The Well Mademoiselle — The Curated Home

Northern Virginia

Acquired from private estates — Northern Virginia and the District

One at a time, from private estates.

Nothing here was ordered from a catalogue. Every piece was chosen by hand, in person, out of a private home — and there is only ever one of it. Condition is described plainly. Collect in person, or have it delivered across Northern Virginia and the District.

Photograph

Recent acquisitions

9 pieces available — 3 spoken for

Photograph

No. 041

R.S. Prussia wash basin and pitcher

Hand-painted porcelain in soft ivory with smoky grey shading and a spray of roses at the shoulder. Red mark to the underside of the basin.

  • For the curated look
  • For a dressing table
  • For a guest room
Period
c. 1900, Germany
Measures
Pitcher 12 in. high; basin 14½ in. across
Condition
Light crazing inside the basin. No chips, no restoration.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

Reinhold Schlegelmilch's porcelain works in Prussian Silesia made this kind of moulded, transfer-printed and hand-finished ware from the 1870s until the First World War. A basin and pitcher stood on a bedroom washstand in the years before a house had running water upstairs — nearly every bedroom had one, and few survive as complete pairs.

$385Available

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No. 038

Giltwood oval mirror, French taste

Carved crest over a beaded oval frame, original mercury plate with the soft foxing that only comes with age. Wired for hanging.

  • For an entry hall
  • For the curated look
  • For a dark wall
Period
Late 19th century
Measures
34 × 22 in.
Condition
Two old repairs to the gesso at the lower left, sympathetically done.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

The soft grey clouding in the plate is foxing: the tin-and-mercury backing behind the glass breaking down with age. Silvering replaced that process around the turn of the century, so a plate that clouds like this one is almost certainly original to the frame — it is the part of an old mirror nobody can fake.

$420Available

Photograph

No. 033

Normandie, French Line — cutaway poster

The liner shown in longitudinal section against the New York skyline, in a slim black frame under glass.

  • For a gallery wall
  • For a study
  • For the collector
Period
Later printing, mid 20th century
Measures
39 × 25 in. framed
Condition
Even toning to the paper. Frame sound, glass clean.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

The Normandie crossed for the first time in 1935 and was, by some distance, the most admired liner afloat; the French Line hired the best poster artists of the period to say so. This is the cutaway, printed to show off what was inside her. She burned at her New York pier in 1942 during conversion to a troopship, and was never rebuilt.

$240Sold

Photograph

No. 047

Brass cherub oil lamp, converted

A cast cherub holding the font aloft, with a clear chimney above. Rewired; takes a standard bulb.

  • For a dark wall
  • Pairs with gilt
  • Statement piece
Period
Late 19th century, converted mid 20th
Measures
21 in. to the top of the chimney
Condition
Patina left as found. Cord and plug are new.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

Oil lamps like this one were made to be handsome as well as useful — the figure carried the font because the font had to sit high enough to throw light across a room. Most were converted to electricity between the wars rather than thrown out, which is why so many survive with new cord and original brass.

$265Available

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Direction study. Item descriptions, measurements and condition notes are specimen copy written to show the catalogue format — not live inventory.