F. Gerald New

GETTING CLOSER TO THE FINISH LINE

2011-09-22T12:28:00.001-07:00

September has been busy at the new Home store. We are starting to look like our old self again- just BETTER!

The HOME STORE: MAKING PROGRESS

2011-09-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

Starting in July, our new home store construction began. Every day since brings something new to see. Above is our new workroom.

The interior of the shop looking in from the front door.

The HOME STORE: GETTING READY FOR THE FUTURE

2011-09-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

After months of insurance work it was time to clean out the burnt out debris of the Home Store this spring. The entire building was striped down to the studs, with the rear half of the building later demolished for replacement.

This is how the front room looked before the fire.
This is the back workroom.
This is the front section of the shop, which will be redone.
Here is the rear of the building prior to demolition

OUR HOME STORE: THE FIRE

2011-07-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

On the eve of Thanksgiving this past year, our Home Store in Morristown was destroyed in an after hours electrical fire. As we spend this summer rebuilding , we thought we would share with you our progress in photos. Here are a selection of images from around the store, from the back office where the fire originated to the front showroom in which every surface was coated in sticky brown "smoke".

Above is the back office. Everything here was soaked in water which quickly froze the entire room into a single icy block for months.

Above is the front showroom. Here every surface was coated in smoke damage, which reached inside every drawer, box and even wrapped packages. When wood burns, the sap inside it is released with the smoke creating a sticky, smelly coating which is extremely difficult to remove.
The photo above shows the Simon Pearce Glass room. This space was engulfed in flames from the waist up, eliminating everything in the top half of the room.

The Mansion in May

2010-08-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, a little late, but here are some photos of our room at the show house, including the adjoining designer's sales office which we also furnished (but not officially on the tour) This year's Mansion was a huge success with a record attendance of 20,000 visitors, as well a funds made.

MANSION IN MAY UPDATE

2010-03-24T18:29:00.001-07:00

This month has been a busy one for painters at the Mansion. The thirty odd spaces are heavy with the wonderful smell of fresh paint. We have just finished the painting phase of the project and our room is now a very shiny shade of "what are they thinking" emerald green! It's sort of like being inside one of our shiny green boxes. The landscapers are now starting their work outside and I look forward to watching the transformation as the grounds here are really lovely.

The Jersey Girl Bracelet

2010-03-13T14:48:00.000-08:00

You're from New Jersey?

Make sure the world knows it.

Love it. Live it. Flaunt it.

Wear your New Jersey pride on your wrist, around your neck, or (with the Jersey Boy cufflinks) right out there on your sleeve.

Have your zip code, your town or, for you true Jersey Girls, your exit number engraved on the edge.

An F. Gerald New Exclusive

Charm- $75 in silver, $420 in gold
Cufflinks - $145

For the room that needs a little Oomph

2010-03-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

These 'tini tables (so named by the designers as they are the ideal size to place your martini) come in your color, your style. With 19 colors and 9 surfaces to chose from, you are sure to find the combination that suits you.

The table on the right is in a quatrefoil shape pictured in waterfall with a rafia top. The size is 16x16x20 (495 dollars as shown).

The table on the left is pictured in hinting blue with white lizard top. The size is 8x18x20 (400 dollars as shown).

The Swatches

Swatches from Left to Right

1. Shagreen, Waterfall, Eros Pink, Bolero, Creme, Synergy

2. Parakeet, Tricorn Black, Osage Orange, Hinting Blue, Foothills, Van Dyke Brown, Fireworks

3. Linen, Gator, Lightly Painted Rafia, Natural Rafia, Painted Rafia, Zig Zag

4. Lizard Brown, Lizard Tan, Lizard White

pictured colors may vary slightly.

How to make soap interesting

2010-03-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

1. Make it say something

Customize the soap with your monogram, initials, a message or even a symbol. Come in sets of three (30 dollars) or six (50 dollars).

2. Appeal to the senses

Choose from various scents in various colors (pomegranate, freesia, bamboo birch, green tea, pear, honey almond, cedarwood, lavender ginger, verbena). Comes in a set of four (35 dollars).

3. An interesting shape helps

For the dog lover, a dog bone with the name of the precious pooch. Come individually (10 dollars).

