of the culture. For these makers, precious metals and other scraps have not been discarded or carelessly tossed to landfill but thoughtfully sorted and valued for reuse, recovery and repurposing.

Many of our metal hardwares are crafted from scrap metals, to begin their life in your home in their new shape. Metal, unlike some materials, can remain in a closed-loop cycle as a technical nutrient*. Please recycle with care to your local scrap yard or follow us on @thesocietyinc as we continue our journey into this field of responsibility and share our discoveries with you. *[ Technical Nutrient | made of highly stable materials which can be used again and again, designed to be retrieved and reused within the closed-loop cycle of sustainable manufacturing]

Ettore Guatelli Museum, Parma, Italy | Photographed by Sibella Court

MUSEUMS TO VISIT Ettore Guatelli Museum Via Nazionale, 130, 43044 Ozzano Taro PR Italy www.museoguatelli.it

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Mercer Museum 84 South Pine Street Doylestown, PA 18901 United States of America www.mercermuseum.org

THE SOCIETY INC VERNACULAR I

’ve long been curious about old-fashioned last names that described the ‘owners’ of the trade. I wonder if my ancestral last name was Forgeronne? My middle names are French, Lejeune Emilie, and I had always known them to be family ones passed down from my great great grandfather who was a coppersmith from France & settled in Kent, UK. It is in the blood.

Whilst living in NYC, Small Trades by Irving Penn was released in 2008. A series he had been working on since 1950 that captured tradespeople of all kinds, photographed with the tools of their trade, in their work clothes or uniforms and exhibiting visible pride in their work against a simple canvas background. I have used them as inspiration for hospitality interior projects as well as my own love of photography. Over the years I have gathered my collaborative co-conspirators to portray some of the things I am passionate about; botanical exploring, bee keeping, seafaring exploration & lighthouse keeping. This curiosity led itself to these trades that now play such a large part in my vernacular. They conjure up all the scent, sound and tactility of my favourite materials in their raw forms and then new found forms: canvas, leather, zinc, brass, wood, cane, steel, iron, rope.

I have a long-standing love of libraries & books - all kinds of books. I read voraciously but unfortunately do not have the memory for quotes & words - my mind needs the prompts & cues of notes & photographs, souvenirs & props. I have a very vivid imagination & like to think that I have a librarian who lives in my head. The library of my imagination looks a little like the NY Yacht Club library on the top floor – it’s not grand with spiral staircases & witches walks, it’s more leather club chairs, well-loved Persian rugs, a carafe of water on a side table, labelled oak files to house the index cards with their typed Dewey Decimal classifications & tables piled high with books waiting to be sorted by an old librarian who is hard of hearing and likes catnaps throughout the day.

I collect dictionaries of all sorts, ones that delve into all the ologies (the scientific study of things), The American Heritage

Dictionary, Dictionary of Unusual words Part A, Breverton’s Nautical Curiosities, The Ashley Book of Knots, Other-Wordly amongst field guides to shells, flowers, butterflies and trees.

I started a dictionary of my own to house this ever growing number of last names and it expanded into a much larger format with favourite words and turns of phrase that we use to capture the essence of my books, the products in The Society inc hardware & dry goods, my paint range with Murobond and my new product collaborations of furniture, tiles, wallpaper & textiles. Some of these occupational surnames remain commonplace but others have petered out: Fletcher, Archer, Cooper, Tanner, Smith, Draper, Shepherd, Wright, Baker, Butcher, Carter, Cooper, Dyer, Farmer, Faulkner, Weaver, Coleman, Glover, King, Hunter, Mason, Parker, Potter, Sawyer, Slater, Taylor, Thatcher, Turner, Woodman & Brewer.

This curiosity led itself to these trades that now play such a large part in my vernacular. They conjure up all the scent, sound and tactility of my favourite materials in their raw forms and then new found forms: canvas, leather, zinc, brass, wood, cane, steel, iron, rope.

NAMING THE RANGE

I

always wondered who named all the paints and thought to myself that would be a fun job. Little did I know that in 2009 that was exactly what I would be doing when I launched the beginnings of my paint range with Murobond. I have 110 colours in my paint range and each of the names has a story, sometimes a long winded one, perfect for fireside or sometimes just a spark of a memory that relates to my lifeline. A name can conjure up so much, and I often chose colours (other people’s) or even a book, due to a name.

Page from Morris Fielding Phrase Books, English-French 19151917 | Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Aside from my ever-growing dictionary where I even rewrite the meaning to adapt it to my experience or to who lent me the word, I have an ongoing list of words that feel good to say out-loud, or come in pairs or triplets or make you dream. This special list is kept for The Society inc hardware & dry goods range. I might be reading an article or book (I read a lot so this happens very regularly), where words beg to be written down.

Or it might be the names of trees or birds or cloud formations or winds. I am never short of names! A part of my collaboration with Colo Forge is based on the birds that call his surrounding forest home; lyre birds, bowerbirds and thornbills.

I like the idea that, like an object you have collected that is embedded with your memory of where you were, who you were with and what you were doing, a name can also capture these elements. Although you may not know the backstory, it enchants maybe even charms you into picking one over another. The more familiar you are with The Society inc and have joined our ship called IMAGINARIUM, there are many esoteric names that are littered throughout the range that reflect The Society inc curiosities & ethos. They are generally steeped in the above mentionables but extend further in the characters on the ancient silk route, the members and predecessors of The Royal Society and even a special date in time that is referenced due to its pivotal time of social change, the endeavours of the globe and shift in process. These meanings are for the curious and like-minded club The Society inc has created over the last decade, thank you for joining this motley crew of ours who have a love of high seas, adventure and loot. Everyone is welcome!

I capture trades by using the long forgotten surnames; currier, draper, falconer or it may be a little-heard-of tool; a cringle used for tying notes or a travisher for making the curve in Windsor chairs or the many people in history that have caught my attention; Darwin, Draper, Sydney Parkinson, Sir Joseph Banks, Mercer. It may be more of a reference of places I have lived or visited; Howard, Walker, Lafayette, London, Paris or it could be fond childhood memories of rock-pooling: limpets, periwinkles, cockles, forage. One story that never fails to inspire me is a whimsical or just plain dare-devilling seafaring adventure, there are endless names that just spill out of this theme; Ahoy, Loot, Galleon Manilla, Reef, Longitude, Latitude, Flotilla, Landlubber, Endeavour, Shipwreck, Buccaneer and so so many more.

Sometimes they are merely mistakes like Chagrin intended to be Shagreen which have oh-so differing meanings.

For my paint range with Murobond, one of my palettes was named Merchants and Traders, capturing some of my favourite trades that may or may not have existed: Bookbinder, Patternmaker, Archer, Bonesetter, Ship Chandler, Stonecutter, Farrier, Riverkeeper, Chimney sweep, Falconer.

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A chimney sweep, 1938 | Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy ACP Magazines Ltd

BLACKSMITH COLLABORATION Honouring materials of zinc, b rass & bla ckened steel, the Special Edition Smith Ma de range produced by Sibella Court and bla cksmith Saul of Colo Forge continues the storytelling element intrinsic to Sibella’s design approa ch and Saul’s metallurgic imagination.

The Colo Knife Rack at The Wensley, VIC | Photographed by Mikkel Vang

W

hen I moved back to Australia in 2009 and switched my interior work from studio sets to restaurants and bars, I had heard whispers of a blacksmith that worked with zinc that lived in a cave out of range of Sydney. I had witnessed his work at a shop in Sydney and was repeatedly urging the shopkeeper to reveal his source. I needed a blacksmith, for jobs yet unknown.

I had envisaged him to look something like The Magic Pudding, age undeterminable.

I had managed to weave him into a few of my early hospitality projects, although we had not yet met, and it wasn’t until we met on site at Mr Wong, a restaurant in Sydney that I worked on in tandem with Palmer & Co next door.

Well that was it. This was past life stuff! He was familiar, not Pudding-ish at all but handsome and the same age as me.

That was 10 years ago and since then there is not a project that his distinct hand & metallurgy has not played a major part in my design. He has shifted, influenced, educated and inspired much of my DNA and visuals where he makes my ideas broad, endless and unexampled as he will work out how to create it after. He will craft his own tools, learn new or ancient skills to uncover and delve into shapes and jump down the rabbit hole of imagination with me to create beautiful, thoughtful, never seen before products that we consider heirlooms and to be passed down through generations or shared on.

We now collaborate on hardware for The Society inc and my most favourite place to spend time at is Saul’s forge. Although I cannot reveal its location, I have the secret map that takes you over a river through a winding tree-dense road, down an escarpment, across a creek, through an acre of whispering poplars to the end of the road. A hidden path leads through a forest, alive with bird calls, the scent of fresh water and leaves on rocks, turn left to the magical forge or right to his house built with his hands for his family and somewhat camouflaged amongst the towering trees.

