Luxury furniture manufacturer, Matsuoka International, introduced a new collection by Christian Lyon at the International Furniture Market in High Point, North Carolina.  The collection features 23 new creations by the celebrated Australian artist.    Lyon commented that his objectives for the effort were to explore visual and tactile texture in furniture art, break out of rigid conventions of form and function and exploit the manufacturer’s versatility, all within the context of a relaxed, affordable and livable luxury.  “The designs represent a mélange of materials and forms, executed in contrasting textures, colors and finishes,” he said.    “As before, I wanted to showcase the amazing capabilities of the company;  but I especially wanted to give full play to the immense creative potential this means for the design process.”

It is a bold effort.  Taking as a point of departure the company’s commitment to impeccable cabinetry using sustainable, environmentally conscious, materials, it deploys a variety of creative media, combining select cuts of figured and pearlescent timbers with metal and stone accoutrement.  In a departure from conventional practice, the artist combines diverse kinds of finishes throughout.  He juxtaposes, for example, even in a single design, various elements of high gloss polyester on exotic decorative media (such as Celebes Ebony), with organic finishes in satin polyester, matte polyurethane, and brushed open grain effects.  The choice of woods, finishes, diverse textural elements and organic appeal makes for a sweeping and colorful presentation that imbues the collection with warmth and visual interest.    Moreover, Lyon has done this while working closely with the company’s technical and product development teams to re-engineer production methods and target an accessible, introductory, price point.  He elaborates that he envisions the designs as “pared down, but elegant.”  “They aim at broadening the brand’s application into a more accessible introductory high end price point, while making a statement with finishes which are more organic.”  The collection is targeted at a less formal, cosseting, luxury life style.  In the current socio-economic environment, “…it provides a refuge of comfort in the warm embrace of relaxed home or executive settings.”  In contrast to the high gloss and formality of his earlier work, most of the new collection presents an orthogonal, straightforward simplicity, elevated by the selection of superlative materials and impeccable casework, completed in a compelling variety of textures and finishes.  The statement remains forthright, emphasizing clean lines and simple geometries, with strong visual interest.  Lyon claims that the contrasting elements – softer, more natural finishes with high gloss, brushed bronze and stone allows – “a relaxed, sexy play of matte against gloss, rough against smooth, light against dark.”

As before, the format is contemporary and transitional in orientation.  In one instance, he derives inspiration from one of Matsuoka’s most successful designs, the Tortoise Commode.  He re-engineered this to create  “…a fabulous long, low side board”, which he claims “works beautifully as an entertainment center as well.”   He added a compact  bar-cabinet version, which will be showcased later, but which can be made available to interested parties at any time, as a customized unit.  He adds, “Likewise my favorite piece, the Torii Console, has inspired a wonderful new dining table which plays on a mix of  traditional Asian elements with contemporary Western design and functionality.”

Perhaps the most stunning addition is a piece expected to become as iconic as the Tortoise Commode, the “Origami Chest”.  This is a playful study of 2 dimensional form converted to 3 dimensional space.  Lyon says that he was fascinated by the extraordinary grain of Matsuoka’s New Guinea Walnut and wondered how this might work if creatively manipulated as a medium for Origami art.  He set pen to paper in dozens of iterations to explore how this exotic veneer would look and work after being bent and folded in the 3D world of length, depth and height.  “I wanted the piece to explode out of conventional restrictions of furniture form and have an aesthetic all its own, similar to the way the paper in Origami art juts and projects itself everywhere in space as it is manipulated by the artist’s hand.  When I hit on the angularity of the final form and developed a format that would allow the New Guinea Walnut to present itself sculpturally, the Origami Chest is what resulted.  I knew I was presenting a Brobdingnagian engineering challenge to the team.  But we simply had to do it.”

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Matsuoka, a company that began producing bridal furniture for Japanese households in 1866 out of Fuchu City, has recently introduced several new pieces to its Moderne collection, which was created by Australian designer Christian Lyon. One of those is the handsome martini cabinet ($36,400), which has veneers made of Celebes ebony. While outwardly Deco in form, its nickel silver lock and stretcher have a more overtly Asian inflection and its hand-carved trim details hint at African tribal design. Inside, it is appointed in silver leaf and marble. Other pieces crafted of the same materials include the Empire sideboard ($36,200), whose ball feet rest on an impressive plinth, and the Duplex dining table ($29,265), which had originally been offered only in a square format and now comes in a rectangle that can be customized in lengths of up to 118 inches.

Source: The Robb Report

Source: The Robb Report

AT THE MARKET – High-end manufacturer Matsuoka International is introducing a collection of eight architecturally influenced pieces here from Belgian designer Serge de Troyer.

Troyer, who describes his style as eclectic European, now lives in Miami where he has interior design and furniture design businesses. He studied in the design program of the prestigious art academy of Sint Laurentius, Lokeren, East Flanders & Belgium.

