The Well Mademoiselle — The Curated Home

Northern Virginia

The archive

3 pieces, all spoken for

Everything that has found a home. Nothing here is for sale, and nothing here comes back — it is kept as a record of what passes through, and because it is the best way to show what to expect next. If something here is what you were after, say so and we will watch for another.

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. 021

Banker's lamp, green glass shade

Brass column and weighted base with the original cased green shade. Pull-chain switch.

  • For a study
  • For the collector
  • A first antique
Period
Mid 20th century
Measures
14 in. high
Condition
Shade free of chips. Brass unpolished, as found.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

The green shade was not decoration. Cased glass — white glass inside a green skin — throws light down onto the page and keeps it out of the eyes, which is why every reading room and counting house had them.

$145Sold

Photograph

No. 012

Swan, oil on board

A single mute swan on a dark ground, unsigned, in a gilt slip and black frame.

  • For a dark wall
  • For the curated look
  • Statement piece
Period
Mid 20th century
Measures
16 × 16 in. framed
Condition
Craquelure across the upper ground. Frame has minor knocks.
Provenance
A private estate, Northern Virginia

History

Unsigned animal studies on board were the bread and butter of provincial painters and art-school students alike, and they were bought to hang, not to collect. The good ones are good regardless of whose hand they came from.

$320Sold

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