The leading event of its kind in Asia, Design Shanghai is a rapidly expanding platform that offers design brands from around the world an opportunity to showcase their creations to the continent's leading architects, interior designers, collectors and developers. Exhibiting for the first time, de Gournay wanted to highlight their participation with an impressive display to capture the imaginations of China’s innovative design community.
A creative partnership was decided as the ideal approach, with the particular success of a previous project in mind. Portuguese studio Oitoemponto’s ‘Namban’ wallpaper was a celebrated inclusion in the 2017 Architectural Digest Magazine Interieurs exhibit in Paris. Following such a positive response, designers Jacques Bec and Artur Miranda agreed once more to pair their illustrious vision for interiors with an exquisite assortment of de Gournay’s hand painted designs.
Making use of a prime position within the VIP hall, Oitoemponto composed a full scale apartment setting in which visitors can imagine themselves within a genuine interior, surrounded by furniture of their own design: an engaging curation of contemporary pieces. Reflecting the same expressive elegance, de Gournay contributed five current motifs from across their collections: designs and techniques that evoke historic references with expert skill.
Bois de Verre (Lalique)
Inspired by the marble dining room created by Rene Lalique for the 1925 Paris Exposition, ‘Bois de Verre’ depicts an Art Deco forest of crowded trees and dense foliage on a monochrome metallic ground.
Referencing the intricately carved handwork of the original, the wallpaper is created with a relief effect to suggest depth, with a ghostly wash of pearlescent antiquing adding an iridescent shimmer to the scene.
Gingko
A new addition to the Japanese & Korean collection, Gingko is a majestic depiction of falling Gingko leaves – an evocative symbol of time and longevity in Eastern culture.
The sparse but graceful composition is featured within Design Shanghai on a Lead Grey dyed silk ground, with leaves of Gold and Silver leaf cast across it as though by wind.
Coco Coromandel
Coco Coromandel is painted to imitate the carved lacquer screens that were a prized 18th century export of oriental trade routes from India’s Coromandel coast. In an arresting scene that combines myth and realism, sparrows, peacocks and pheasants perch amidst blooming camelia flowers alongside an impressively feathered Phoenix.
The design is brought to life by building up layers of white paint onto an aged black traditional painted ‘Edo Xuan’ rice paper ground evoking the high contrast and hand carved nature of the original wooden screens.
Symphony
This largescale motif is inspired by the sculptural, geometric forms of mid 20th century art and design, resulting in a bold composition on a grand scale: a graphic symphony in dark and light. Using a recently developed background technique pairing a hand painted sheer slub organza over dyed paper, the textural ground has also been gilded with sections of aluminium leaf with a pearlescent antique finish.
Created with Giorgetti, the eminent Italian design brand, Symphony is an impressive design of dramatic and contemporary character.
Namban
A striking motif of Cranes in flight against burnished coils and graphic lines in varying hues of gold, Namban was envisioned by Oitoemponto’s Artur Miranda and Jacques Bec as a reflection on the spirit of exploration between East and West and the first Portuguese ships to reach Imperial Japan. Depicting an Art Deco Landscape of embellished sea and sky, it also references the varied work of famed Deco craftsman Jean Dunand.
First exhibited at the 2017 Architectural Digest Magazine Interieurs exhibit in Paris, the design continues to capture the imaginations of clients around the world.
Ryukyu Hills
Inspired by textiles from Japan’s Ryukyu kingdom, this titular ‘Hills’ motif depicts a rolling landscape of decorative peaks in a rich tone of blue. A stylised, less three dimensional design, it references the traditional dye and stencil ‘Bingata’ techniques that typified the original era fabrics but with a 1920’s pattern.
As a more illustrative composition, Ryukyu hills possesses an ornamental character that nonetheless fitted comfortably amidst Oitoemponto’s studied display.
Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains
A stunning evocation of China’s Song Dynasty, ‘A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains’ is based on an original scroll painting from this rich era of cultural expression. The design is one of the ‘Emperors’ Collection’: motifs taking as their inspiration the artworks that first encouraged the popularity of the ‘Chinese Style’ in 18th century Europe, resulting in the first hand painted wallpapers.
In a scene of dramatic poetry, a crescendo of soaring peaks undulates across a landscape dotted with groves of trees, sparse buildings and a winding river. Available in several colourways, the striking ‘Delft’ variant uses a palette of blue and white suggestive of the eponymous porcelain pieces traded along historic sea routes and popular in the Netherlands.
Embroidered Velvets
de Gournay’s continued development of hand embroidery techniques now extends to motifs rendered in exquisite metallic thread upon the full range of 100% Silk Velvets: a new level of embellishment for its established collections. Available across the full range of 17 colours, including 4 new additions – ‘Antique Rose’, ‘Teal’,‘Dusk Blue’ and ‘Silver Grey’ – the delicate threading renders designs in splendid seams of metal against the luxurious, textural tones of the velvet, a striking effect for upholstery not just on furniture but across walls and on soft furnishings.
As effective depicting elaborate Chinoiserie Birds and flowers as expressive elements of the Japanese and Korean designs, such as blooming wisteria, the method conjures a sumptuous but discreet embellishment: the gleam of the intricately spun design elements accenting the rich depths of the velvet.
