Manifesto for Opulence

Derek Frost, of Derek Frost Associates, a London based design consultancy currently attracting attention with it's break into furniture production describes himself passionate about lustrous and luxurious materials. In this respect he shares much in common with his self confessed hero Jacques Emile Ruhlmann, the French designer who dominated the furniture scene in Paris in the 20's, with his sumptuous and superbly crafted pieces directed at the luxury market.

Ruhlmann has been described as a "magnificent anachronism", a designer whose pursuit of opulence and unabashed use of the most expensive materials available, for the satisfaction of an extremely limited clientele, might well have struck a discordant note in post 1st World War Paris. Can one level the same criticism at Frost?

Derek's pieces, pictured here, are triumphs of craftsmanship, combining materials rarely seen in contemporary furniture.

The Silver Scarf console consists of burr maple, satinwood, and blue stained sycamore with the scarf portion executed in distressed white gold water gilding inlaid with squares of mother of pearl.

The Architectural End table is in grey stained cherry and satinwood with inlaid ovals of massar birch.

So far, all Frost's furniture has been commissioned by and produced for, some eight private individuals, all with a strong interest in patronising and collecting works of modern design and craftsmanship. They share Frost's conviction that it is time to overcome our present qualms with respect to Art Deco ideals of unashamed sensousness and artistic display in furniture design, and set aside our obsession with functionalism. They consider there is a pressing need for the restoration of traditional standards of detail, quality, and line, and the re-establishment of modern design firmly within a historical context, acknowledging the significance and relevance of past and contemporary workmanship.

As yet these ideal are gaining currency only slowly. While there has been a visible increase in the sums of money being directed toward the purchase of paintings and sculpture, investment in contemporary furniture design is proving more difficult to encourage.

Insofar as the trend both in design and architectural circles is towards greater decorative and ornamental input, Derek Frost is, if anything, ahead of his times - hardly an anachronism. He is naturally sympathetic to the revived use of classical forms and traditional materials in architecture, while less enthusiastic about the "jokey" aspect of post-modern design. Readily describing himself as a "architectural designer",  Derek Frost is one of the trail-blazers in the exciting move towards a greater integration of architecture, furnishings and fittings along the lines of 18th C architect-designers such as William Kent; as well as being an important maintainer of Art Deco traditions of artistry until recently lost sight of.