Tuesday’s Design Detail ~ A welcoming sort of fruit
For Tuesday’s Design Detail, I was thinking on what might be of interest and for some strange reason I thought of the pineapple. Yes, I’m sure this is part of my final daydreams of warm hazy summer days (not) gone by, but actually I’ve always admired these wonderfully whimsical architectural details that adorn the gateposts of London.
The pineapple came to Europe via Christopher Columbus and England was enraptured with the exotic looking and tasting fruit. As it was difficult to grow and extremely expensive to import , only affluent hosts could offer it to guests, and as such it became a symbol of hospitality, generosity and of course, wealth. From table to stone and wood, the image of the pineapple found its way into 18th Century architecture as artisans sculpted it into places of prominence on the exterior facades, gateposts, and interior surfaces of mansions and government buildings.
The Dunmore Pineapple is a folly demonstrating the more, ahem, extreme example of adaptation…
Of course nowadays with international freight, the mighty status of the pineapple is perhaps not once it once was, but I love how fun and frivolous it can be. It’s interesting how times change…
You might like to decorate a guest room in GP& J Baker’s Pineapple fabric
Or your wallpaper your guest loo with Timorous Beastie’s contemporary take on the pineapple motif
Or decorate your table for a Caribbean style feast with this Waterford crystal vase
Speaking of feasts, I personally would love to sup one of these delicious pineapple margaritas
But if this all sounds like too much fuss, trip off to one of my favourite local haunts, The Botanist on Sloane Square, which pays homage to the great master Sir Hans Sloane who was a pioneering naturalist and who I’m sure would love to join you for a long glass of English Cobbler (made of course, with pineapple…)
Come and join me for sundowners?