We spend hours drawing, him demonstrating new machinery and tools and what they can do, the characteristics of metals, ideas real & imagined and the endless possibilities and excitement that seems tireless. Saul is all that encompasses being a fine metallurgist, an alchemist of metals and magic.

Our products combine metals and what they can do, the simplicity & intricacies of a crafted piece of metal that can add that final touch, like the perfect piece of jewellery or an accessory on an outfit.

The Special Edition Smith-made Range is available to purchase online at thesocietyinc.com.au or in store

Saul Tomkins in his forge | Photographed by Sibella Court

T H E LU R E OF Z I NC

The Lure styles are inspired by a fisherman’s sinker, the kind you may find tucked away in a ta ckle box.

The recycled zinc is poured into a large circular mould, resulting in its humble shape not too perfect in form but just the right feel under hand. The zinc lure lends a weight that nicely contrasts the aged brass, making for a beautiful pairing!

Available styles | Lure Drawer Knob $40.00, Lure Drawer Pull $40.00 and Lure Knocker $105.00

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STYLING WITH HARDWARE Tip s

&

Tr ic ks

The Society inc Hardware Range is designed with a consideration on how to best apply pieces around the home. Here are a few tips & tricks on how to ma ke pra ctical & beautiful pairings with various hardware pieces from our collection.

L IGH T I NG S OLU T IONS

Steadfast Luggage Rack

bower knob Mix up the usual bedside light scenario by incorporating a cloth covered light cord set & cage light which can hang from a wall knob.

steadfast luggage rack & stovepipe hooks

The Bower Knob is the perfect wall knob for such a set up. After installing the Bower Knob, simply wrap the light cord around it until you achieve the desired height you would like the cage light to sit at.

Create a lovely white story in the bathroom by pairing the Steadfast Luggage Rack with a little row of Stovepipe Hooks underneath. Clean towels can be piled on top and the ones in use can hang below! A practical but also beautiful storage solution.

paris hook The Paris Hook was specifically designed for a long protrusion from the wall, making it a good option to suspend a cage light from.

Bower Knob & Navigators Cage Light | Photographed by Mikkel Vang

Palmer Zinc Shelf & Panhandler Bracket Black Larder Hook | Photographed by Mikkel Vang

palmer shelf

larder hook

Install the Palmer Shelf with brackets either below or above - the choice is yours!

As a nod to old, large estates and their larders, use this hook in the pantry or kitchen to suspend bundles of fresh herbs to dry out.

Shop The Society inc Hardware Range online at thesocietyinc.com.au or in store

Paris Hook & Foundry Cage Light | Photographed by Mikkel Vang

This hook has a handy hinge so you can not only fix it to a wall, but to the ceiling also. An alternative to traditional ceiling hooks, and a great way to suspend lighting chain or cloth-covered cord.

Available styles mentioned on this page | Paris Hook $60.00, Foundry Light Cage $55.00, Palmer Shelf $295.00, Panhandler Bracket Black $39.00, Steadfast Luggage Rack $365.00, Stovepipe Hook (sketch) $30.00, Bower Knob $30.00, Thornbill Knob (sketch) $25.00, Smiths Cage Light (sketch) $60.00, Larder Hook $80.00

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ATELIERS & WORKSHOPS I

love the word ‘Atelier’ and all the images & scents it conjures up. I stumbled across Julien Tanguy and was quickly hooked. Known as ‘Père Tanguy’ he owned a shop on Rue de Seine, St Germain in the 1800s. As a purveyor of artists materials he supplied the likes of Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat & Van Gogh, who painted his portrait in 1887. I can just see his shop filled with apothecary jars full of ochres, aquamarine, pomegranate rinds, crushed up shells, cochineal, matta, indigo, snail ink, gold leaf, shellac, brushes, gesso, plinth, stools that twist & bottles of linseed oil. He ran a small gallery on the side and often traded paintings for pigments which jam-packed his walls alongside his collection of ukiyo-o Japanese prints, a salon of its day- a place of conversation & ideas over a couple of glasses of absinthe.

I believe ateliers & workshops still continue to capture the romance of artists, ma kers and the environments where the messy, explorative and creative magic happens. They are not necessarily 19th century French painters, b ut certainly artisans in their own right. I continue to seek out contemporary ateliers and workshops - here are some of my favourites.

Anna-Wili Highfield’s studio | Photographed by Sibella Court

John Wright’s broom workshop | Photographed by Sibella Court

Senate Bench by Sawkille Co. | Photographed by Sibella Court

anna-wili highfield

john wright brooms

sawkille co.

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Morpeth, NSW, Australia

Rhinebeck, NY, United States

When I moved home to Sydney in 2009, a friend of mine whispered to me about a horse in a box she had seen in a shop in Palm Beach. I jumped in the car to take a look, and get a feel for the horse and asked about the artist. I emailed, and its opening line was ‘Let’s be Friends.’ To this day we are the firmest of friends and she has gone beyond a small horse in a box to greatness (and her horse grew in size and into the windows of Hermès & beyond). Anna-Wili’s paper sculptures have appeared in many of my books, my wise owl-in-flight has hang from the ceiling of all my Sydney homes and my favourite time is when I visit her studio, around the corner from my own, with torn paper, wax, pearls, wire and blocks of wood scattered about, a jaguar peering over my shoulder, a fox staring me down and a bird-ofprey lurking in the corner, and her glowing in the centre of it all looking otherworldly or effortlessly chic (think Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face).

I was recently organising a trip to Morpeth NSW and remembered a handmade straw broom I picked up many years ago. Etched in his wooden handle was the name and number of the broom maker. I looked him up, and although he is now flying under the radar and largely sells produce from his farm nowadays, he kindly invited me to an afternoon lesson on how to assemble a broom. His foot pedalled equipment dates back to 1879 and his work shed was all that I imagined of a 40 year career of a millet broom maker, even the chicken pecking seed underfoot was there! My idea of heaven.

About 100 years ago (not really) I was driving through upstate NY and came upon a repurposed Service Station, one of the letters on the sign had dropped off over the years, and it now housed a collective retail store. Here I fell in love, and bought two of Jonah’s first 3 legged walnut stools which I sit on daily.

Jonah, Tara and I have stayed firm friends and their inclusion in my Rigg Design Prize installation (see page 24-25) was integral to represent my decade living in the States as well as their deep appreciation of all that is good in life & design. I now have many more of Sawkille’s furniture pieces that elevate my home environment and are much more than just decoration, they are souvenirs of dear friends and like-mindedness. @sawkillecompany | www.sawkille.com

@annawilihighfield | www.annawilihighfield.com

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O T H E R AT E LI E RS, WOR KSHOP S , M A K E RS CHAIRMAKER Rundell & Rundell 29 Piper Street, Kyneton VIC 3444 Australia @glenrundellchairmaker www.rundellandrundell.com.au

POTTER Robert Gordon 114 Mulcahy Road, Pakenham VIC 3810 Australia @robertgordonpottery www.robertgordonaustralia.com

CORDWAINER Wootten 39 Bridge Road, Richmond VIC 3121 Australia @wootten_ wootten.com.au

BOOKBINDER Andersen’s Book Bindery G02-59 Great Buckingham Street Redfern NSW 2016 Australia @andersensbindery bookbindingaustralia.com.au

FURNITURE MAKER & BUSHCRAFT Greg Hatton @greghatton www.greghatton.com

MIRROR FINISHERS Outlines Mirrors @outlinesmirrors www.outlines.com.au

The Natural Bedding Company workshop | Photographed by Sibella Court

Molmic Coogee Chair, Rigg Design Prize 2018 | Photographed by Sharyn Cairns

Cardboard mirror frame by Noelle Rigaudie | Photographed by David Hutton

The Natural Bedding Company workshop | Photographed by Sibella Court

molmic

noelle rigaudie

the natural bedding company

Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Oh the love of upholstery and all the paraphernalia that comes with; long curved needles, heavy cotton threads on wooden spools, horsehair, coconut fibre stuffing, cloth covered buttons, the smell of wood being turned, hessian webbing, rolls of fabric in every colour & pattern. It’s the place of magic, where a stack of shapes hanging together with twine on the wall, clumsy in orientation, when assembled become an object of both function and beauty!

The magnificent Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney once held a Christmas fair that I attended, and there I came across the magical world of Noelle. Her extraordinary creations are crafted from cardboard into furniture & decorative pieces which she artfully paints so that they appear to be fabric, or metals, that are functional sculptures and a trick on the eye to their materiality.

