Welcome to my personal A to Z Challenge on the subject of Home. The goal, in a year time, is to elaborate and dissect topics regarding the Home not as containers of stuff, but as a cocoon for the soul, mind, and heart.
I will touch on decorations, style, trends, history of home and sometimes technical information.
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Jardinière is a common French word for a woman gardener. The interesting thing is that flower boxes and containers for plants are also called jardinières, as often words have more than one meaning. I am thinking the origin of the name could have come possibly from the full body curvilinear women of the past, when being round was a guarantee for a good marriage and proliferation in great abundance. In fact, all the examples of jardinières I have seen are squatted, very round with a belly and feet or propped on high pedestal. Their purpose is to keep the plant and dripping water inside the pot to avoid staining elegant floors, or expensive rugs.
Jardinières are highly decorative and very valuable if they are antiques. Auctions are best places to find some good pieces from dismantled buildings that once belonged to counts now without the account, or you might find some simpler pieces at garage sales.
Tall jardinières decorate entries, gardens and important event tables or they might be a good solution to store firewood near the fireplace. The low types, beautify table settings and furniture.
However, they are not always meant for flower arrangements or to plant chili pepper trees and vegetables. If you have decorative balls fill them up, they will look good all year round. In the bathroom, they can be used to store some handy products for everyday use and in the office, they will be a nice place to rest incoming mail until you decide to read it.
This is one French word without an equivalent translation in English. The other meaning of jardinière refers to a type of winter food served with vegetables cut all the same size, mixed with legumes.
Last but not least “La Belle Jardinière” painted by Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, commonly known as Raphael. A noble from Siena commissioned Raphael to paint the Madonna and Child with young John the Baptist, currently in an exposition at the Louvre, in Paris. My hat off to you Raphael!
Find some original piece from the past and include it in your décor, I know it will fit. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She is the author of her book on Colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
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