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

We hope the following will be a useful guide.  Polyester is not only beautiful.  It is, also, very easy to care for and maintain, providing years of unhampered joy and pride of ownership.

Let’s start by considering what these finishes are.  They are expertly applied, meticulously hand polished, resins, made of amazing, often water miscible, polymers.  Depending on the application and admixture of additional ingredients, they manifest an astonishing diversity of physical properties.  It was discovered many years ago that, properly deployed, they are the ideal protective finish for the most magnificent and expensive ornamental woods, a wonderful boon for the most creative artists.

Polyesters generally manifest the following felicitous properties:

• The finish, when properly applied by knowledgeable craftsmen, produces an exceptionally clear and beautiful image of the grain character of wood.    This is wonderful since it allows artists to fully engage all of the visual loveliness of the medium as it occurs naturally.  Also, because of the clarity of the finish when properly deployed, it provides terrific versatility to experiment with an exceptionally broad palette of exciting stain and color options.

• Finishes can be manipulated to present low gloss, “satin”, as well as a high gloss appearance, and can be combined with other materials to manifest gradations according to the decorative or ornamental intent for which they are used.

• Particularly when applied in high gloss, finishes are extremely durable.  They approach the hardness of glass, and, compared with other wood finishes, are actually among the most resistant for exposure to normal wear and tear in daily household use.

• They hold up exceptionally well in a broad variety of thermal conditions.

• Polyesters provide a high degree of protection in humid conditions.  They seal substrates from moisture impingement, ensuring generations of unimpaired beauty, and, properly prepared, are ideal for luxury marine applications and beach homes.  Indeed, they repel water and give great protection against dryness, making them a good choice for sere conditions as well as for use in environments of high relative humidity.

• They provide protection to damage from a large variety of chemicals encountered in common household use; and are comparatively slow to react with many others, giving owners an additional margin of time to clean spills which otherwise might be destructive to their prized possessions.

• These finishes are exceptionally easy to maintain in common use.  They buff to a beautiful sheen.  It is simple to remove finger prints, as well as most daily smudges, dust and dirt.   Typically, all that is necessary for cleaning is a damp cloth with a little soap and water.  For sticky or oily smearing or smudging, standard household glass cleaner will do the trick.

• High gloss polyesters have been shown to approach the hardness and shock resistance of glass without being brittle.

• Meanwhile, because these finishes demonstrate the chemical property known as “thixotropy”, when applied, they penetrate into the grain of the wood, filling microscopic asperities.  As such, they seal the substrate much better than glass, and protect against absorption of ambient moisture, as well as protecting against spills.  As mentioned, this same property means that in drier and higher temperature conditions they last longer, and demonstrate a wonderful elasticity and surface tenacity in use.

o      Glass, on the other hand, when used to showcase grains, has the distinct disadvantage of being much more susceptible to breakage.

o      Glass also lacks sealing capability.  This means that spills can flow under glass, penetrate into wood fibers, break down underlying finishes and cause surface damage.

o      Further, spills on glass, which might, on cursory inspection, seem to have been cleaned, can leave residues which migrate, through capillary action, under the glass, onto finishes and into the substrate, causing additional damage.   This is particularly pernicious in marine environments where is it very important to wipe surfaces clean with a damp cloth fairly frequently, in order to eliminate build-up of environmental salts.  Over time, standard finishes are ruined in these conditions.  Polyester, on the other hand, holds up extremely well.

o      Finally, glass protected tops inevitably experience spots where buildup of ambient humidity  between the glass and the wood can create a type of microscopic “humidity cabinet”, debasing finishes and injuring the wood.

• Low gloss, matte or “satin”, finishes of polyester demonstrate similar protective characteristics in many ways, and are, in a relatively similar fashion, simple to maintain.  It should be understood, however, that their resistance to impingement shock is generally lower than that of the high gloss polyester finishes, as they are not as hard.   They are also not as ideal in marine conditions, though probably better than many other finishes that are otherwise enhanced with, or protected by, glass.

• Polyester finishes are many times water miscible in application.  Raw materials are, for the most part, non-contaminating, and, in manufacturing, captured polyester overflows are highly recyclable.

• In use, artifacts with polyester finishes (indeed all made by Matsuoka) demonstrate zero volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).  Matsuoka’s are completely free of formaldehydes.  They are hypoallergenic, and safe to use in environments where sensitivity to low level air borne toxins is a concern.

To be fair, a couple of disadvantages of polyesters, when compared to other standard finishes, which are sometimes cited include:

• In manufacturing, they are expensive to use due to the need for specialized knowledge in the use of the polymers, the need for a scrupulously clean work environment for their application, the requirement for many layers of resin, and the need for many hours of hand labor, expended in repetitive applications, sanding, polishing and hand rubbing, required to achieve flawless finishes.

• There is a fairly generalized lack of knowledge within the marketplace regarding how to maintain, repair and refinish this medium.

MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

Daily Use.

