I was walking through West Elm on my way to somewhere else when I spotted these dishes and snapped some photos with my phone. West Elm is a little too trendy for me, but if Offhand Flourishing is hip, I guess I'm cooler than I thought! I haven't sleuthed it but the bird looks suspiciously like something out of E. A. Lupfer's Ornate Pictorial Calligraphy.
The deer and the horse don't have the same graceful thicks and thins, but the idea is definitely there.
I didn't notice it in the store, but according to their website they also have a snowflake, mandala-like design:
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| West Elm photo |
So I guess it should come as no surprise that Pottery Barn, which is also owned by Williams-Sonoma, has also used calligraphy in their holiday bedding design.
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| Pottery Barn photo |
In this case the flourishings are relegated to the background, but I think they really make the design:
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| Pottery Barn photo |
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| Pottery Barn photo |
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| Pottery Barn photo |
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| Pottery Barn photo |
So I wondered if this was a running theme in the corporation, and headed to the Williams-Sonoma website. Sure enough. Napkins, tablecloths, mugs, glasses, plates, and even a cookie jar with calligraphy--some recognizably Spencerian--woven in. We're taking over!
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| Williams-Sonoma photo |
Disclaimer: West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma have no idea who I am; just thought these were fun and wanted to pass them along.