Since my first purchase of an ornate oval mirror over a decade ago (which I have just hung in its latest location in my new house) we have worked together on many many projects from a show at The Rockerfeller Centre in New York, a television show called Man Shops Globe, many of my hospitality spaces, events, my recent Rigg installation and of course my own home.

In setting up my new home I was on the lookout for a new bed, one with no nasties, toxic glues or retardants and discovered The Natural Bedding Company. Locally assembled in Sydney, these mattresses are completely natural & non-allergenic; made from natural latex that morphs into foam through a natural catalyst process, layers of coir (coconut husk fused with latex), wool wadding & organic hemp cotton. I was fortunate enough to visit the workshop where makers were hand stitching the cotton cover and handling the wool wadding, still smelling of beautiful natural lanolin. Owner Andrew McCaig’s thoroughness & knowledge of materials and processes is impressive; he started by self-making futons out of his home but the business has since grown to a team of 11 in a factory in Marrickville. They will also fashion you a beautiful Tasmanian Oak bedframe to compliment your natural mattress, so not only are you coming out with a handmade natural product, you’re sure to have a lovely nights sleep.

Molmic is a 30-year old Australian-owned, Victorian based company now run by the second generation of the Molmic family. For my Rigg Design Prize installation at NGV (see page 24-25) we teamed up to reimagine the Coogee armchair as part of the Frippery. It was a feat of master crafting & stitching to include fabrics of brushed cotton, linen, wool and leather to create a chair of character and distinction that could sit as comfortably in a beach house as a castle!

@noellerigaudie | noelle-rigaudie.com

@thenaturalbeddingcompanyau | www.thenaturalbeddingcompany.com.au

@molmic_sofas | www.molmic.com.au

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FIELD NOTES

Rajasth an,

India

Follow my adventures on Instagram @sibellacourt #scfieldnotes #thestylistsguidetorajasthan

jaisalmer & beyond

tip

Hotel Killa Bhawan

Jaisalmer Fort

When approaching the Golden City from afar, its sandstone silhouette makes a striking impression perched on a sandy base with what looks like upturned buckets of sand castles all tightly packed on top. Jaisalmer is the oldest living fort dating back to 1150 and within its walls lies Hotel Killa Bhawan, carved into the bastions formed by large slabs and bricks of stone in caramel, soft ochre and rich sand.

The best way to embrace this ancient city is to wander by foot, following the twists and turns of the worn stone streets and laneways. You sometimes forget the high elevation until you emerge from a tiny laneway between two buildings to find yourself at the city wall and presented with breathtaking vistas of the sprawling landscape a hundred metres below and desert stretching beyond. There are framed views at every turn whether from the intricately carved windows of the marvellous Havelis or from the parapets. The Jain Temples are a must see with incredible carvings often from single pieces of yellow sandstone in the Dilwara style dating from the 12th and 15th centuries. It’s hard not to feel a reverence for the history steeped in the temples and fort. I can only wonder at the skills and patience of those who helped build it.

For our stay in Jaisalmer we flew into the newly opened airport and took a car through the desertscape until we reached the city gates. Here we transferred to a tuk tuk which will take you as far as possible through the labyrinth of stone streets shiny & smooth from centuries of foot and animal traffic. Upon arriving at the haveli’s discreet doorway, you are greeted by charismatic Manu and his band of merry men to show you to your room.

The journey to the rooms takes you up and down staircases all stoned out over terraces, revealing beautiful vistas of the fort and far over the city.

For ease of travel, book through Love Travel Concierge by Fiona Caufield. Fiona’s bespoke advice comes from years of living in and traveling around India and she will have a recommendation for anything you can dream up.

what to pack 1. Nappa Dori Classic Trunk 2. The Society Inc Explorer Keychain 3. Case for Making Watercolours

RAJASTHAN INDIA

Our room No 10 included a floating wooden posted bed facing the carved bay window. As you lay on the bolsters you feel as though you are riding on a magic carpet, watching the exotic desert city ebb and flow with soft sounds of music and chatter drifting up from the ancient streets below.

We arrived for sunset and the battlements were bathed in pink and golden light with the waning super blue blood moon watching over the fort, illuminating the sheer magic of the desert.

Throughout the city you’ll see free form stone walls, columns, balconies and minarets and then the most intricate carving for doors and bay windows that protrude from the facades.

Sprinkled along the walls are stone balls, creating delightful sculptural elements along the way as you explore. www.hotelkillabhawan.com

THE TRIO RESTAURANT We ate at Trio, choosing to sit by the low walled terrace on locally made chairs and enjoyed a gin and tonic. The omelette masala is hard to beat and we finished with fresh fruit and a delicious chai masala.

All photography by Sibella Court

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Suján The Serai After soaking up the sandcastle-like Jaisalmer Fort with all its twisting and climbing streets, it was a lovely contrast to go forth from there to the beckoning expanse of desert and journey to Suján The Serai. Approximately an hour from Jaisalmer lies the hundred acre estate where one is greeted by fabulously moustached, white khadi clad men. The mode of transport around the luxury campsite is standout – Murati Gypsy chic 4x4s with canvas covers and rope luggage racks whisk you off to the desert retreat.

The foundation of the camp is the architype Jaisalmer ochre, mustard golden sandstone which forms the walls and floors and then floating above are Rajasthani scalloped tents in a sophisticated white canvas. The main tent consists of the reception in the middle with breakfast & lunch offered on the right and a bar, lounge & library on the left which spills out to stone steps leading down to a firepit circled by canvas campaign chairs – the perfect spot to pause and enjoy a G&T before heading to dinner.

The dinner location changes of an evening and each table has its own brazier and wood stoker as the temperature drops. One night we headed off in a jeep to the most romantic of spots lit with over 200 candles suspended in the tree. A carpet and campaign chairs with tables are awaiting and we were serenaded by our own desert musician playing a double flute.

The Serai celebrates nature-embracing activities and all that the desert has to offer.

Early one morning manager and naturalist Abi took us on a twitching walk as there is an abundance of bird life around the estate,

all puffed up against the cool morning air but cheerfully chattering away. The desert reveals itself in soft colours of sage, caramel, the palest of pinks with black/brown/grey & white birds that reveal their yellow underwings. Pops of colour show in the Rajasthani turbans and saris, kingfishers and green bee-eaters.

A short walk brings you to the organic kitchen garden complete with chicken coops made in the traditional thatched method using desert grasses and a domed top. A very good looking clutch of chickens with colourful plumage patrol the gardens whilst brahman cow calves watch on from the yard. Other wildlife may be spotted on sunset adventures out to the dunes just a camel’s journey away – keen eyes may spot nocturnal friends in the shape of hares, rusty desert cats and hyenas. We watched a flock of elegant grey cranes alight in their hundreds.

We chose not to go to town, instead enjoying a couple of spa treatments and pool time. The spacious tent allows room for yoga (ask for a mat or make a time with the instructor) and can be as open or closed as desired. I took to the writing desk in our tent to capture the desert sights in watercolours choosing to leave the fabric doors open to allow the little birds to fly in and out as they pleased, trying to take off with my biscuits.

At night the whole camp changes feel with candlelight everywhere - nothing is as romantic as candlelight! Of an evening whilst you are dining, heaters are turned on, the tent is shut down and two toasty quilted hot water bottles are snuggled under the covers of your bed with mint tea from the garden placed on the bedside table. thesujanlife.com | @thesujanlife

jodhpur Sukh Sagar Haveli Cathy & Roberto Nieddu are the creative, enthusiastic & well-travelled force behind Sukh Sagar Haveli, a restored 19th century property spread over 3 acres. They have fed their combined talents of interior design, furniture making & colour consultancy with a good dose of passion for traditional Indian architecture to create what is not only their own residence but an oasis where guests can experience the traditional & contemporary blending in the best of ways.

On entering one must pass through monolithic 20 foot wooden doors encased in fine Jaisalmer stonework, a grand introduction that is then softened by a sprawling lawn bookended by guest rooms and what was once a hunting lodge turned lounge area with Roberto & Cathy’s offices upstairs.

The property is lush with Neem trees which provide natural pesticide for the gardens and shrouds you in greenery. Roberto for many years has worked on the functionality of the garden, implementing extensive compost and water cleaning systems to revitalise the earth so they now enjoy the fruits of this toil – the kitchen garden provides all their greens, very much a farm to table offering yet in miniature. Other parts of the garden

11

present flowering plants, prickly pear and Jodhpur stone carved sculptures.

A large wood-decked pool invites you to lounge beneath the Neem boughs or choose from one of the many relaxed seating areas sprinkled around the property. The floaty daybed that sits on the lawn took my fancy, with its soft white curtains and colourfully embroidered cushions.

