8½

A 2024 "FOR SCALE" mailroom report on GIFTS RECEIVED

Jan 06, 2025

Dear Snoops,

Happy New Year, of course. And, much gratitude to our many New Subscribers and Subscriberettes.

Today is a quick-read, to help usher us slowly into January.

An aside to the New:

May we point u to some cornerstone “FOR SCALE” posts: a summary of Top Tier décor source (Vintage Dealers edition); a pre-Pantone C.O.T.Y. dissection of the poo-ification of the domestic colorscape; and, lessons for the homescape care of (a) the airport, (b) the bachelor, and (c) the twink.

TODAY: The critical darlings of unsolicited décor gifts.

(Received by us. We are the critics.)

WHY? A short philosophy on Giftery and also True Criticism.

On gifting: We highly recommend Giftery outside of key Holidays. F*ck Christmas, f*ck birthdays, f*ck Anniversaries — the true joy of receiverhood lies in large part in spontaneity and surprise. Isolated from societal moments of full-throttle consumerism, a gift really feels like something S-P-E-C-I-A-L.

As the Leading Voice in New Décor Media we are graced semi-regularly with gifts from various décor sources (e.g. brands). We welcome these, to be frank. Décor must be experienced, touched, f*cked with, etc.

On criticism: It is fun to critique as one swoops thru a home, a shop, a fair, a book, etc. It is quite another to live with something and become Familiar.

Anyway. The gifts aren’t always stupendous. But, here are OUR VERY FAVORITE EIGHT. (And a half one.)

NOTE: All gifts were totally unsolicited. Sometimes we didn’t even know they were comin’!

Refer a friend

(1) 8” AL CANDLESTICK / PROJECT ROOM (LINK)

Project Room covered the walls of a Los Angeles brewery in tinfoil sourced from Smart & Final (a “futuristic bark” in their words (!!! adore)), showing a radically democratic approach to décor in an era of Ultra Bourgeois wallp*pers making a dramatic resurgence. To us, it is delightful.

Anyway, Tinfoil is also the DNA of “AL”, who is sculpted from the stuff then cast in aluminum at a foundry in Los Angeles. (Also a great fan of AL’s knobs. Planning on acquiring some knobs via traditional means: i.e. purchase.)

It’s all very Proletariat in spirit, and if u are paying attention to the news then you’ll appreciate how zeitgeist a tin foil-sculpted candlestick sorta is.

(2) “TRUMPET” APERITIF GLASS / SOPHIE LOU JACOBSEN (LINK)

Best to follow the link to appreciate how f*cking charmingly teensy-delicate these are.

Dinner parties really are the height of Domestic culture, and few things are as Host-erly, “Martha S.”-psychotic (as a compliment), and child’s tea party cosplay as a full set of glassware that’s just for the little sippy drink after a meal.

Since we are part of a culture with so little ceremony (i.e. as childless Western Atheists), this type of object-driven rigidity actually provides very important structure to us.

**In contrast: having different glasses for white and red wines absurd. We shan’t expand, but just look at how f*cking ridiculous this seems. A scam! It’s nothing about the average person’s pleasure (where the Trumpet certainly IS!), it everything about an Elite Pretension.

(3) LA TROUSSE / CHRISTOFLE

If “AL” helps to satisfy our “salt of the earth” needs, LA TROUSSE is its total f*cking opposite. A little Christofle-green pouch with a personal set of (in our case) “Malmaison” silver-plated flatware —— a 20th century sorta-ode to Napoleon and f*cking “empire”. (Blah!)

(Malmaison is wacky $$$, but actually there are some stainless steel versions that are kinda not wacky $$$.)

There is sooooomething about trotting out to a picnic/whatever with some personal set feels self-mockingly camp. Chistofle is camp as absolute f*ck.

Haven’t used ‘em yet, tho.

