David Hicks Set of First Edition Garden and Flower Arranging Books
About the Item
- Creator:David Hicks (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 11.13 in (28.28 cm)Width: 8.75 in (22.23 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 3
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU78876140653
David Hicks
Let there be no doubt about it, suave as he was, with his bespoke suits, slicked-back hair and patrician good looks, David Nightingale Hicks (1929–98) was a committed revolutionary. Composing rooms of arresting opulence through his magisterial orchestration of cacophonous colors and patterns, Italian modern mixed with Louis XV furnishings and counterintuitive plays of scale, he forever rocked the stately world of interior design.
As a zealot of style, he took no prisoners. “Dedication to design means ruthless criticism and losing friends,” he once declared. He was not exaggerating. His wife claimed that he conceived his signature high-gloss brown walls as a result of her throwing glasses of Coca-Cola at him during their alarmingly frequent marital spats.
By the time he was 25, Hicks, who had attended London’s Central School of Art and Design and endured a couple of arid years in the art department of the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, had the crème de la crème of London society as clients — and he was being entertained by them! Within a few years, he was courting Lady Pamela Mountbatten, the daughter of Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy of India, and the uncle of Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband. They married in 1960 and acquired Britwell, a Georgian pile in Oxfordshire, which became the family seat, design lab and showplace.
The first truly modern interior Hicks ever designed was Lord John Cholmondeley’s penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, in 1967. The graphic boldness of the scheme — brightly colored walls outlined in dark hues and dynamic geometric-patterned carpets — echoed the energy and attitude of the hard-edge painting that was then at the fore. Here, as in all his interiors, he included what he called “tablescapes,” vignettes of artfully arranged objects and artworks that added interest and life to the room. They were soon widely copied. Another landmark interior came in the early 1970s, when he revived Baronscourt, a grand neoclassical house in Northern Ireland, by giving it an entirely contemporary decor.
In addition to his immense creative talent, Hicks had a keen entrepreneurial acumen and vision. While he could have made a fine business simply designing grand homes for the wealthy and titled, he expanded his studio to include offices, boutiques, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs. He had showrooms all over the world, and he embarked on licensing agreements for ranges of vividly hued, geometric-patterned sheets and towels, clothes, umbrellas and bags.
The British designer was as daring as he was debonair, deploying a brazen mix of colors and patterns that came to define the groovy-glamorous interiors of the Swinging Sixties.
Find David Hicks furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- DAVID HICKS Style & Design First Edition Book 1987By David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first edition book by David Hicks, titled "David Hicks Style & Design." 1987 printing. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Late 20th Century English Books
- David Hicks First Edition Book - Living with DesignBy David HicksLocated in New York, NYA first edition book by David Hicks titled "Living with Design." Printed in 1979. Hardcover with dust jacket.Category
Vintage 1970s English Books
MaterialsPaper
- Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990 First Edition Photography BookBy Annie LeibovitzLocated in New York, NYA collection of Annie Leibovitz's most classic photographs. The photographs made up her first museum show, which "took place in 1991 at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D...Category
1990s Italian Books
MaterialsPaper
- White by Design by Bo Niles First Edition Hardcover BookLocated in New York, NYA first edition hard cover with cloth binding and dust jacket of "White by Design" by Bo Niles. Forward by Ralph Lauren. "White by Design" focuses on a world of white rooms and white houses. Features a Richard Meier house in Connecticut, Ralph and Ricky Lauren...Category
Vintage 1980s American Books
MaterialsPaper
- Mario Testino Front Row Back Stage First Edition Hardcover Book 1999By Mario TestinoLocated in New York, NYThe oversize first edition hardcover book, Front Row/Backstage, by photographer Mario Testino. Published in 1999, Front Row/Backstage captures the excitement and drama of the intern...Category
1990s Books
MaterialsPaper
- 1993 Happy Holidays Special Edition Barbie DollLocated in New York, NYSpecial edition. Mattel, happy holidays special edition Barbie. 1993. Doll is featured in her red gown and long, blond tresses. Includes box.Category
1990s Toys and Dolls
MaterialsFabric, Plastic
- David Hicks on Bathrooms, First Edition BookBy David HicksLocated in valatie, NYDavid Hicks on bathrooms. Britwell Salome: Britwell Books Limited, 1970. First American edition hardcover with dust jacket. 151 pp. The third in a series of books on decorating by the famous English decorator David Hicks. He was known for his use of bold color, mixing antique and modern furnishings, and contemporary art for his famous clientele. He did projects for Vidal Sassoon...Category
20th Century English Books
MaterialsPaper
- Set of Five David Hicks Design BooksLocated in North Yorkshire, GBA very good set of five classic interior design books by David Hicks, the much sought after and highly regarded English designer and decorator. L...Category
Mid-20th Century Books
MaterialsPaper
- Set of 3 Books on Grigory Efimovitch "Rasputin, " First EditionLocated in valatie, NY1. Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs by Colin Wilson. Farrar, Straus & Company, New York, 1964. 1st Ed and Printing hardcover with no dust jacket. 2. ...Category
1990s American Books
MaterialsPaper
- Pair of Encyclopedias: Tables and Sofas, First Edition BooksLocated in valatie, NYPair of Encyclopedias: Tables by Simon Yates and Sofas by Constance King. The Wellfleet Press, London, 1989. First edition hardcovers with dust jackets. A pair of great historical re...Category
Vintage 1980s English Books
MaterialsPaper
- Two Books on Trade Tokens, First EditionLocated in valatie, NYTwo books on trade tokens. 1.) U.S. Merchant Tokens 1845-1860 by Russell Rulau. Iola: Krause Publications, Inc., 1985. Softcover. 192 pp. A catalogue of the unofficial coinage of Ame...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper
- Martha' Vineyard Houses and Gardens, First EditionBy Polly BurroughsLocated in valatie, NYMartha's Vineyard Houses and Gardens. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992. Stated 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. 223 pp. A look into the private homes and gardens of Martha's Vineyard from an Edgartown mansion to a Gay Head beach cottage and every kind of garden from a perennial border to a wildflower meadow. Illustrated is the diversity of the island from a formal Edgartown whaling captain's house with English formal gardens, an Oak Bluffs gingerbread house...Category
20th Century American Books
MaterialsPaper