Lunch and breakfast is set outside to make the most of the surrounds while dinner at 8.30pm in Jan/Feb moves inside after drinks by the fire in the library.

What really makes this stay is the apparent love & zest that Cathy & Roberto have imbued the haveli with. The rooms are layered with textiles, antiques and furniture they have designed & custom made. Books, sculptures and architectural details delight the eye and spark curiosity at every turn and if that isn’t enough to inspire you the Nieddus are fantastic conversationalists, having hosted many famous musicians, designers, film makers and royals over the years. sukhsagarhaveli.com | @sukhsagarhaveli

DICTIONARY

Occup ational

S ur names

&

T o o ls

A collection of words from The Society inc dictionary that

Carter - one who transports goods by wagon or cart. Knows

Fletcher - a maker of arrows. A good friend to the archer and

one may need for occupational surnames & tools.

the best way to get around town.

the keeper of a fine-looking feather collection.

Cartwright - a maker of carts. Neighbour to the blacksmith

Fowler - a bird catcher & hunter. Knows their way around the

Chambers - a servant who works in his master’s private

grandest estates in the land and a sharp-eyed tracker.

Archer - one skilled with a bow & arrow. Sure to hit bullseye

bedroom. Discreet and efficient in all that they do.

Fuller - one who treats wool to remove dirt & grit and ease it

every time. Dabbles in bow making and a good friend to the

Chandler - a skilled worker in the art of candle-making.

into a lovely thickness.

fletcher.

Dripping beeswax sculptures abound, with a faint scent of

Arkwright - a maker of meal-chests & arks. Fond of becketts.

honeycomb wafting through the workshop.

Arrowsmith - the distinct trade of arrow-head making,

Clark - an educated scribe or follower of scholarly pursuits.

particularly with iron but may venture into stone.

Pince-nez perched on nose tip and ink stains on sleeve cuffs.

Auger - similar to a large corkscrew for boring holes in wood.

Coleman - a burner of charcoal. A little sooty by day but

Gets its name from the mollusc shell in its likeness.

scrubs up well for special occasions.

A

Cooper - a maker of casks & barrels. Particular & careful yet

G

enjoys a well barrel-aged gin at the end of a hard day’s work.

Gimlet - a t-shaped tool with screw tip for boring holes.

Glazer - derived from glazier, a maker of glass & glass cutting.

D Dempster - a judge or court official. Presents well & never too quick to speak.

B Baker - owner of ovens and maker of delicious breads & dough treats. A hint of flour always spotted on their attire.

Beckett - humble or ornate sea chest handle. The handiwork of a skilled sailor to show off their knot tying capabilities and provide a sturdy grip for their seachest.

Forever sticking their heads into old churches to admire the stained glass colours sparkling from sunbeams.

Glover - a maker & seller of gloves. Deft hands work delicate seams & knows how to spot a quality suede and lace.

Draper - a merchant of fabrics. Colours & patterns span walls from floor to ceiling in dark timber shelves. Always on the look out for the latest ships to arrive from far flung places.

Dyer - one involved in the dyeing of fabrics. Most treasured possession is a vial collection of pigments in mummy brown, indigo, Tyrian purple and other rare & secret formulas.

Goldsmith - one who works with gold. A precious metal yet demands a hard working and detail-conscious tradesman.

Granger - a collector of rent & taxes from the farms, barns & storehouses owned by the lord of the manor. An auspicious worker.

H

Bowyer - a maker of bows for the use of archery (competitive or recreational). Bears a few splinters and keeps an eye out

Harrower - one who cultivates the land, not doubt using the

for limber branches.

farming tool of the same name. An earthy soul who keeps a

Brazier - one who works & shapes with brass. Beaten & cast

fine vegetable patch.

shapes in various stages of patina fill their workshop.

Hawking - the trade of training & hunting with hawks.

Buckler - a maker of buckles, or possibly derived from the

Hooper - a smith of hoops for barrel making. A colleague to

old French bucler meaning a small round shield. No doubt

the cooper. Known to be able to draw a near-perfect circle

skilled in fine metalwork & wears the best accessorised

without the help of a compass.

shoes throughout the town.

Horner - one who fashions spoons & vessels from cow horn.

F Falconer - a trainer & breeder of birds of prey. Always has a great looking kit on hand, filled with leather hoods & suede gauntlets. Partial to billowy white shirts.

C

Farrier - a smith of horse shoes. Knowledgeable in horsecare and can spot a well-trained stallion amongst stud.

Carpenter - a woodworker who can apply their hand to

Fisher - one who earns their keep by fishing. Ever accompanied

furniture making, joinery, building & repairing. Possesses a

by a tackle box containing bright & lovely-to-look-at lures

magnificent ability to name timber types on sight & smell.

and the humblest of zinc sinkers.

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Hosier - a merchant of stockings and soft under things.

Smooth hands showcase the most spiderweb-soft leg coverings to the gentlefolk filling the store.

Slater - one who lays tiles of slate usually on roofs. Knows

J

where to find the best mines in the land.

Jagger - a pedlar & carrier of goods. Known to be able to

Spicer - a purveyor of spices. A well-seasoned traveller who

choose just about the right amount of crates for the job.

constantly embarks on explorations, searching for delectable tastes & cuisines.

O Ostler - an inn keeper and hotelier. A welcomer of travellers

Stringer - a maker of rope and string, for longbows. Waxed cord and leather scraps aplenty.

and caretaker of horses, there’s always a roaring fire in the hearth and fresh hay in the stables.

P Parker - a keeper of the park, usually for game & hunting. An

K King - one who presents in a regal manner or acted the part of a royal in a play or pageant. Loves to put on a good show and never shies from theatrics.

Knight - one who bears arms or has won a contest of skill. A loyal friend indeed.

amateur botanist, collecting specimens along the way.

Porter - a guardian of the door, janitor of a castle or keeper of the castle. Hospitable yet discerning, very hard to go by them unnoticed.

know instinctually how to shape & mold with the slightest

Travisher - a key tool for making Windsor chairs. A simple

Knoller - a bell toller. Delights in the chime of a bell carrying

Q

through a public space.

Lorimer - maker of horses bits, spurs and other metal articles

Thatcher - one who makes roofs of straw or other such fibrous materials. A keen weaver.

of movements.

L

T

Potter - a maker of vessels from clay. Earthy hands that

Quilter - a maker of blankets & mattresses, and collector of fabric scraps. A resourceful sort that leaves no piece to

shape, yet would make for a standout drawer pull.

Twibil - a reaping tool, t-shaped double edged axe used to cut out mortises.

waste.

W

specific to horse riding. Well dressed with the most intricate

R

of accessories accompanying their attire.

M Mason - a worker of stone, be it cutting or laying for

Roper - a maker & merchant of rope. Knows how to seek out the finest manila and hemp. The Ashley Book of Knots is the most hand-worn book in their library.

Wainwright - a builder of wagons. Often spotted around town astride their favourite Clydesdale, on errands to and from the blacksmith.

Webster - a cloth weaver, an operator of looms. Patterns slowly emerge amongst the weft and warp as adept hands

structures.

guide the thread.

Mercer - a merchant of textiles of the finest quality. Prides themselves in having the best offering around and has little

Y

self-control when it comes to the sourcing of velvets.

Miller - a worker of mills for the purpose of grinding flour

Yatman - the gatekeeper, one who takes care of the roads.

and other such grains. Has a fondness of cogs and the inner

A hardy sort, impermeable to dreary weather and ever a

workings of machines.

whistling tune on their lips.

S

Yeoman - a retainer, owner of land, a self-sufficient

Sadler - a maker & repairer of saddles. A fine leather-worker

countryman. Well standing in the community and often has

and close friend to the lorimer.

an abundance of vegetables from their overgrown garden.

Monger - a purveyor of some kind, be it for fish, iron, cheese etc.

N

Salter - a purveyor of salt.

Napier - a merchant of linen or one in charge of keeping &

Sawyer - a timber worker. Rough hands can whip together a

cleaning the table linen of a manor house.

wood-raft in no time at all.

Naysmith - a maker of nails and skilled in keeping & repairing

Sherman - a shearer of sheep and maker of woollen garments.

knives. Known to complete tasks swiftly and efficiently.

Lanolin seasoned hands.

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The Ettore Guatelli Museum, Parma, Italy | Photographed by Sibella Court, October 2014

MEET THE MAKER In searching for craftspeople to a dd to my bla ck book of heritage tra des & specialty crafts, I come a cross many who capture my imagination & curiosity. Here I share with you a few of the talents that emb ra ce a wide b rea dth of crafts, skills, knowledge & hobbies.