(4) “SHORTY” CHAIR / FYRN

It’s a “chair” but really it’s a stool, and in our specific case it’s actually a kind of odd-choice side table (odd because it’s a curved leather seat). But you know —— an imperfect furn*ture choice is sometimes the most characterful. Isn’t it so tiring when, within an entire homescape, everything is being used only as intended?

To flatten our Fyrn out for use we’ve topped it with some hefty copies of CAPSULE mag and a Tolomeo, which (as surely you know) is a lamp with a flat round base, so it kind of comes with a mini little tabletop of its very own. And, a Tolomeo is f*cking all-time favorite. SO SUE US.

(5) “SHELF ROCK” / SOMEWHERE SOMEPLACE

What beautifully separates domestic décor from many other décorscape (i.e. office, etc.) is how easily it accomodates the “Absolutely Useless”. e.g. this shelf rock.

Hotels often have vignettes of such stuff, but it seems really f*cking exhaustingly try-hard. And is an effort, of course, to make that place feel home-like. (We humbly request Hotels cease trying to be home-like.)

This rock, care of keen-eyed Sante Fe superstars-of-the-disheveled SOMEWHERE SOMEPLACE, hugs a shelf (or in our case, a stack of books), and is an absolutely chuckle of a thrill to us. Sits right next to a Noguchi AKARI 1AD lamp because honestly the Shelf Rock is pretty damn Noguchi – for examplesssss scroll thru Noguchi’s stone sculpt*res.

(6) “14p” / BOCCI (+ AESOP) (LINK)

Off the record, we’re really up and down on Bocci, who seem very addicted to presenting their stuff as like a swarm of jellyf*sh (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, into ∞) — a fish which is a “FOR SCALE” personal nightmare.

But, isolated from the pack, one little 14p (a portable*) is a f*cking jewel. It BARELY has the luminosity of a candle, and that’s its power move. But, almost more importantly, it looks very cute OFF. Not even lamp-like, more PAPERWEIGHT (a quintessentially Luddite object, which makes the 14p kind of ironic).

This one is an Aesop collab, which is why it’s br*wn. Gotta buy those in-store.

*ON PORTABLES —— mixed feelings: Very fun to wander the house with them in hand like you’re Dickens, but hell on earth that so often when you need them they f*cking die. Absolute attention-seekers. “CHARGE ME, DADDY!!!” And, as a category, it’s very “oh this one uses USB C and this one uses USB A” and ultimately you feel MORE tied to cords than u did when you had to f*cking plug something in.

(7) ABALONE AND BRASS INCENSE BURNER / TENANT NEW YORK (LINK)

‘Cause we went to that great GROTTO exhibition at MARTA in September, and this arrived at “FOR SCALE” headquarters coincidentally just after. It felt exciting.

Shells are f*cking absolutely inescapable right now, which is usually a sorta turn off for us —— in fact the only thing we sorta ignored at MARTA were some Charlap Hyman & Herrero lamps made with a shell. BUT, can’t explain. We set this little burner up, and it’s been a charmer.

A lot of incense holders look kind of Dead And Lost when not in use; this one sorta escapes that?

(8) PANTHELLA 160 PORTABLE V3, LOUIS POULSEN (LINK)

A truly exhausting name for such a teensy lamp. But, it’s got a damn nice, highly atmospheric glow. Not really much to say, it’s a famous as f*ck lamp, cordless and in mini —— so you’re in or you’re out. But FYI there are new colors, of which this is one.

Aside: we are of course huge Verner Panton-ites (he did the Panthella) and there’s really nobody like him today. Like, everyone is so darn polite rn. And, “bold” these days is, like, when someone puts stainless steel in not—a-kitchen.

(AND A HALF) BONUS: 22RE SWAG

22RE, some of our favorite archi/inter*ors folks, with this new brown shirt. Good crop. Made us twirl, as u can see.

Can’t buy this one, just have to be on the “inside”.

Until next week.

Love and good luck,

8½