Baroque Salon

Magnificence, grandeur, wealth, energy, opulence. These are few words to describe adequately the art and design of the Baroque period. On November 3, Devenish Group members and guests gathered at Dalva Brothers, Inc., on the Upper East Side to celebrate and revel in the sumptuous Baroque delicacies on display. The hosts of the evening, Louise Devenish and Leon and Adam Dalva, took participants on a pilgrimage through the era, object by object. Objects contemplated included a wood and wrought iron sleigh made for the Dauphin, an Italian carved walnut mirror executed by the master carver for the Duke of Parma, a Louis XIV Boulle clock known as "The Harpy Clock", and a splendid German marquetry and carved cabinet with an embellished façade in the form of a Palladian building front.

All objects exemplified the energy and dynamism of the time period and proved to be ripe objects for engaged conversation. The group included period experts including Elaine Banks Stainton from Doyle, Mark Jacoby from Philip Colleck Ltd., the couture and textile experts Gabriella Pannunzio and Valeri Soll, as well as Meggi Sweeney Smith, a dancer in the Baroque style, all of whom brought together contiguous expertise of the Baroque period. It was an evening of sensuous decadence that will not soon be forgotten.

Louise Devenish