Lauren Muney

s i l ho u e t t e s b y h a n d Please describe your studio My studio is actually wherever I am - I travel in North America, to Australia, and sometimes to Europe to cut silhouettes, “Have scissors will travel!”. Sometimes my studio is the 18th century, sometimes 19th century, sometimes I’m in a professional suit. I work so many events, festivals, museums, even corporate and private events. I’m in a different place every week, sometimes a different state or country.

However when I am back in Baltimore, Maryland, I have a home office studio which was created from a former rear verandah which was later enclosed. The floors are flagstone, and the windows look over a private part of our garden, with a deck, bushes and bamboo. I have silhouette portraits on the walls of my studio, cut by my favorite silhouette artist, Charles Burns in the UK. (Can a silhouette artist have a favorite silhouette artist?) I also have letterpressed posters from my travels to living-museums, historical prints like a famous 18th century American “Join or Die”, and posters from the [Australian] Lost Trades Fair. My studio looks like it’s half in previous centuries and half futuristic - computers and technology. With little scraps of silhouette faces all over the tables.

Paper silhouette by Lauren Muney of Silhouettes by Hand

What is your most recent book purchase?

I’m reading a book called “Spaces that Tell Stories: Recreating Historical Environments”,

by Donna R. Braden. It’s a how-to book about creating museum rooms that help visitors or guests feel truly transported into the past through immersive environments. Immersive places and living [history] museums is a passion of mine.

An drew McCaig

t h e nat u r a l b e d d i ng c om pa n y

What is your most treasured possession?

I think it is our house, a 1926 bungalow. We came to it after such a series of short term rentals that made me feel unconnected to a home. The house and land were charming but needing some big fixes. We’ve been undertaking the fixes ourselves - my husband is very handy; he believes in good hard work and sustaining old things. No tradies, just us. We’re constantly filthy and exhausted: scraping wood, digging drainage by hand, ripping ivy out of trees, cementing stones. My husband is a marvel of fixing almost dead, old machinery, stones, and paint. Anything that you have been filthy for, is your treasure!

Music that gets you toe tapping?

Music to move to.

Music which engages me Music that is exciting, colorful, alive and engages me It can be any Genre Music that talks to my cells and says come play.

There is no standing still Invention you admire?

Simple, practical, artistic Beautiful craftsmanship, exquisite.

Something simple as a curve, a bolt Metal work

Go-to design reference/inspiration I’m always going back to the past to be inspired. The century or decade varies by the project, but I’m always inspired by old lettering, drapery, and the forces that changed society. Maybe that’s why I’m interested in silhouettes - not only do they connect with real peoples’ faces, but they show shifts in society through time - the way they keep reappearing in society for new reasons. I’m happy to say that we are in a silhouettes renaissance now.

Preferred mode of transport?

Motorbike and Bicycle

Tea, coffee or cocktails?

All of the above, of course! Coffee in mornings, chai whenever I find it, and a cheap margarita whenever I can sneak one into my schedule.

Secret skill?

Love this question Body work, sound healing, engaging other beings deeply and exchanging energy fields consciously

Flower or plant of choice?

Australian eucalyptus, of course! So many varieties, smells, and different looks. I couldn’t bring plants or seeds home from Australia, but I ordered seeds to be mailed to me in the USA. Not many eucalyptus will withstand our winters outdoors but I have a 9cm Rainbow Eucalyptus next to me on my desk.

Holiday destination?

Sandy Islands Himalayan temple retreats, Indian temples in the mountains Favourite season?

Winter’s crisp cold sunny day crunchy frost underfoot Autumn’s dying colours, scuffing leaves underfoot, hibernation Spring’s colours, new growth, life, rejuvenation, buds Summer, searing heat, tropical thunderstorms, healing body.

Do you have any secret skills?

I have a few unusual skills that I don’t talk about much. One: I can help people to achieve anything they want to do, just by talking to them. It’s called coaching or facilitating. I was a professional coach for 15 years; I help people plan things when they think they are stuck. The best part is that they solve their stuck-issue themselves. @artisanal_selfie | www.silhouettesbyhand.com

@thenaturalbeddingcompanyau | www.thenaturalbeddingcompany.com.au

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Lisa & Glen Rundell

L O S T T R A DE S FA I R 2020

ru n de l l & ru n d e l l

Discover a myriad of old trades still in action, with artisans & makers coming from all over Australia & internationally - blacksmith, fletcher, bucket maker, cane weaver, chandler, spoonsmith, cutler & horner just to name a few! Established by Lisa & Glen Rundell, the Lost Trades Fair seeks to celebrate artisanal & traditional tradespeople and provide a platform to inspire & educate the next generation.

Favourite colour?

Blue in both cases; Glen: the deep blue of the vast rivers in North America; Lisa: the changing colours of the ocean; from dark teal, pale aquamarine to the darkest stormy grey.

Most treasured object?

Hand made wedding rings, made by a master jeweller in Melbourne, 20 years on they are still beautiful and marked an occasion. Cards made by our son Tom - for us, he often has great words of wisdom as many kids often do.

Flower or plant of choice?

Californian Redwoods - for their grandeur and sheer size, our 100+ year old quince tree outside our 1850’s farmhouse that continually provides hundreds of beautiful quinces every year; and violets - the tiny wild scented variety.

For more info & tickets please visit www.losttrades.info

What do you want for your birthday?

Dinner somewhere special with food we would not cook at home, a day without work commitments spent wandering somewhere, an unexpected surprise is always lovely!

7 & 8 March 2020 Bendigo Racecourse VIC

16 & 17 May 2020 Cobb+Co Museum QLD

24 & 25 October 2020 Hawkesbury Showgrounds NSW

Rob ert Geddes

Invention you admire?

Atomic coffee maker - the original stove top one, heavy cast iron, made in Italy. Beautiful timeless design and importantly it makes great coffee; it has been doing so for us for over 20 years.

b ow m a k e r

Most treasured object ?

It’s hard to pick one, but perhaps it’s an emu egg which, to the best of my knowledge, was probably collected on Woorndoo Park, the property my great-great grandfather selected in western Victoria in the 1860s, by his son, my great grandfather, some time in the 1880s, and passed down the generations as the nucleus of successive generations’ egg collections from a time and place when little boys weren’t little boys unless they had an egg collection.

It represents what is to me a fascinating story of the way personal histories intersect and intertwine with public histories of highland clearances, assisted immigration, gold rushes, selectors and squatters, wool booms and busts, wars, depressions etc.

Secret skill?

Difficult question, not necessarily “secret skills” but outside of chairmaking and event creation, between us we can illustrate and draw, knit, crochet, work with copper and tin to make a beautiful heritage rain-head, do macrame, make apple jelly and quince paste, plait leather, saddle stitch, bake a great lemon tart and will happily have a go at anything craft related. @glenrundellchairmaker | www.rundellandrundell.com.au

Greatest tool?

Generally: spokeshaves. They can be set for a heavy or light cut for hogging off and roughing out or for the fine work of tillering and finishing on a longbow; they can work a flat surface or curved. They leave a crisp, clean finish, but also tell-tale “facets” which catch the light and tell a knowing eye something of how a piece was made. When properly tuned, set, and honed, they positively sing as they work, and it’s mesmerising work watching tight-curled ribbon shavings come away with each stroke. It’s an intimate, quiet, clean way to work wood – there’s no sawdust, noise, vibration or smell. But you have to be disciplined and alert: it’s too easy to become mesmerised making shavings and shave far too much away!

Specifically: a spokeshave I made under Clare Minihan’s tutelage in Glen Rundell’s workshop. Just a piece of maple with a steel blade and brass sole, but beautifully shaped and exquisitely tuned.

Pet peeve?

US based maker-and-writer-of-wood Christopher Schwarz has written about “tool shaped objects”: things made and sold ostensibly as tools, and even bearing long-esteemed toolmakers’ livery and names, yet made by people who have no idea or care for what they’re doing from rubbish materials, with rubbish-to-non-existent heat treatment, out-of-true shaping, surface grinding which looks like it was dragged on the bitumen behind a car, useless geometry etc, and no amount of time spent fettling, tuning, or honing will make them work properly – indeed some are made and priced to be thrown away once blunt, rather than sharpened and to last and work indefinitely. They’re instant landfill. It’s a stark and depressing contrast to vintage originals which were made by skilled people who knew and cared about what they were doing for people who knew and cared enough to demand quality, inter-generationally durable tools for the work they used them for.

Latest book purchase ?

From a local antique shop, a green cloth hardbound, gilt-edged copy of William Wordsworth’s poems dating to the mid-1870s. Originally sold for 3/6d, with successive owners’ inscriptions and dates. I read and studied a fair bit of Wordsworth while at Uni in Adelaide. I can still hear Phil Waldron reading passages from “The Prelude” to we undergraduates, and the further away I am from that time and place, the more I appreciate just how special it was.

