the tiled frenchman story
Instagram is an incredible resource in so many ways. I have planned a vacation, made reservations at restaurants and hotels, and I have made incredible shopping purchases ~ all based on instagram posts. Most recently, I spied and bought a tiled Frenchman thanks to an instagram post. (Follow me here)
Donald Fields (@firestationguy) is an a antique dealer I have followed and purchased things from in the past few years. You may remember the special collection of antique crystal glasses I bought from him in Nashville some years ago...
He is based in Kansas City, but travels to antique shows, and was in Atlanta for AmericasMart in July. He posted this photo and I immediately texted him to inquire about the tiled man. I was in love.
Turns out he had posted it before, but I had missed it...
He responded informing me that the tiled Frenchman was from the estate of Atlanta icon, Peggy Stone. She sounded familiar, so I googled her only to find images that were from a post I had done back in 2012! (here) Sure enough, Peggy Stone was the designer for this incredible home which she built with her son and architect, Duane Stone, to house the old world antiques she had been collecting for decades. I bet you will recognize some of the images from that house. It was featured in one of my favorite Veranda issues...
Every room is graced with gorgeous french fabrics, and in most cases, a small collection of blue and white.
You guys! Look who is standing in this room!
And there he is again, peeking around the corner...
I bought Tiled Frenchman over the phone and can't wait to see him in person. He will be back in Kansas City soon, and I can't decide if I should drive down and pick him up myself, or wait until September, when Don will be here for the Lauritzen Gardens Antique & Garden Show. I'm not sure I will be able to wait that long.
He is 81" tall and 37" wide. I love him.
I have 3 places I think he will work. I would love to have him in my office, because I will see him every morning when I walk out of my bedroom, but he is most needed in my dining room. I have a wall that is only seen if you are IN the dining room. It is a sad wall. It needs something wonderful to cheer up the room. I would also love to have him in my living room, a welcoming presence in the center of the house. We will see when he arrives where he will be most loved.
(Some of the photos I've reposted here were properly credited to Veranda and photographer Peter Vitale)