The Fine Art Postcard - Bird in Space

It was in 2003 that I visited the seminal Art Deco exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert museum. I visited for the streamline race cars and polished steel toasters, but stood for a lifetime when I first saw Bird in Space. A golden stroke of such purity and form, I stood and gazed at the marvel by Constantin Brancusi for perhaps 10 minutes, but it might as well have been ten years.

Never before had I been transfixed by something in such a way; and still am! Clearly I head good taste - Not only did Bird in Space set legal precedent what what can rightfully be called art, but also set the record for the most expensive sculpture in history at the time [$27.5m in case you'd like to make an anonymous donation to the Design Trawler Brancusi fund] .

Sadly, my chances of owning Constantin's masterpiece anytime soon don't look too likely. While I've often considered commissioning a robbery replica, for now, I have decided to frame a simple gift-shop postcard of the masterpiece from the Peggy Guggenheim collection in Venice. It's not the original sculpture, but it is an authorised and official likeness. The framed 'Fine Art Postcard' series henceforth begins.

Miniature Monuments to Luxury

Every now and again whilst Design Trawling you'll chance upon a most unexpected discovery. State-side purveyor of fine taste West Elm served up that most pleasing of finds this weekend. On an unassuming teak sideboard sat a single cube of while marble that couldn't escape my attention.

The pictured caddy in shimmering white stone is capped with a lid featuring a sculptural brass handle reminiscent of Brancusi's birds in space or Philippe Stark's Asahi building in Tokyo. The combination of cool monolitihic marble and rich fluid brass is almost ethereal - I'm not sure it it's more appropriate fill it with bath salts, or the cremated ashes of a beloved household pet [you have to admit, there is something curiously Mormon temple about it]. Either way, the material combination is certainly one to remember. Just don't mix up your bath salts with the remains of Constantin the hamster.

Guggenheim Museum of Culinary Design

This morning, somewhat dreary eyed, I carried myself to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Nothing unusual there. Opening the cupboard to grab a bowl for my Cartier Crunch [again, nothing unusual], in a moment of surreal [but probably unusual] consideration, I stopped and thought to myself... 

"Why do I have a scale model of the Guggenhein Muesum where the bowls should be?"

Well, they say that the mind works best in the morning, but I think I accidentally just busted one of the greatest architects of all time. Frank Lloyd Wright clearly had a fondness for design in the mornings... and white kitchenware, which, is of course expected mandated for all great designers.

Havana Inspired Home Fragrance

I'll always remember the time I was at an 'open day' at London's Jermyn Street. From shirts to cigars, local stores were showcasing the best of London's fine handmade crafts. In the Davidoff shop on the corner of St. James, a father and his two young children were leaning over a Cuban craftsman rolling tobacco leaves in to perfect torpedoes. All three gazed over the man, with the father pointing to the perfectly cut cigars in formation; "look how they're all exactly the same size" - the delightful young daughter perfectly quipping "Daddy, this shop smells like you when you come back from London!"

Priceless. And if ever you wish to accentuate your home with the fragrance of Havana's finest, Boticario de Havana Fragrancia de Casa by Archipelago is the scent to go for. While not exactly the scent of 'Daddy ex London', think coffee, jojoba and tobacco flower with extracts of orange, sugar cane & pineapple.

Big Game Hunting - Last of the Battlecats

I first heard about artist Robert Burden from uber-blog Uncrate in May 2008. Burden's stylised idolised portraits of toys and action figures from his youth have a 'big kid' boyish coolness perfect for any aspiring Mancave. Battlecat, He-Man's fearless sidekick, is the best of the bunch and fuses an iconic pop style with powerfull 1920's glamour.

I dropped Burden a note asking to be informed when Battlecat was nearing sell-out. A year later, I receive a message that there is one left. The opportunity to take an edition out of circulation is instantly attractive; appreciating as soon as it leaves the gallery it validates the success of the artist, the edition and comes with 'big game' trophy status.

Henry the Air Purifier

Another gem from Stadler Form's Matti Walker, the Henry Air Purifier is an ultra-modern machine for making sure that the air in the Mancave is nothing but perfect. Packed with manly sounding filtration methods like a titanium filter, plasma generator and ultra violet lamp, Henry sits quietly in the corner of the bedroom and does his thing.

The strangest thing about sleeping living with Henry is that the quiet, but audible, 'HVAC hum' places my mind in the environment of an aircraft cabin or hotel, effortlessly ready to drift off. As a frequent traveller, I can think of few other places that give me this sense of well-being, safety and reassurance.

