During the period surrounding the centenary of Dresser's death in 2004—marked by major retrospectives at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York and at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London—the Laroses attended and made purchases from a number of specialist sales. "We went everywhere, from the highest-end dealers and fairs to flea markets," comments Janet. "In London we would spend half a day visiting dealers such as Harry Lyons, Haslam and Whiteway, John Jesse, and Nicolaus Boston, as well as the Fine Art Society. We often found things tucked away."
As the Laroses' collection grew, so did their understanding of Dresser's mission. Larry explains, "Dresser was designing with the whole house in mind." To fulfill this aim he established the Art Furnishers' Alliance in London in 1880 with the intention of making "every homestead artistic in the truest sense of the word."4 "Whether or not they were designed by Dresser, all the items offered in the alliance's showroom displayed a high level of design and manufacture," Larry notes. "It was one-stop shopping—you could commit your taste to him."
The same holistic approach led the Laroses to commission the architect Benjamin D. Kracauer to adapt the dining room of their Manhattan apartment into a showcase for their Dresser collection. "We directed him to the Thomas Jeckyll room," explains Larry, referring to the dining room now known as the Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington. Designed by Thomas Jeckyll (1827-1881) to display the collection of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain of Frederick Richards Leyland (1831-1892), the room is girdled by a latticework of shelves at different heights. Kracauer designed a similar series of narrow shelves for the Laroses, and, again echoing the Peacock Room, devised a ceiling of hexagonal coffering; the ceiling elements were carved in situ and assembled after the ceiling was papered. Dresser deplored whitewashed ceilings and favored papering them, writing, "Dark ceilings give a cosy effect to a room."5 The Laroses concurred, selecting a Bradbury and Bradbury aesthetic style ceiling wallpaper and, in the center coffer, painting a star-studded sky to create an illusory oculus.
Gemellion, Artist unknown, Limoges, France, 13th century Champlevé Enamel on Copper, 8 7/8” diameter Collection of The Walters’ Art
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