The collection on display here includes a stool, sofa, coffee table, bar & dining table, among other pieces. Among them, the Waterloo dining table is influenced by the multi-tiered Lion’s Mound in historic Waterloo, Belgium. Some pieces also feature nacreous sycamore veneers selected by Troyer.

AT THE MARKET – High-end Japanese case goods manufacturer Matsuoka International has received special mention in a yearbook of luxury products published by a club devoted to fans of the Rolls-Royce brand.

The U.K.-based Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club, a worldwide group of owners of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles, has included Matsuoka in “A Celebration of Excellence.” The book recognizes luxury brands whose quality and reputation in the marketplace reflect the tastes of its members.

Matsuoka is listed in an article that addresses the company’s 150-year history in a section called “Luxury Living, Interiors and Architecture.” It is the only furniture manufacturer mentioned in the furnishings segment.

Kevin Reilly, company president, said he was honored to have Matsuoka included in the yearbook.

“We believe Matsuoka’s special combination of fashion forward design, our extraordinary understanding of, and access to, peerless raw material resources and our nearly century and a half’s dedication to flawless execution is entirely right of the discrimination clientele qualities of Rolls Royce,” Reilly said.

2012 is an auspicious year. It marks the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty, the Queen. In this special year, Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club, a worldwide organization of owners and aficionados of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars, is publishing a yearbook including premium brands whose standards represent a level of excellence commensurate with the tastes and requirements of its members, A Celebration of Excellence. Announcing the selection of Matsuoka, Richard Freed, Executive Director of the St. James’s House in London, commented: “This selection process is targeted, and we know full well that a publication of this nature is only as credible, interesting and useful as the brands and organisations who get behind it.”
“We are honored that an article on Matsuoka will appear in the category dedicated to ‘Luxury Living, Interiors and Architecture,’” stated Kevin Reilly, the company’s president. Matsuoka is the only furniture manufacturer so represented. “It’s a brand association which is exactly right for us, and it is fitting that, at such a special, celebrative time, the Club would select ours, a brand of excellence, for inclusion in the yearbook.”
The book, which will be sent to every owner of a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley motor car, as well as to 11,000 other selected lovers of fine things, will be launched, in a gala ceremony, at Claridge’s Hotel in London, on November 25th. A video of last year’s launch, at Goodwood House, the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Richmond, may be seen at the link below.

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“The Home as Refuge: Maintaining Tomorrow’s Antiques Finished in Polyester”

In challenging economic times, it becomes so much more important to ensure that interior spaces are tastefully appointed. “Nesting” is a natural response in uncertain economies. Discriminating consumers seek defensive positions, focusing on the home as a refuge from the turmoil of turbulent markets.

This is a moment when select “jewelry” items, of timeless beauty, can provide comfort and add warmth to the home. Meticulously crafted pieces, of enduring appeal become the
purchase of preference. Rather than overhaul the nest with a completely new look, just the
right item or two, thoughtfully chosen and placed, will refresh the familiar. These are the
heirlooms, the antiques of tomorrow, providing reassurance of continuity, a sense that the
home is a place of refinement, beauty, restoration and security.

Increasingly, refined households are choosing the elegant look of hand rubbed polyester to satisfy the yearning for that one more piece to perfect the aesthetic of the well
appointed nest.

Matsuoka President, Kevin Reilly, discusses artifacts finished in polyester. He says that not only are they exquisitely beautiful, they are also really easy to maintain and often much more versatile. In many cases, they are the optimal choice, because they “wear” exceptionally well in daily use, and are not as easily damaged

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Matsuoka International released images of the award winning Opera Dining Table in customized round format. The images are the first releases of customized versions of Matsuoka’s designs. The Opera Dining Table, with its immediately recognizable, iconic base, debuted, to much applause, at the International Furniture Market in High Point, North Carolina, where it received recognition as a “Best of Market” entry, and at the Architectural Digest Home Show in Manhattan. It has just been engineered in the round versions, pictured above. This highly demanded design is also being completed in rectangular varieties of differing lengths, according to customer order, and, with leaves, also in the rectangular format. Nearly all designs executed by Matsuoka craftspeople are available in custom configurations and sizes, as well as being available with a choice of veneers, stains, finishes and other options.

The Opera Dining Table features one of the most exacting, and demanding, veneering and finish applications in the world. Matsuoka makes available to artists more than 70 different species or cuts of ornamental woods. Christian Lyon’s original design was conceived in a proprietary format, with silver stain applied to a beautifully figured, rare coloration of nacreous sycamore, specially cut to comply with Matsuoka’s rigorous environmental standards, and with a concern for the proper husbandry of forestry resources. Only the most skilled artists on the planet can achieve such mastery in the application of veneers – with a steady hand, which requires hours of intense focus and artistic precision. Each masterpiece is finished with 7 to 10 layers of resin, requiring more than a day to dry, prior to another day’s labor fine sanding and hand polishing. “The finishes, considered among the finest in the world, are immaculate,” commented Christian Lyon. “And the work is completed in the most scrupulously clean environment, because the inclusion of even one grain of dust can ruin the final appearance or destroy the tactile integrity. It’s amazing work.”