John Dickinson's Closet

Rago 20th/21st Century Design Auction  |  June 12, 2011

I was surfing the Internet recently and stopped short when I came upon this image. I recognized it immediately as the mirrored doors that were part of the dressing room of the great interior designer John Dickinson. In fact, for almost 40 years, I've held on to the image of that dressing room in my own files.

House & Garden, 1972

This cityscape, with mirrors for windows, served as five doors to John Dickinson's closet. They went up for auction earlier this summer, and while I don't know what they sold for, the opening bid was $12,000. I hope they went to a good home.

John Dickinson was a colorful San Francisco character, and an excitingly innovative and creative interior designer, remembered as one of the greatest of the last century. He was also a furniture designer whose works are today highly collectible, in part because they are classic designs, and in part because they are witty and ironic. Here are two examples:

Robert Massello Antiques

John Dickinson was famous for creating unusual tables — faux orange crates, faux name-a-material-and-he'd-do-it, and tables with all sorts of animal legs. This is one of my favorites.

chairsandbuildings.blogspot.com

This table with swagged cloth is actually galvanized metal. John Dickinson fabricated many wonderful designs and perhaps my favorite example is the living room stove in his own home:

House & Garden, 1972

Dickinson had the stove made of steel and brass (it took a year to make), and the stove's molding was designed to mirror the profile and exact height of the dadoes. The small tri-footed table and lamp in this photograph are also Dickinson designs.

House & Garden, 1972

John Dickinson had a knack for bringing style to every function. His cat ate from plates that were placed on hinged brass chargers. When mealtime was over, plates were whisked away, and the brass chargers flipped up against the wall.

House & Garden, June, 1967

"On one side of the sitting-dining room, a collection of old ironstone platters, each subtly different in its whiteness, hanging like plaques on an even whiter wall over a two-legged pine console of his own design." — House & Garden, June, 1967

House & Garden, June, 1967

In the living room, a trompe l'oeil armoire painted to resemble Dickinson's own house. Note the Dickinson lamp in the second-floor window.

John Dickinson continues to inspire.

.