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.”

Press Release

Contact: Noreen Reilly, Creative Director

980 621 0076

Matsuoka Introduces Designs by Renowned Designer,

Interiors by Steven G

Luxury furniture manufacturer, Matsuoka International, will present 19 inspirations by internationally renowned celebrity interior designer, Steven G.  The collection, titled eponymously, “Designs by Steven G for Matsuoka,” will debut in showroom IH411 in the Interhall Section of IHFC at the upcoming April 2011 International Furniture Market in High Point, North Carolina.

Steven Gurowitz, is President of Interiors by Steven G, a fashionable high end studio with offices in Pompano Beach, and New York, catering to celebrities and high net worth clientele.  He has created a set of designs for living room, occasional, dining and bedroom, conceived to optimize a gracious life style and showcase the superlative character of Matsuoka’s casework and immaculate finishes.  The collection is intended to emphasize an idealized, couture, lifestyle, stylish and filled with glamour, yet one which is easy to live with.  Steven draws inspiration from more than thirty years designing custom interiors for the rich and famous.

The aesthetic expressed in his new collection is communicated by “contemporary” forms, “with touches of Deco.”     The scale of the designs is in all cases bold.  They project themselves into space with bold Euclidian form, and command attention.  They are intended to act sculpturally, to define space architecturally.

There is a stunning item, called simply a “custom cabinet,” that seems to float in mid-air, suspended on a framework of glistening stainless steel. Another piece is a glamorous “jewelry ambry”, adorned with a lush, exotic grain of New Guinea Walnut.  It is lavishly decorated in a languorous open grained, matte  horizontal veneer presentation,  and seems to invite its owner to spend treasured hours caressing baubled troves in neatly arranged tiers of handsomely scaled drawers.   For the living room and entertainment areas, consoles, veneered in expensive decorative cuts of Celebes ebony and silver sycamore woods, impart an air of opulence.  A luxurious, leather appointed TV wall cabinet accommodates a 60 inch flat screen.  For the boudoir, Gurowitz has created a bed, ornamented in exotic, perfectly slip matched Celebes ebony, with a crystalline, transparent hand rubbed finish of high gloss lacquer, applied in multiple layers and polished to a glisten.  The nightstands, conceived with striking visual geometry, are finished with the same treatment.    The effect of the entire display is of sheer luxury intended to indulge the eye and cosset the senses.

During a career which has spanned more than thirty years, Steven G has amassed a client list which reads like a who’s who of sports stars, actors, the rich and famous, including luminaries such as, Asante Samuel, Waldimir Klitschko, Warren Sapp, Miguel Tejada, Pudge Rodriguez, and a host of others.  He has completed commissions in high profile venues internationally, including work for royalty in Saudi Arabia, private engagements in Central America and around the US.  Moguls and investment firms seek his expertise for developments such as the recently completed Trump, Hollywood, the refurbishment of the magnificent 45,000 square feet Crocker Mansion in NJ, Boulan South Beach, the Gansevoort and a project designing interiors for several Ritz Carlton Residences, Singer Island properties.  He defines his art as “easy,” insisting it flows naturally, as talent through a great painter.  His interiors are functional, yet elegant.  No two designs are alike.  He insists, “My style is not, nor will it ever be, fixed.  As a design talent, I design for my clients’ wants, needs and desires.”  What he means is that the concept fits the personality of the individuals or businesses for whom he is designing, which implies a process of continual discovery.

It is this process of discovery which he says led him to Matsuoka.  He believes he has found in Matsuoka a company with a special gift for expressing with clarity the intention of the design; getting it right, as he puts it, “I wanted to be with the best of the best.”    As a collector of fine furniture and a dealer, himself, in antiquities, he is extraordinarily interested in achieving a sense of authenticity in his work.  He believes that Matsuoka, among the rarified elite in the world, allows him to achieve this.  The company’s exceptional access to rare decorative woods, allied with its 145 year tradition of superlative craft and immaculate finishes, provides the level of excellence his art seeks to express.

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“The Tortoise Commode, designed by Christian Lyon for Matsuoka International, is a one-of-a-kind case good. The piece was inspired by an amber and dark brown tortoise shell the artist had seen several years before constructing the commode. Christian spotted the Zebrano veneer at the Matsuoka International factory, which resembled the image of the tortoise, capturing the spirituality and beauty of the animal. The Tortoise Commode is beautifully designed with an Asian theme, ideal for traditional or modern interior design spaces. Its essence is perfect craftsmanship very much like that of superior art, yielding a piece that is both functional and conversational for those fortunate enough to own one.”
READ EBERLY & COLLARD ARTICLE
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Matsuoka Tortoise Commode Named Best of Show at 2011 Architectural Digest Home Design Show, New York City

Pictured: Tortoise Commode – Christian Lyon Collection

Matsuoka International Gala Opening in Bangkok Features Ribbon Cutting by Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand.

http://robbreport.com/Home-Design/Furniture-with-an-East-West-Inspiration

Pictured : Empire Side Board & Martini Cocktail Cabinet from the Christian Lyon Collection