Go-to inspiration ?

The past: we might live in the information age and think we know more than we ever have, but humans are endlessly clever, and I suspect more has been known and forgotten than we’ll ever realise. Someone has already figured out the answer to most things; it’s just that so many of those answers have been forgotten, or worse, ignored and even wilfully discarded. There can still be immense value in old things, old ways, old knowledge.

Stand out / favourite word?

Do I have to pick one? All of them. Language is endlessly expressive. Oh, alright then: Love. www.facebook.com/robertgeddesbowyer

Mrs Hood with her bow made by Robert Geddes | Photographed by Mikkel Vang

17

The Society inc Hallmark Mirror in the laundry at Vaucluse House, NSW Australia | Photographed by Sibella Court

VAUCLUSE HOUSE

T

here are many historical buildings around Sydney, but one that always captures my attention is Vaucluse House, nestled in the southern headland of Sydney Harbour and overlooking the secluded cove of Beach Paddock. The first cottage on the property built in 1805 belonged to Sir Henry Brown Hayes, who having been transported to NSW for kidnapping an heiress in his native Ireland with the intent to forcefully marry her for her fortune, re-established himself on the tucked away estate. In 1827 the cottage was sold to William Charles Wentworth, a prominent barrister who also had a dash of controversy for his time – he lived there with his lover Sarah Cox, a daughter of convicts. They went on to have ten children and made extensive & impressive additions to the estate including a sandstone stable & coach house, barracks, two storey kitchen wing with a larder & dairy, three storey bedroom wing, dining room, sitting room, drawing room, laundry, storeroom & verandah. They also fostered a beautiful kitchen garden and a ‘pleasure garden’ with a fountain.

Sydney Living Museums has done a magnificent job of restoring & bringing back to life Vaucluse House, by drawing on plant lists and letters to recreate a mid 19th century kitchen garden and using old trades, traditional methods & materials to repair the buildings & interiors. The roof was restored with sheer oak shingles sourced from Northern NSW, laid as they traditionally were and the internal porch and colonnade were fixed of damp through the application of a poultice and replastered with a traditional 3 coat lime plaster. Internally the house’s furnishings, particularly in the drawing room, have been researched based on auction adverts in an 1853 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald and then sourced from authentic suppliers, right down to passementries imported from France.

Top left | Behind the main building of Vaucluse House lies the recreated mid 19th century kitchen garden Top right | The Society inc Dampier 70 Lantern sits pretty in a doorway of the stables Above | The colonial kitchen Left | The Society inc Mercer Bag hanging in the stables All photography by Sibella Court

All the old trades & materials present in and around Vaucluse House are a beautiful marriage with the values of The Society inc – humble and honest materials honed by master craftsmen.

The natural surfaces of flagstone paving, sandstone and plastered walls and the recreated historical spaces in the kitchen wing became ideal backgrounds to showcase The Society inc range.

V ISI T Vaucluse House Wentworth Road, Vaucluse NSW 2030 Australia @sydlivmus www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/ vaucluse-house

Visit www.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/vaucluse-house for more information on the history behind Vaucluse House, visiting times & events.

19

FIELD NOTES

Tasmania,

Austr a li a

Follow my adventures on Instagram @sibellacourt #scfieldnotes #thestylistsguidetotasmania

Pumphouse Point

The Agrarian Kitchen

For an exceptional sense of place and breathtaking landscape, you cannot go past Pumphouse Point. Before you even arrive the drive sets the tone for your stay; eucalypts, ferns, native wild flowers amongst a changing forest-scape prelude Lake St Clair and its small driftwood beaches and before long you start to catch glimpses of the 1930s hydro pump house that appears to be floating on the lake’s surface. Greeted at check in inside the caretakers cottage, we were then ferried across with baggage by buggy taking the opportunity to learn about the history of where we were about to stay.

If you are planning a road trip around Tasmania, make sure you find time to book in a cooking workshop held at the picturesque Agrarian Kitchen, an 1887 schoolhouse turned home of your hosts Rodney & Severine.

A culmination of developer Simon Currant’s vision and design by architectural firm Cumulus Studio, the hydro pump house now houses the hotel. The drama of staying in the Pumphouse is hard to go past, and to wake up in the middle of a lake is quite magnificent. There’s a magical feeling in the midst of the changing weather, that shifts rapidly around the lake and around your room. We loved our room, looking back over the

walkway as well as across the lake (almost 180 degree view). It is a clever design of space, the marriage of old and new.

There’s the option to stay in Pumphouse, the Shorehouse or the newly opened Private Retreat (complete with outdoor bath!).

Within the Shorehouse, there are 2 communal lounge areas over 2 floors with fires, games, books and magazines perfect for whiling away hours and watching the weather change over the lake. Dinner is a communal affair, with a daily changing menu, championing Tasmanian locally sourced protein & produce. Be sure to go early for a honesty bar experience and mingling with fellow guests, taking in the reverse view, looking across to the Pumphouse itself.

The class is run in their beautiful kitchen which has enormous glass panels lending a view over their productive kitchen garden, where the fresh produce used in the dishes originates from. If short of time, never fear, Rodney has opened The Agrarian Eatery at New Norfolk, housed in the famed now-defunct Willow Court psychiatric hospital dating back to the 1900’s about 40 mins from Hobart. The airy restaurant looks to the kitchen and is accessed through an array of herbs and greens waiting to be plucked by the chefs.

There’s plenty of opportunities to go exploring and don’t forget to investigate the walkway connecting the pumphouse to the mainland as the tunnel beneath the lake and remnants of the pump are now home to many platypus who can only be seen early in the morning and on calm days. It has been said 5 were seen at one time! The use of half a dozen rowboats allows for lake exploration plus the National Park gives a taste of Tasmania with its many seasons in one day (a sunny row turned to snow before we’d set off) and diversity of foliage and landscape.

To avoid disappointment book well in advance! We only had one night although it felt a lot longer. This is an ideal spot as a base for more intrepid venturing or you could simply chill out & stay put working your way through the exceptional honesty bar and backgammon championships. www.pumphousepoint.com.au | @pumphousepoint

The generous space with windows lining all sides features a pressed tin ceiling made that extra bit fancy with Christopher Boots constellation lights and original mustard & olive lino floors, making for a relaxed yet elevated setting to sample some good Tasmanian fare.

Make sure you try some of the pickles & preserves, much of which is made on site. www.theagrariankitchen.com @agrariankitchen | @agrariankitcheneatery

MONA An interactive immersive vibrant museum with its own accommodation.

The build & structure of the museum is itself a feat and you will spend as much time admiring its engineering as the art contained within. There are several food & wine spots offering MONA’s own produce from their vineyard and brewery. Just a ferry’s ride away from Hobart port.

The Drill Emporium A favourite stop just outside of Hobart.

French and European antiques, lots of furniture & treasures, immaculately kept & curated. Look out for the beautiful Cabinets of curiosities and vitrines holding shells, butterflies and mineral collections. I added to my French short stemmed hand blown wine glass collection and horn salad servers.

mona.net.au | @monamuseum All photography by Sibella Court

www.thedrillhall.com.au | @thedrillhallemporium

20

Captains Rest

STRAHAN TA S

Captains Rest is a lovingly restored cottage that perches on the shore of Lettes Bay, a hidden getaway amongst a cluster of historical fisherman shacks tucked in a beautiful pocket of Tasmania.

To get to Captains Rest, one travels through the fishing town of Strahan. We made a stop into the Hill St Grocer IGA for some seriously good local produce (as we had little plan of leaving the cottage once settled in) before continuing on, crossing the tracks of the steam train line which still operates with half day or full day adventures through the Tassie terrain. A little further on, down the hill and you emerge into a community of cottages of painted, weathered corrugated iron that have been patched & repaired over the years, all in higgledy-piggledy fashion with clustered outhouses, boats, bbqs, jetties, swings just a stone’s throw from the lake’s edge.

captains re st

Owner Sarah Andrews has applied her stylist’s eye to the interiors; there’s an intimacy to the space, which is thoughtfully designed so as to never feel cramped, a very clever design for a small space where there are plenty of places to co-exist, stretch out, relax or create. Wainscoting covers the interior walls, a built-in day bed next to the pot belly makes for a spectacular reading spot next to a big bank of Georgian windows and the deep claw-footed tub in the bathroom encourages long soaks. The daybed is just as beautiful as the main bed, perfect for stargazing and watching the sunrise. Bring your eye mask if staying during a full moon, the reflection from the water is luminous!

There’s a generosity of spirit of ‘helping yourself’ to her beautiful abode and the use of its facilities (goodies in the fridge, picnic ware for fine days and a white wooden rowboat to try your hand at fishing) which gives the whole stay a feeling of not being too precious and feeling relaxed from the moment you arrive.

