My friends at Flair have designed and commissioned a wonderfully fresh collection of modern lacquer furniture and accessories for their Flair Home Collection New York store. For those not in the know, Flair has a fantastic and dreamy showplace in SoHo that combines great vintage furniture and objects curated by the well-trained eye of George Nunno and Jon Maroto. It’s a sexy den of design pleasure where the objects ooze quality and refinement. Think of it as Dolce Vita design of the 20^th century sprinkled with a tidbit of contemporary eye candy. Their lacquer collection is another example of their remarkable taste.

Charged with bringing their design to life is The Lacquer Company, a New York based company founded by James Lowther in 2008. Lowther became enchanted with lacquer while travelling in Asia, and his passion and desire to breathe new life into this ancient craft is clear in all his wonderful work. His collection for Flair gives a clear nod to the past when lacquered furniture and accessories were highly prized and valued because of the tremendous work and detail required in making them. Lacquer really had its last great heyday in the 1930s and 1940s when designers like Eileen Gray and Jean Dunand used it to embellish furniture, panels and objects with a deep, rich, and mirrored surface. Lowther’s work looks equally ready to stand the test of time.

Modern lacquer furniture works as a great accent to both traditional and contemporary spaces. In the former it provides a link to past styles, but in an updated form. The Edge Side Tables come in two sizes that allow them to act as traditional nesting tables. The glossy black lacquer contrasts beautifully with the highly polished brass that delineates the form. The clean lines and silhouette allow the tables to fit seamlessly into a conventional space.

The selection of delicious little lacquer boxes they have designed would also look perfect scattered throughout a room where they will act as focal points to draw the eye across the space.

The sophisticated Righe Coffee Table (first image) is perfect to showcase in a modern living room of low-slung sofas and chairs. I cannot tell you how stunning this table is in the evening when the black lacquered surface seems to glow along with the radiating bands of brass. I equally love the Righe Tray (above) and the Brass Banded Nightstands (below).

I hope we’re just on the cusp of a renaissance in modern lacquer furniture. The pieces are striking and not always so expensive. For example, none of the items featured today is more that US$3,000, which means The Lacquer Company and Flair are doing something right!

Richard Rabel is a New York Interior Designer and Principal at Richard Rabel: Interiors+ Art, a studio offering residential design, decorating and art advising.

image credits: modern lacquer furniture: Flair New York