Six Degrees of Inspiration
Museum of London
September 2016

Design inspiration can come from most anything: a photo snapped inside a museum during a European vacation, an old period interior lithograph, or in the case of this project, a color plate from a wonderful Art Deco book. The Studio Executive who came to us, some years back now, loved the motif of a trio of storks in bas-relief featured inside an elevator car from the venerable Selfridge’s Department Store in London. Our client wanted to imbue this design into a large dome for her Master Bedroom Suite.

Fast-forward 15 years as our Company Historian Brett Tyler attends college in England for a semester abroad program and visits the Museum of London where he finds an exhibit with some of the elements of the same Selfridge’s Department Store; among them, the Art Deco style elevator car featuring the stork and scrollwork fantasy executed in bronze. The museum's curator was delighted when Bret shared some photos from our commission for comparison. “Wouldn’t dare to say which is better”, chortled the curator. “I might lose my post."

Our clients come to us with reference and ideas from a myriad of sources. These in turn provide wonderful and unique places to commence style and direction. A boon from this is an inclusion of many of these designs into our catalog; the Stork Medallion being one (now available as PLAS 937).