Legendary design house Baker has recently made available The Selected Works of Tony Duquette; as Duquette pieces were only available by commission or second-hand during his lifetime, this marks the first time his work has been available for purchase by a larger market...

This is good news for those who can afford $4,000 chairs, but we find Baker's pricing (the Paris Snowflake Screen pictured below sells for a recommended $22,848) somewhat ridiculous considering that what Duquette was known for, beyond his overripe sets and interiors, was his use of found and recycled materials to create a look that appeared luxurious and expensive.

From issue three of Pin-Up Magazine: "Christened the Do-it yourself De Medici", Duquette's alchemical hands transformed lemon squeezers into golden finials, cardboard egg cartons into coffered Moorish ceilings, and bunches of spray-painted twigs into coral reef centerpieces. His creations are assemblages - disparate materials collaged to create decorative form, where the style is actually the substance." That the Snowflake Screen employs actual coral misses the point somewhat, we think.

More information on Tony Duquette's life and work are available via his website, and in the recently published, fascinatingly thorough Tony Duquette by Wendy Goodman.