Soaps come in about a week.
For more information, visit us or contact us.

New from Dodo

2010-03-02T09:44:00.001-08:00

New Dodo for 2010

Dodo has added 3 gold animals to its menagerie.
They've added the Cockerel and the Little Hen from the barnyard and a gold Fish.

New to their collection are rose gold keys (with or without diamonds) and dice in silver and rose gold. For luck get the rose gold horseshoe.

Visit us if you want more information about Dodo

Meanings

Cockerel - Your singing seduces me.

Little Hen - I would cover you with kisses.

Goldfish - Can you keep a secret?

Burleigh Factory Visit

2010-02-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

This February, while on my silver buying trip, I took the train out from London to the famous English city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire to visit the Burleigh Company at their 19th century factory.

Burleigh was founded in 1851; at the time simply another pottery firm in a city made famous by giants such as Wedgwood and Spode. Today those giants are gone, but Burleigh soldiers on in the Victorian factory the firm built for themselves in 1888. In fact, it is believed to be the nation's last operating Victorian factory period! Over the years the firm produced every imaginable type of pottery; covering every style and fashion over the decades, from coronation souvenirs to hospital ware.

Today Burleigh focuses exclusively on the production of transfer ware. Invented in the 18th century, transfer ware was created as a "poor man's" version of Chinese Export porcelain. Designs that mimicked the hand painted originals, were printed on tissue paper, and while the ink was still damp, rubbed onto plain white pottery (a process not much different from cheap Cracker Jack tattoos )

Though the final product could fool no one, especially as the designs often blurred and showed the seems and creases from the original tissue, it's these very hand made quirks and naivete that has made vintage transfer ware so widely collected today.

Which brings us back to why Burliegh is so extraordinary. Although advances have been made in the production of transfer ware since 1851, Burliegh has rarely adopted them. In fact, it is now believed to be the only pottery in the world producing transfer ware just as it was invented over 200 years ago. In essence, the Burliegh piece you buy today is made no differently from an antique piece made in, say 1820.

After taking the factory tour I was amazed at just how little of the modern world was present at the factory. Most markedly was just how many hands went into this hand-made process. It seems as though just about every worker at the factory touches every piece made at least once. Nothing here is automated. Every piece gets the royal treatment. Each one is carried as they were a century or two ago, on long wooden planks from room to room. Most heartening of all, all of this labor is done, not by immigrant labor working below minimum wage at jobs no one else is willing to do, but by the same local British workers of Statfordshire who for many, many generations have been proudly supplying the world with wonderful china.

It seems impossible to visit Burliegh and not fall in love. Not just with the product, but with the process.

Now, about the photos. 1. A worker individually applies the tiny knobs on the teapot lids, which are formed separately. 2. In the vast attic storehouse, a collection of Toby jug molds representing various British heroes of WWII. 3. These pieces have just been hand washed to remove the transfer tissue, and are now headed to the glazing process. 4. A coal fireplace warms a small corner of the factory shop. 5. In this room, freshly printed sheets of transfer tissue are sent down a central cloths line to be applied at various workstations. 6. Just a small view of the massive attic storehouse piled high with 150 years worth of master molds and designs. 7. A worker applying sections of transfer. 8. The entrance of the factory built in 1888.

MANSION IN MAY 2010

2010-02-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

The Mansion

F. Gerald New Home has been chosen to design a room at this year's designer show house "Mansion in May". The show house is presented every other year by the Women's Association of Morristown Memorial Hospital, with this year's proceeds to benefit the Emergency Department.

The show house will take place in Harding Township at a private 75 acre estate know as Fawn Hill Farm. The Georgian style stone mansion was built in 1938, complete with every luxury of the time; twelve car garage, bowling alley, stables, barns, gardens, orchard, guest house, chauffeurs home, etc.. The current owners have lived here for over 20 years, having purchased the estate from the original family, and have done an outstanding job of preserving and maintaining all of it's many charms (it is currently for sale).

For this project we have teamed up with the very creative Beth Field, who will be supplying furniture, window treatments, and her wonderful flair.

We will keep you posted as

the months proceed!

Coming Soon

2010-02-20T08:33:00.001-08:00

Under Construction