Maitland Smith Monkey Toilet Paper Holder

The eclectic furnishings of Maitland-Smith celebrate artisan skills in an age of machines. Hand-carved woodwork, inlaid marquetry, painted detailing, gilding and lost wax casting lend the company’s decorative accents an artistic flair. Focused on pieces that add a dynamic flourish to an interior by incorporating tactile materials like leather, seashell inlays and crushed eggshell, the manufacturer draws inspiration across centuries, from the curvy forms of the Louis XV period to the geometric angles of mid-century modernism.

Paul Maitland-Smith established the company in Hong Kong in 1979, after getting his start in London in the 1950s as an antique dealer who also sold reproduction furniture, something that would become a Maitland-Smith specialty. The manufacturer’s early reproductions of 17th- and 18th-century furniture included Chippendale dining chairs, and soon afterward, Maitland-Smith expanded into a range of decorative designs that often exuded a whimsical spirit, whether a coffee table shaped like a stack of books or a pair of decorative obelisks. Maitland-Smith’s signature sculptural table lamps in particular show off this playful sensibility, with one balancing a pen-shell shade on a monkey’s tail and another taking on the form of a miniature hot-air balloon.

Since its founding, Maitland-Smith’s sourcing has been based in Asia, and although Paul Maitland-Smith later sold the company that still bears his name and is now headquartered in North Carolina, the brand’s furnishings are still largely made in Cebu, Philippines.

Today, Maitland-Smith continues to innovate on its finely crafted offerings by collaborating with contemporary designers and studios such as Tony Duquette Studios (founded by set and costume designer Tony Duquette in 1941), Celerie Kemble and painter and textile designer Susan Hable Smith.

Find a wide range of Maitland-Smith furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Typically made of mahogany, teak or bamboo and featuring a range of fabrics and prints with botanical patterns, antique British Colonial furniture and decor varies as it involved local materials and techniques and spanned centuries of design styles.

As the British Empire expanded from the 16th to the 20th century, its conquest and control of colonies around the world bolstered its wealth through the extraction of resources. Including colonies in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australasia, this spread of often violent subjugation imposed British culture, language and faith on Indigenous peoples. The design of homes was included in this expression of imperial power, with government officials, merchants and military officers creating homes mimicking the luxuries they were used to in England.

Local artisans were commissioned to replicate British designs, resulting in versions of Regency, Chippendale, Sheraton and other styles of furniture being crafted from mahogany, rosewood, ebony and teakwood as opposed to beech and oak, which were more common in Europe. Whereas the colonial furniture for the Portuguese and Dutch regularly had motifs of indigenous flora and fauna, the British tended to want more exact reproductions of their home country’s designs.

To escape the summer heat in places such as India and the Caribbean, British colonizers relocated to airy houses in the hills or plantations, leading to foldable chairs and collapsible desks in the style of military campaign furniture. Rather than upholstery as they might have in Europe, chairs and sofas in the British Colonial style had rattan and cane seating for these higher temperature climates. The contrast between the light textiles and the dark colors of the sturdy furniture became a defining aesthetic of British Colonial interiors.

Find a collection of antique British Colonial outdoor furniture, seating, bedroom furniture, decorative objects and other items on 1stDibs.

Invite the untamed wonders of the animal kingdom into your home — and do so safely — with the antique, new and vintage animal sculptures available on 1stDibs.

Artists working in every medium from furniture design to jewelry to painting have found inspiration in wild animals over the years. For sculptors, three-dimensional animal renderings — both realistic and symbolic — crisscross history and continents. In as early as 210 B.C., intricately detailed terracotta horses guarded early Chinese tombs, while North America’s native Inuit tribes living in the ice-covered Arctic during the 1800’s wore small animal figurines carved from walrus ivory. Indeed, animal sculpture has a long history, and beginning in the 19th century, the art form started becoming not only fashionable but artistically validated — a trend that continues today. At home, animal sculptures — polished bronze rhinos crafted in the Art Deco style or ceramic dogs of the mid-century modern era — can introduce both playfulness and drama to your decor.

In the case of the frosted glass sculptures crafted by artisans at legendary French glassmaker Lalique, founded by jeweler and glass artist René Lalique, some animal sculptures are purely decorative. With their meticulously groomed horse manes and detailed contours of their parakeet feathers, these creatures want to be proudly displayed. Adding animal sculptures to your bookcases can draw attention to your covetable collection of vintage monographs, while side tables and wall shelving also make great habitats for these ornamental animal figurines.

Some sculptures, however, can find suitable nests in just about any corner of your space. Whimsical brass flamingos or the violent, realist bronze lions created by Parisian sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye are provocative and versatile pieces that can rest on windowsills or your desk. Otherwise, the brass cat shoehorns and bronze porcupine ashtrays designed by Viennese artist Walter Bosse are no longer roaming aimlessly throughout your living room, as they’ve found a purpose to serve.

Embark on your safari today and find a fascinating collection of vintage, modern and antique animal sculptures on 1stDibs.