Les Vins de Bourgogne and Place de Vosges

Les Vins de Bourgogne

Les Vins de Bourgogne is an original vintage poster illustrated by Guy Arnoux advertising wines from France’s Burgundy region. The poster shows a 17th-century military captain reclining under a canopy of grapes, hinting that the wine has been aged to perfection. This beautiful piece was printed in the 1920′s using stone lithography.

If you visit Paris, make sure to go to Place des Vosges, a lovely park in the Marais which was built by Henry the 4th and inaugurated in 1612.  Place Des Vosges is a formal garden, it features plane trees planted in allees, and triangles of grass.  There is a perfect geometry to the place.  It is surrounded by well appointed  buildings, with shutters and  steeply pitched blue slate rooftops.

As is the case  in much of Paris, the bottom floor of many apartments is used for storefronts and restaurants.  You can have lunch at Ma Bourgogne, and watch the steady stream of people walk in and out of the gates of Place des Vosges. Visit their website to get a taste of this wonderful place.

This post was written by Karlie Drutz, Vintage European Posters special projects coordinator, and Elizabeth Norris, owner of Vintage European Posters.

You can visit our showroom at 2201 Fourth Street in Berkeley on Tuesdays and by appointment.

Call us at 510 843 2201 to schedule an appointment.

Our next pop up open weekend is May 18-19 2013. You can see our collection at www.vepca.com

A Little Retail Inspiration

Modern Poster, Modern Framing, Modern Design at Undrest on Abbott Kinney

We love our little shop on Fourth Street in Berkeley. After 14 years of doing shows, we are finally anchored there. I find a lot of inspiration while traveling, something about leaving behind the quotidian, so it makes sense that I am interested in shops now that we have one.

I arrived in LA a day earlier than usual for the Dwell on Design Show and headed right for Abbott Kinney Blvd. Now in recent years I have developed a fascination with Los Angeles, especially Santa Monica. I have decided that LA is analogous to New York City — it’s big, it’s hungry for design, and it is packed with excellence. Our own fair city, San Francisco, is analogous to Boston. It’s small, it’s provincial, it’s slow to warm to trends, and it’s intellectual. Vis a vis neighborhoods, Santa Monica’s Abbott Kinney Blvd. is a lot like Fourth Street Berkeley. It is packed with small boutiques full of one of a kind treasures, and hivey small businesses doing interesting things behind closed doors.

Intelligentsia Cafe on Abbott Kinney

So, I struck out on a mission to explore Abbott Kinney. I started with coffee at Intelligentsia with a friend from Berkeley High School days. Great conversation because we were, essentially, kids together. Right next door to Intelligentsia is Neptina, my friend Lianne‘s store, which is, like Vintage European Posters, open by appointment only. Lianne collects, sells, and manufactures incredible glass objects, including vases, lighting, tables, and more. Her shop has been on Abbott Kinney for 14 years: you might say she was Abbott Kinney before Abbott Kinney was Abbott Kinney.

Leanne's shop, where she keeps the good glass

Next, I wanted to visit Undrest, which is the glamorous swimwear shop founded by our glamorous client Maria. I was tickled to see our framed posters there on  display — they have “Relax” by Rene Gruau, “Piscina Sarteano” by Anthoy, and Villemot’s beautiful “Cote d’Azur” poster from 1965. The “Cote d’Azur” hangs on a beautiful blue wall — a welcoming presence to guests as they enter the shop.

Original "Cote d'Azur" Poster by Villemot in the entry of Undrest

Original "Piscina di Sarteano" Poster by Athoy, 1962

After Undrest, I went straight to A+R, a shop that features ‘Global Design. Edited.’ at 1121 Abbott Kinney Blvd, right across the street. A+R was the featured store at Dwell on Design and their shop is a design buff’s dream. They of course, feature the wooly pockets(picture) which I covet, along with the Pantone color chairs that I love. This shop is the epitome of the Dwell mindset and the Dwell aesthetic. Love it!

Pantone chairs by A+R

Wooly pockets in use by A+R

At the end of the day, Charly and Candie arrived from their long dusty drive down the 5 and we relaxed and ate an amazing dinner at 3 Square – where else, but on Abbott Kinney.

The three of us at 3 Squares

World War One Helmets and Vintage Military Posters

The Hillsborough Antiques show in April was amazing. There were a number of new dealers in the show who brought in fresh merchandise and that added excitement to an already stellar display.

One of the booths I was fascinated with was that of a military dealer from Rocklin, CA (Booth 527 at the show)  who featured a collection of helmets from both wars, as well as knives, medals and a little bit of ‘trench art’.

I couldn’t help but think about all of the original military posters we have in our collection which feature these very same helmets. Take a look.

The Germans wore a helmet with a spike called a ‘Picklehaube’  in the beginning of World War I.   WWI one was largely fought in trenches- wet, miserable trenches that provided needed shelter for soldiers between battles and also provided cover from artillery. “Daytime in the trenches alternated between short periods of intense fear, when the enemy fired, and longer periods of boredom.” (World War 1 by Simon Adams c. 2001)

Authentic Pickelhaube circa 1915

Price Tag and Descriptor for Pickelhaube

The Pickle in the Picklehaube turned out to be a target as the German soldiers moved about in their trenches, telling their foes exactly where to fire.  As a result, this helmet was discontinued in late 1915.

In this famous poster by Abel Faivre, the Kaiser is shown, head down, vanquished with a broken sword.  He is shadowed by the encroaching glorious flags of France, Britain, Italy, Belgium and the United States. The image of the Kaiser with the Pickelhaube is anachronistic because the United States joined the war in 1918, and in fact, saw our first major battle September 12-16 in St. Mihiel.

L'Emprunt de la Liberation Poster 1918 by Abel Faivre

American Soldier holding Three Pickelhaube souvenir helmets in "And They Thought We Couldn't Fight" Poster 1918

“And They Thought We Couldn’t Fight”  by Claude Forsythe is a famous image of victory which is packed with meaning.  France was in peril in early 1918, the war looked like it would be won by Germany and it’s Allies.   The US has steered clear of the War since it began in 1914 because we were ‘a country strongly divided’.  Our populace, made up of many European immigrants, disagreed about which side to back in the conflict.  As a result, The United States was criticized in Europe, even taunted.  This poster answers the taunt with a bloody and victorius American soldier carrying three german pickelhaubes as souvenirs.

US Marine Helmet from WWI at the Hillsborough Antiques Show

Here is the US Marines Helmet we saw at the show.  The soldier depicted in the “And They Thought we Couldn’t Fight” poster looks as if he may be a Marine.  The soldier in “Go Over The Top with US Marines” is unquestionably clad in one.  The Marine Insignia on the original helmet is hard to see in the photo above.

Original WWI Poster "Go Over the Top With U.S. Marines" by Coughlin printed 1917

Antique Shows offer an incredible window into history.  At the recent Hillsborough Antiques Show in San Mateo, these helmets and  these posters were both available for viewing and for purchase.  Attendees also had the opportunity to visit with dealers who specialize in military history.  Today, in 2011, we are approaching the centennial of World War One, which offers us an opportunity to examine these artefacts with 100 years of persepective.

"This Device on Hat or Helmet" poster by Charles Buckles Falls