We never wanted to leave. Over a 3 day stay we tore ourselves away only to restock supplies and to check out the Morrisons Shed. The shoreline provides ample opportunity to forage – we found pink and purple stones to take back and create watercolour still lifes on the built-in dining bench overlooking the lake views.

Shene Estate & Distillery Shene Distillery’s gin Poltergeist is appropriately named to suit the estate’s 1820’s convict built sandstone buildings; it is not hard to imagine rumbling ghosts in the NeoGothic main building, the homestead, stables and servants quarters. The roadside stall open on weekends serves gin, although the serving suggestion is prescribed to be with “gossip, fine company and in the dead of night”.

www.captainsrest.com | @captainsrest

Willow Court Antiques Set in the old psychiatric complex of Willow Court Precinct, this enormous antique & vintage wares emporium is packed with everything you can imagine from the 1800s to the 1960s.

Tableware, nautical flags, motorcycles, trucks, hardware, tools, books, military clothing, furniture, porcelain, oddities & curiosities… and even a kitchen sink (be sure not to miss the outside area). Be warned you may be looking into shipping options for your purchases!

www.shene.com.au | @shenedistillery

www.willowcourt.com.au | @willowcourtantiques

what to pack 1. Pampa Poncho - for the cool nights 2. The Society inc Mercer Bag - for beachcoming 3. Filson Luggage

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AN ODE TO THE PAST W he r e

I

find

insp i r a t i o n

There are many things that inspire me. I gather it on a daily basis from my dreams on waking, walking in the bush, listening to podcasts, my daughter’s drawings, art shows, movies, my very own design studio, books, museums, shops, friends, magazines and the social media platforms of Instagram and Pinterest.

After a lifetime of focusing and noticing the details, I have fine-tuned my world into what I refer to as my IMAGINARI U M. Although this is a real pla ce as well as in my imagination there are some key points that ma ke up the DNA of this magical world of mine | the past,

nostalgia, eccentrics, pastimes & craftsmanship the past

nostalgia

I am always delving into the past for inspiration, it is my first port of call. I know I have had many lives and my imagined stories of days gone-by become so vivid and interwoven into my own stories, they are impossible to untangle or unstitch. I not only research who & where but imagine sound and smell, lengths of time, social & industrial change. In Etcetera etc (published 2009) I wrote a list of the skills that sailors have other than sailing: Sewing, Tattooing, Birdwatching, Scrimshawing, Knot tying - the list goes on, perhaps I should have added patience for those endless days of no wind, salt crusted clothes and an uninterrupted horizon. Inspiration that springs from the past is limitless and can be accessed in so many ways with the incredible efforts that go into preserving it by librarians, curators and all those who understand its importance. It is no secret that my favourite library is The Caroline Simpson Library in Sydney of Sydney Living Museums, but I am known to travel far and wide to visit or gain access into museums, libraries, back vaults, seed banks, antique dealers, flea markets, natural history museums, heritage houses & gardens, all those wonderful places that give one all the clues to what has happened before us.

Although my favourite date in history is 1856, much of my work feels of another time slightly less specific than just one year.

I like to believe that we can time travel. It might not be in a vehicle built by Dr Emmett Brown but it can be reimagined.

I layer my interior spaces including my own studio, shop and home, with past relics, heirlooms, sounds and scents that just have something of a soul in them that can transport you. My most recent crew member of The Society inc, Colin Watson age 87 shared a quote with me that I loved by Joanna MurraySmith (Playwright) ‘We are temporary custodians of our house. Before us, it held other people’s stories and after us, it will hold more. We have the privilege of a fleeting opportunity: to make our time in it reflect who we are. The result is a mixture of passion, fashion, inheritance and haphazard events.

The unconscious caution of objects is more important than a conscious one, but an interesting life has both.’

eccentrics I often wonder what has happened to the stand-out eccentrics.

Have their colours washed out in modern times, or are they labelled in a different way and the celebration of their input not revealed. I am unsure of the answer but my appetite for those of old never tires. I am an avid reader, and choose the world of books over television as I imagine the world of words into pictures. A life of an eccentric has inspired many a travel adventure, an interior or even my daydreams; from Walter Rothschild, Gertrude Bell, Sir Joseph Banks, William Dampier, Jane Digby, John Muir, Capability Brown, John Bartram, Marianne North, Sir John Soane, Alexander von Humboldt amongst a plethora of others. Their contributions are great, in the world and how I navigate it. I declare, we need more Eccentrics. Please send them my way! [a small disclaimer, the above mentioned people may or may not have considered themselves eccentric, this is my own unprofessional diagnosis]

pastimes I seek and uncover the peaks and troughs of pastimes of certain time periods. I look for sketch books, letter writing, crafts, music, paintings, travelogues, diaries, seaweed & flowering pressing books, and the like.

I think of the rhythm of seasons of a working farm or even a city of the past. When times of great busyness with harvest, festivities, a swell in visitors or workers meant all hands on deck with little time for pastimes and entertaining idyll hands and minds. Then the quiet time or times of travel, when the pace changes, often a winter period when more activities are indoors, when repairs are made, letters written, sewing finished, painting practised, food pickled and stored. I interweave my passions and pastimes into my own work, and insist on its presence in my daily pace, so it has the opportunity to become a highlight and something I enjoy immensely on a regular basis.

PA L I M P SE S T noun (pãl’imp-sêst’) 1. A manuscript, typically on papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely scraped off or erased and often legible. 2. An object or area that has extensive evidence of or layers showing activity or use (borrowed from The American Heritage Dictionary)

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Saddleback Farm | Photographed by Sibella Court

23

ALCHEMY WORKSHOP St ep

inside

the

Imagina r i u m

I

n 2017 I was invited to be a part of the 2018 Rigg Design Prize at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). It was with the highest honour that I was included as one of the leading interior designer/decorators in Australia to participate in response to the exhibition theme of Domestic Living.

To start the design process, I delved into my memory of some of my favourite illusions I have created over the past 25 years of my career in my photo shoots, design projects, my own homes and other peoples. It was a rare opportunity to not only to be my own client but also my own muse and I called my installation, IMAGINARIUM. I zoned the 40m2 space into a variety of recognisable domestic spaces that interlinked to connect a family & their friends through conversations, research, creating or simply lounging around and having a drink; Dining | Research | Cabinet of Curiosity | Frippery | Bed/ Lounge | Bar | Alchemy Workshop | Crow’s Nest A beautiful stained oak floor by Tongue n Groove was intricately cut into discreet patterns to create unconscious wayfinding within an open plan space. The Curiosity Wall was painted canvas hand-stitched together with linen thread that inhabited the top of a profiled zinc dado. This created a backdrop for my curiosities arranged and layered that were from my own collection as well as recent artworks by my dear friends and prolific Australian artists, Joshua Yeldham & Paul Ryan.

A 3m long hand carved oak table by my design guru, Ilse Crawford, spanned the back wall that worked as a dining space warmed with the glow of a pot belly stove by Oblica and left the curved end to be a place for research with furniture inspired by the balance of shaker furniture by Sawkille Co. A small sink served as a kitchen or bathroom represented with a handmade sink by Robert Gordon, brass tapware by The English Tapware Company and a circular mirror created in the traditional understandings of decorative glass art of gold & silver leaf by master sign painter, Will Lynes.

Wander through the Frippery, a petite dress-up robe, with a handpainted mural by scenic painter Neil Mallard, details you may find in the finest of pied-á-terres, enough to store an outfit for a ball and an adventure. Through to the living / bedroom which is anchored by a large bed cum lounge strewn

IMAGINARIUM at Rigg Design Prize 2018 | Photographed by Sharyn Cairns with beautiful linen pillows and swags from Mokum, Tigger Hall, In The Sac & Raffles Textiles that suit its multi-functional purpose. A space to lay down and read, share with friends and family, like an oversized floor ottoman found in a magical Casbah. Throughout the installation there are references to my favourite seafaring theme with Become A Pirate on the mirror, a huge wood chain suspended from above, wooden pulleys hold lights from the ceiling, an oversized hand-painted fabric globe disguised as a light ready for planning a passage through the tradewinds, a crows nest is set with a 19th century reclining chair and pirate flag.

A bar flanks the southern wall, backed in a hand plastered textured wall layered with a dominant antiqued mirror by Outlines and surrounded in a rope frame crafted in cardboard

by Noelle Rigaudie. A collection of hotel silver and handblown glasses line the bar reminding me of the many mornings of flea markets in France and beyond. Pools of light are found in each zone; over the bar suspends 3 copper and porcelain custom made weighted pendants by Il Fanale of LightCo celebrating all their mechanisms and exposed conduit teamed up with GPOs & light switches by Tradco.

