How The Men Do Antiques: Coup d'État


If revolution is in the air, then ground zero for establishing a new order in the world of antiques and interior design is surely Coup d'État * in San Francisco. This cutting edge point of view is expressed in overscale, unlikely pieces recouped from the industrial salvage yard, given a bit of polish (maybe) and a functional lift, then placed in spaces alongside interpretations of the classical and the modern.

Visiting the Potrero Hill showroom is a bit like entering the collective movie sets of Eyes Wide Shut, all the Harry Potters, Around the World in Eighty Days, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Alice in Wonderland. You will not see the gentility of Scalamandré and deGournay fabrics and wallpapers here, not even a whiff of Minimalism, Queen Ann, French Country, nor the whites and greiges of Gustavian chic. There is nothing delicate or spare in this repertoire. There is a lot of muscle in this Industrial Antique Recoup look.

Yet the genius of this showroom are incredibly intimate settings that invite touch and lingering. I think there is a lesson here for us designers to carefully and deliberately use texture, symmetry, lighting and comfort to invite people to draw in close to each other, to gather around face to face. It's a big scary world out there! Let's cozy up together.


such talent and vision to create an Art Deco setting
from rusting industrial salvage!


a surprising and stunningly feminime
lacy Venetian mirror is found in one corner


Beowulf meets Industrial Art Deco


could you cozy up to this sculpture
in your living room :)


the San Francisco shipyard is the source for
this dining table with nailhead detailing


no simple antelope antlers adorn this wall... half of
the animal is literally leaping into your room


and yet, the huge scale of the potted ponderosa pine creates
a desire to group together beneath its boughs and gather
around the antique kilim stools and the red wine velvet linen sofa



the perennially beloved sphere above the
jewelmakers' table cut into amoeba-like shape,
surrounded by reinterpreted klismos and wing chairs


a nod to the prosaic: green and blue pottery ware... but
displayed on a grand scale


no ordinary wing chairs, these could have seated
Captain Nemo on his day off



Darin Geise, owner
111 Rhode Island Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-241-9300


* A coup d'état (English: /ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/, French: [ku deta]; plural: coups d'état)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow




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