We had quite the fab evening yesterday at Bograd’s Fine Furniture in Riverdale, NJ. Everyone had some Sake, some laughs, and no one tried to beat me up. Every night that happens is a success in my book.

The impending danger came from the no-holds-barred tour I gave to the guests who attended Meet the Masters, an evening to celebrate the new Matsuoka International Christian Lyon furniture line. Available at Bograd’s and featured in our September Top 50 issue.

The line is beautiful, elegant, and modern. A great combination. Mix that with the amazing craftsmanship of Matsuoka and you’ve got a show-stopper. So sushi was served, as well as sparkling sake to celebrate while Christian filled guests in on his inspiration and thought behind the line.

Below are a few shots from the evening. We’ll be updating the gallery as more photos come in, so check back here regularly in the next few days. I hope you enjoy and I hope I’ll see you at our next New Jersey event on Thursday evening at Mark Gallery in Englewood!

See who got their faces on New York Spaces last night…

Source: New York Spaces

Pictured: Christian Lyon (far left), poses with Mastuoka colleagues, including Chairman Taku Moritsugu (second from left), President Kevin Reilly (third from right) and Joe Bograd (second from right).

Opera Dining Table and Dining Chairs Side from the Metropole Collection.

Hand-painted Kimono Sideboard from the Metropole Collection.

The Empire Sideboard piece from the Moderne Collection, crafted of Celebes Ebony.

Randolph Chair from the Metropole Collection.

Randolph Sofa from the Metropole Collection.

Home Furnishings Business

The Best of High Point

Matsuoka International

Savoy Night Table

ANNMARIE MARANO

We’re here at Bograd’s Meet the Masters night, celebrating the new Matsuoka International Christian Lyon line, available at Bograd’s. We’ll be here until 9 p.m., looking forward to Jason Kontos’s no-holds-barred tour of the store floor.

Here is Christian Lyon (far left) with Matsuoka colleagues and Joe Bograd (second from right), surrounded by the new pieces Lyon created for this Japanese furniture powerhouse. He says his goal is for pieces to be highly customizable and for customers to have fun with color and finishes.

Source: New York Spaces

Pictured: Christian Lyon (far left), poses with Mastuoka colleagues, including ChairmanTaku Moritsugu (second from left), President Kevin Reilly (third from right) and Joe Bograd (second from right).

Opera Dining Table and Dining Chairs Side from the Metropole Collection.

Hand-painted Kimono Sideboard from the Metropole Collection.

Jason Kontos

Stop by Bograd’s on the 25th for Meet the Masters Monday.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m one of the masters.

The other is Australian designer Christian Lyon, designer of Matsuoka’s two newest lines of furniture: the Moderne collection and the Metropole. Bograd’s Fine Furniture is the exclusive representative for this contemporary Japanese company for the North Jersey metro area.

We featured these elegant collections in our Sept. issue Showroom Style column. See the images below for a little sneak.

We’ll be celebrating them with a Japanese theme, including a sake bar and sushi appetizers.

But here’s the best part…

I get to run my mouth and nobody is allowed to stop me! I’ll be hosting a no-holds-barred tour of the Bograd’s design center. I’ll decoRATE up a storm, saying exactly what I think of each piece. Trust me, you won’t want to miss it. This place is a design mecca, as you’ve heard me call Bograd’s before. But every rose has its thorn of course, and my hawk design eye will find it for sure.

I never miss an opportunity to let loose.

See you there!

Source: New York Spaces

Pictured: Kimono Sideboard & Opera Dining Table from the Metropole Collection & Empire Sideboard from the Moderne Collection

By Heath E. Combs

AT THE MARKET – Glass sculptor Stephen Gormley says he knows that structural integrity is important when it comes to working in his chosen medium.

For example, if you’re making a 25-foot-tall glass sculpture to sit behind a reception desk, it ought to remain intact durning an earthquake, he said. Otherwise, it’s bad for business.

His new line of crystal furniture is on display this week in high-end furniture manufacturer Matsuoka’s new showroom, International Home Furnishings Center IH-411. Furniture and Art by Stephen Gormley for Matsuoka includes made-to-order consoles, cocktail, occasional and dining tables in any shape and size to fit the customer’s space.

Gormley is known around the world for his crystal sculptures, which are in such venues as the Casino Deauville in Thailand, the Paris Urban Gallery in France and the Doral Spa in Florida. His commissions are often multi-ton behemoths of grand scale, but he alsohas made smaller pieces for lobbies, offices and homes.

The glass used in the collection in “low iron crystal”.

Ordinary glass has a green tint and contains about 12% iron to make it stronger, but blocks about 40% of ultraviolet light, Gormley said. Glass with lower iron crystal content is clearer and doesn’t distort the color spectrum, he said.

The low iron crystal glass costs about 10 times the price of regular glass and is only made by few manufacturers worldwide. It’s often used in solar panels because of its clarity, he said.

Gormley said he’s able to use the clearer glass because he has developed a laminating process using a clear resin to bond sheets of the glass together. Such bonded glass becomes quite durable for furniture, he said.

He said the low iron glass is more striking when hit by light and also will age gracefully, retaining it brilliance rather than fogging.

Gormley will sign all pieces in the Mastuoka collection.

3. Matsuoka (Mail Stop 2813, Concord, NC 28025) will debut a new line of custom-made crystal furniture designed by world-renowned glass sculptor Stephen Gormley. Shown is a cocktail table from the new collection.

Furniture Today – Market Guide: Exclusive First Look

3. Matsuoka IHFC IH411 – This Crystal Rib glass cocktail table is available in custom sizes from renowned sculptor Stephen Gormley.

Matsuoka International

Premiere Showing at the High Point International Home Furnishings Market – IHFC IH 411

Crystal Sculpures by Stephen Gormley