A vintage stool from Fossil Vintage cradles a set of Sennheiser headphones that amplify my soundscape to accompany the space; I created a brief for sound designer Benjamin Walbrook, one that would reflect the sounds of the lifestyle & activities of the imagined family who inhabit IMAGINARIUM. The backbone for this brief drew on my own memories of travel & experiences to instil nostalgia & atmosphere much in the same way these elements influence my interior projects and personal domestic environments.

You might catch the crackle of the fireside, the running footsteps of a child, tinkering on the piano, a 20s jazz record playing on a stormy night, the tap tap tapping of someone working in the Alchemy Station to create pigments, the chink of glasses and ice as drinks are mixed, the sounds of a foreign market place, chiming tram bells, the clip clop of a horse & cart, the crash of waves & seaside birds one hears when beachcombing, distant

24

thunder, the buzz of dragonflies and hum of cicadas while walking through the Australian bush.

A nod to my NY living past, cardboard columns by Noelle Rigaudie reminiscent of the familiar cast iron columns of downtown soar through the space framing the bar as well as the backside of the Alchemy Worskhop.

This is where the magic happens; filled with pigments & curiosities sourced by Ken Wallis, scupltors table crafted by Stuart Pinkerton and The Society inc hardware. Here colours and pigments are concocted, materials are transformed and objects begin to take shape. It is the zone in the IMAGINARIUM that encapsulates ‘work’, but in the best possible way which is most enjoyable and ultimately feeds into the lifestyle & interests of the imaginary family that inhabits the space. A place to leave untidy, mid-project to be revisited but not packed away, hidden behind 3m drops of double line curtains in linen by Raffles Textiles & Tigger Hall.

Crafted by master blacksmith, Saul of Colo Forge, the elegant curved workshop contours on street side with a dado height in zinc and mix of textured glass and hand crimped wire gauge for the curious to peer through, softly lit with work lights from The Society inc that illuminate projects in process and the tools required for the task.

After a year of touring, our beloved Alchemy workshop has found its permanent home at The Society inc HQ in Sydney.

You can come and visit its beauty and admire its mechanics & tactility. Although it is a physical structure crafted from zinc, steel, wire gauge, glass and brass, to me it is a portal to another world (not dissimilar to Narnia’s wardrobe). Time travel to faraway lands, real or make-believe to craft with exotic materials or just dress up and play the part. Let yourself dream big, edit later. Let your imagination run wild, sail the highest seas, fly as high as the birds-of-prey and delve to the depths of the deepest ocean where the sperm whales travel.

STAY CURIOUS Semper Curiosus

THE CREW The IMAGINARIUM space was created & touched by many talented & specialty craft and trades people who are outstanding in their field THANK YOU Sibella Court | Captain Ben Harper | Deck hand Kelly Ross | First mate James Lister | Rigger Dave Austin | Builder Alexis Wolloff | Seamstress Vu Dang | Flooring Bobby Peacock | Glazier Saul Tomkins of Colo Forge | Blacksmith And The Society inc team Anna-Wili Highfield | Artist Anaesthetic. | Lighting Carpenter’s daughter | Apronmaker Duckfat | Lighting George & Willy | Fire starter Greg Hatton | Furniture Maker Hub Furniture | Furniture Jatana Interiors | Antique tiles Katie Marx Flowers | Florist Mark Denver | Vintage Furniture Moda Piera | Lighting Molmic | Furniture Shibori | Dyers Teranova | Tiles The Classic Family | Pressed Panels & Down Pipes Toby Jones | Furniture maker For more details on products & suppliers (mentioned above & in the article) included in the installation please visit thesocietyinc.com.au

The Alchemy Workshop at Rigg Design Prize 2018 | Photographed by Sharyn Cairns

25

I have a love of history, that comes hand-inhand with historical houses. Not so much the personalities that occupied it over the years, although the truly eccentric & innovative always stand out and demand attention.

But how the house was made, the materials at hand and how that reflects its sense of place.

All photography by Sibella Court

26

DESIGN STUDIO

Sl owb uilding,

Homestead ,

B u shc r a ft

HOMESTEAD MATERIALS Limestone Leather Sand Bone Shipwrecks Applecrates Cement Ochre Metal scraps Shells Timber Bedroom at Bullo River Station | Photographed by Sibella Court

M

y father was a residential master builder whose deep appreciation of bricks sparked my curiosity about materials & finishes. (Dad’s favourite finish is satin nickel.) He taught me how to manipulate a space; how to see it without walls & then how to move those walls. Together we would walk the streets of Sydney & New York, Dad pointing out the differences in the styles of brickwork that revealed their time in history & their origin according to colour, shape & texture, as well as how the master bricklayers had so artfully stacked them: English, Flemish, running, Dutch & the dental work! He taught me the language of building sites, which I love to this day: the smell of sand & wet cement is such a vivid scent from my childhood that triggers many memories.

I have a love of history, that comes hand-in-hand with historical houses. Not so much the personalities that occupied it over the years, although the truly eccentric & innovative always stand out and demand attention. But how the house was made, the materials at hand and how that reflects its sense of place.

I have a history degree that was Australian content heavy and it informs much of how I design and the projects that I chose.

This use of HOMESTEAD materials can inform us of the surrounding natural environment at the time of building. What timbers, stones, ochres, sands, etc were gathered and stored and may no longer exist locally today. Also their proximity to other land or sea passages. It was not uncommon in early Australian colonial houses for some of the building components to be repurposed ships either from shipwrecks or just the early upcycling of ships that had run their course. With these respected materials, that were well & truly seasoned, we saw an introduction of exotic and foreign timber species, in with our hardwood-heavy timber vernacular.

I visit historic houses and love working through not only the main house, but looking at the layout of outhouses of stables, laundry, animal yards, kitchen garden, orchard, seasonal workers sheds, stables, blacksmiths workshop, smokehouse and scrap yards.

I mention scrap yards here, as back in the day, when a local hardware store was not an option, materials were carefully sorted, valued and collected, waiting for their time to shine.

Metals were behind the blacksmiths workshop ready to be reshaped and crafted in farm equipment and the like. Lime stone, oysters & animal bones piled high accumulating to be fired and made into a format ready to mix with sand and water (perhaps a little horsehair) for render which dates back to the outer casement of the Pyramids of Giza.

As trees were felled or naturally fell, they would be stored to season over years waiting to be milled and crafted into structures and furnitures. Even sturdy twigs with just the right shape, wooden cotton reels and crates were fashioned into bushcraft furniture and pieces, where the simplicity of primitive, natural and humble materials is so beautiful and often nostalgic. The ingenuity and smarts of making something from nothing, repairing broken objects & respecting the quality of materials crafted into heirloom pieces.

In this modern age, advances in technology have drowned out some of those glimmers of the past that informed much of our contemporary product offering and design aesthetic. My fascination with all things time-worn and unique have long drawn me towards lesser-known trades, and I love engaging them in my work. Many spaces I have designed incorporate the work of artisans, such as shipwrights, blacksmiths and typographers, and lots of the pieces I sell in my shop have

27

been hand-crafted by people who specialise in their field of old-school craftsmanship. I want to celebrate these remnants of yesteryear and shine a light on skills that have perhaps lived in the shade in recent years.

In my design process, I always start with history and if it doesn’t have one, I make it up! It is an incredible resource to delve into, educate yourself and fall in love with materials and all their characteristics and understandings of the natural relationship of materials i.e. you will find a form of gum Arabic from acacia trees and similar species near ochre trails to make paint, you will find sand near lime etc. It becomes a world of nature and magic, rather than racks lining a hardware store (although in the 1800s that would have been right up my alley!)

My specs for interior jobs can be challenging for clients as my spaces become largely bespoke, custom and/or layered with vintage finds. Recently we have had oversized knots and frames made by my master knot tyer, toilet paper roll holders and hand towel rails by a leather braider who generally makes whips, we have twig tables crafted from local species, pool indicators hand-carved (think gravestone) from grey stone, horse tie up hardware reimagined & handforged, ikat loomed in Turkey for lampshades, a tile floor painted on timber, vintage furniture restored & reupholstered.

These hand-touched, crafted and restored pieces make the spaces I create feel imbued with a soul made up of the knowledge and understandings of a group of master craftsmen and craftswomen who contribute to them and fill them with a sense of the unique and special.

Suite 3.02, 75 Mary Street

hello@thesocietyinc.com.au

St Peters NSW 2044 Australia

www.thesocietyinc.com.au

+61 2 9516 5643

@sibellacourt | @thesocietyinc Photo | Mikkel Vang