• As has been referenced, polyester finishes are exceptionally resistant to normal wear and tear in daily use.    Nevertheless, because of the level of skill required to make products finished with these resins, it is advisable that owners remember that they should be handled with the same appreciation normally afforded to fine furniture art.  While they will most often resist such better than artifacts with other finishes, they should not be roughly handled, carelessly dropped or abused.

Cleaning and dusting.

• Daily dusting should be done with a feather duster, antistatic cloth or slightly damp cloth.  Repetitive or aggressive dry dusting, especially with wool or polyester cloth, has been known to increase static charge at the surface of the coating, which can actually attract additional ambient dust.  A slight moisture on the cloth eliminates this.

• Cleaning usually requires nothing more than a cloth dampened with a soapy warm water solution.  If the dirt is particularly tenacious, glass cleaner is acceptable.

• Spills of wine, coffee, ink, and most chemicals can be simply wiped away with an absorbent paper towel or terry cloth.

o      Note that additional care should be taken to ensure that low gloss, matte and satin, finishes are left dry after cleaning as the protective coating is not as thick with these, and sometimes a layer of non-polyester ingredient may be present.

REPAIR.

• Micro-abrasion.  Micro-abrasion is an unavoidable phenomenon with any finish.  Essentially, it arises through normal use and because of the daily contact of the furniture with its environment.  Indeed, the final process of rubbing finishes to their desired sheen leaves tiny abrasions on the surface which can be seen under high direct light.  (This is true of any fine finish.)  Over time, and with use, as with other fine finishes, these marks will accumulate.  They can be minimized by keeping the surface abrasion fee and by gentle cleaning in daily maintenance.  If they become annoying, they can easily be buffed out by a competent local technician.

• Scratches and gouges.  Polyester coats are among the most resistant finishes to deep scratches and gouges.  Nonetheless, these can occur when intense, focused, or sharp, force is applied.  Generally, depending on the severity and depth of scratches as they enter into the finish, these can be handled very easily.  Surface etching by scraping a rough or abrasive object over the finish can usually be sanded and buffed out.  If a scratch is very deep, there are special polyester burn-in repair sticks commercially available, or the manufacturer can suggest other compounds for filling, as well as simple procedures for finishing and buffing, to restore the look of an unblemished surface.    Gouges should be carefully rounded and filled with burn-in sticks or recommended acrylic or polyester compounds, sanded and buffed.

• Note that, because polyesters are generally harder than other wood finishes, it is less common to gouge through all the way to the timber substrate.  But, if a gouge penetrates to, or beneath, the wood, as with a gouge in any good wood, the repair becomes a bit more complex.  As with all fine furniture, the substrate must be attentively repaired and re-colored, taking special care to assure, as much as is possible, that the color applied matches closely that of the surrounding wood.  Special care should also be taken to remove any cracked polyester and eliminate surrounding points where spidering may be seen.  After this is completed, the technician can fill and finish as normal.

• Crushing.  Whenever fine furniture has been damaged by crushing or contusion, regardless of the finish used to protect it, the entire crushed area will require attention.  Depending on the nature of the damage, the affected area will usually show evidence of the work even after the repair has been completed.   This is unfortunately true no matter what finish was originally applied.  Once the contusion or crushing has been repaired as much as is possible, the damaged veneer needs to be reconstructed to the best state possible and the substrate color matched.   The manufacturer should be able to instruct the technician in removal of polyester in any area where adhesion may have been compromised, and can give detailed instructions on resurfacing once the underlying crushing has been repaired.

The most important thing to remember is that polyester finishes are among the most beautiful on the planet, and have provided a wonderful vehicle for great artists and designers to showcase the spectacular beauty of the immense variety of ornamental woods collectors and lovers of fine things cherish.  Articles executed with this treatment deeply enrich the aesthetic of any well appointed interior environment. Polyester finishes are generally very easy to clean.  They are exceptionally easy to maintain in normal use, relatively simple to repair, and, treated properly, they will retain their spectacular loveliness for generations.

I trust the general considerations reviewed here will encourage discriminating consumers who are contemplating the acquisition of artifacts of furniture art finished with this medium.  These will assuredly provide many, many decades of joy, and generations of contentment, to households and collectors of fine things.

Matsuoka International

Mail Stop 2813

Concord, NC  28025

T: 704 932 2686; F: 800 385 1665

info@matsuokainternational.com

Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Laguna Niguel, Las Vegas, Melbourne, Moscow, Panama, Philadelphia, New York, Riverdale, San Francisco, Scottsdale, Sydney, Taipei

www.matsuokainternational.com

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.”

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
VISIT MATSUOKA WEBSITE

Matsuoka Tortoise Commode Named Best of Show at 2011 Architectural Digest Home Design Show, New York City

Pictured: Tortoise Commode – Christian Lyon Collection

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

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

Matsuoka International – The Kimono Cabinet by Matsuoka was shown in a new sable sycamore finish. In addition to the finish, dealers liked the kimono floral pattern on the handles.

Pictured: Kimono Cabinet from the Metropole Collection