A trio of vintage rams

Vintage ram collection | H is for Home

In a recent Designer Desire post, Adelle mentioned her favourite Christmas present of the year. Today, Justin’s collection of presents are the focus. As you can see, there’s a bit of a theme. Being an Aries, a small herd of beautiful rams was a perfect gift. We thought that we’d share a few pics as we know there are lots of fellow fans of this type of vintage loveliness.

Vintage Rodney Peppé ram serving tray

First, this fabulous 1960s tin serving tray with artwork by Rodney Peppé. These 1960s Crown Merton trays aren’t easy to come by – and the ram in particular is an elusive creature.

Vintage Rodney Peppé ram serving tray

It’s one in a series which includes a peacock, tortoise, lion, tiger, squirrel and elephant; these are the ones that we’ve come across, anyway. Isn’t he a gorgeous fellow?!

Cover of a vintage "The Derby Ram" book by William Stobbs | H is for Home

Then there’s this rare, first edition copy of The Derby Ram by William Stobbs dating from 1975.

Page from a vintage "The Derby Ram" book by William Stobbs | H is for Home

A magnificent, giant ram is the star of this picture book. There are charming little rhymes accompanied by glorious illustrations. We’ll have to share some more of them at a later date.

Vintage Bernard Buffet ram artwork | H is for Home

Last, but very much not least, is an original lithograph by a favourite artist of ours – Bernard Buffet.

Vintage Bernard Buffet ram artwork | H is for Home

He’s a bit more subtle that his friends above, but just as gorgeous. In fact, we have a top floor lounge-cum-bedroom where colours are deliberately kept calm and muted – dark greys, creams, wood, leather, wicker – a bit of copper here and there. This fine gentleman will fit right in!

Designer Desire: Bernard Buffet

Mosaic of Bernard Buffet artwork | H is for Home

We’ve highlighted Bernard Buffet before on our blog. We have a few of his lovely prints dotted around our house.

Buffet (1928-1999) was hugely successful and extremely prolific – producing over 8,000 paintings in his lifetime. He was described by one biographer as “The modern Mega-Artist”. As part of his exclusive contract with Galerie Drouant-David, the artist staged a major solo exhibition every year. Suffice to say, there are an awful lot of prints and lithographs on the market; check out eBay and Etsy in the first instance. If you have a spare few tens of thousands of pounds, there are also originals to be had on auction sites such as Christies.

Buffet developed Parkinson’s disease in later years which prevented him from working. The disease was cited as the reason he committed suicide at his home in Tourtour, Provence.

If you’d like further insight into the artist, there’s an extensive essay online about him by The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) who have 3 of his works in their collection. There are numerous books and exhibition catalogues available as well.

Portrait of Bernard Buffet with his wife & muse, Annabelcredit

Additional image credits:

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Bernard Buffet still life

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Bernard Buffet still life vintage print

Adelle bought herself this Bernard Buffet still life print for her birthday way back in November last year. It’s entitled Nature morte a la citrouille or Still Life with Pumpkin and was originally painted in 1955. This print was made in the 1970s.

detail of signiture on Bernard Buffet still life vintage print

We’ve blogged about Bernard Buffet before, he’s one of our favourite artists.

Bernard Buffet vintage print above a wrought iron bed

We finally got it framed – a great job done by the friendly folks at Abacus. It’s found the perfect home above the wrought iron bed in our guest bedroom.

Bernard Buffet

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detail from vintage 1968 Bernard Buffet exhibition poster | H is for Home

We’ve been meaning to do a blog post about Bernard Buffet for a long time.

detail from vintage 1968 Bernard Buffet exhibition poster | H is for Home

The recent purchase of this vintage poster brought it to mind once again. We had it sent from France and it advertises an exhibition held in 1969 at the Musée d’Unterlinden in Colmar.

detail from vintage 1968 Bernard Buffet exhibition poster showing gold frame

It’s just come back from our wonderful local framers, Abacus. We chose burnished gold – reminiscent of an antique religious icon.

detail from vintage 1968 Buffet exhibition poster

It now hangs above our bedroom fireplace. We love it!

pile of Ella Fitzgerald LP covers illustrated by Bernard Buffet

We also framed these vinyl album covers that were illustrated by Buffet.

pile of Ella Fitzgerald LP covers illustrated by Bernard Buffet

The set – Ella Fitzgerald sings Gershwin – dates from 1959.

Ella Fitzgerald LP cover of a corner in a room with bed, chair and picture on the wall illustrated by Bernard Buffet

Ella Fitzgerald LP cover of a table with wine bottle, glass and vase of flowers illustrated by Bernard Buffet

Ella Fitzgerald LP cover of a table with alarm clock, paper, envelope and pen illustrated by Bernard Buffet

Ella Fitzgerald LP cover with a woman's face illustrated by Bernard Buffet

Great records and great covers – a perfect combination.

four framed Ella Fitzgerald LP covers illustrated by Bernard Buffet

He’s a fabulous artist – so distinctive – and one of our real favourites. Here’s a link to the online Musée Bernard Buffet

…and here’s a 2-minute, black & white film from 1962 of Buffet and his wife, Annabel in their château and private chapel. We discovered on the British Pathé website – there’s so much beautiful art on the walls!

We’ve set up a Buffet Flickr group – please add your images if you have some or just have a browse!