Allaire's [Pan Am] Cool Blades

I last mentioned Matti Walker's acrylic fan as a great example of a well designed alternative to Dyson's Air Multiplier (it's also now on sale for £50 at the Conran Shop). For those with a preference for something a little more traditional this summer, this 8" Allaire brushed nickel model does the job nicely.

It's cool and functional steel blades wouldn't look out of place with a Pan Am logo and wing flaps - which is just as well because this $99 beauty flew over to London from the Restoration Hardware store in Miami.

The Life Enhancing MoMa Pill

A cheap thrill at a couple of dollars, I picked up this pill box at the MoMa in New York. I like it's simple, iconic representation and thematic links to some of Damien Hirst's work.

Designer multi vitamins now have a suitably designer, go-anywhere tote, reminding you to stay pepped up daily. A great example of better living through every day design.

Three Elements of a Bespoke Bed

Somebody once said "invest in good shoes and a good bed; if you aren't in one, you're in the other". When it comes to the latter, nobody puts together a masculine platform like Ralph Lauren - but that monogram doesn't come cheap.

While having some suits made, I had the idea of asking if I could get some pillow cases made from the same Super 120's wool & cashmere cloth. Not a problem; £10 for each one Sir. Amazing, and far cheaper than the designer equivalent.

But why stop at bespoke cloth? How about a bespoke headboard in the style of Mies van der Rohe's iconic Barcelona Expo chair? Add some monochrome framed hotel style sheets from the US, and the only thing you're missing are your own initials on the inside label.

Teak, Holly, Lacquer & Fizz... Veuve by Riva

It may be October 31st, but the combination of teak, holly, lacquer and fizz is no Halloween concoction (despite the seasonal pumpkin-yellow label of Veuve Clicquot's signature bottles). This presentation box for the 1998 Grande Dame from the aforementioned champagne house, is a work of design excellence.

Crafted by super-iconic Italian yacht maker Riva, it features a polished teak and holly construction: Reminiscent of the achingly cool wooden motoryachts dotted around Lake Como in Italy, and manufactured of course by Riva. Throw in some black lacquer, chrome, a engraved nameplate and you're ready to hit the water. Purchased from New York merchants Sherry-Lehmann on Park Avenue.

Wall St. Martini by Michael Godard

A recent visitor to the mancave commented on my 'nice olives' - while I admit, the aforementioned steel Malteser dispenser would probably dispense olives equally as well, alas I was not serving olives that evening. Instead my visitor was refering  to the painting which takes centre stage in the living area. I thought it was about time I unmasked it.

Called Wall St. Martini, it personifies a handfull of olives running round the trading floor of the NYSE, buying and selling and larking around by the giant martini glass trading post. A bit of fun, but relevant as I picked it up in Miami weeks before embarking on my first job in the City of London. By the American self proclaimed 'rockstar of the art world' Michael Godard, it wasnt the Martini's, but rather the Mojito's I was on when I stumbled in to the Godard gallery in Key West. Bespoke frame by Village Framing.

Plywood Roedeer by Vlaemsch

A postmodern take on the traditional icon, I picked up this beechtriplex deer head in New York. Originally mounted on an oval base, I had it framed which gives it a new dimension. Designed by Augustin Scott de Martinville for Vlaemsch.

Nambé Twist Coasters - Acacia and Alloy

It's not often that the coaster that you rest your drink on will cost more than the drink itself. These twist coasters designed by Lou Henry for American design house Nambé are examples of such coasters.

At $130 for the set of six, these acacia wood and alloy rectangles are quite something. Nambé justify the price by saying that the "witty design suggests a spirited style and dapper elegance". I think the spiraling design better suggests debaucherous excess and all-round Mancave goodness.

American Power by Mich Epstein

The best thing about a coffee table is its ability to host some great coffee table books. Also due to the fact the mancave has few feature walls for displaying paintings, fine art photography books have a perfect home in the coffee table.

American Power is a collection of power stations, oil refineries, motorway junctions and juxtaposed landscapes breathtakingly shot over 5 years by Mitch Epstein. Read about this book in the Guardian while on the tube one weekend and picked up a signed copy in New York at the famous Strand Books.

[Man]Cave Paintings - Oil by Burtynski

A fantastic fine art photography book published by Steidl. Oil by Edward Burtynski is split into chapters charting the life of oil from extraction & refinement, transport & motor culture through to the end of oil. A bit depressing you might think; why not have a fine art photography book on the subject of mountains or sunsets?

Quite simply, mountains and sunsetsare nature's wonders. A cave is a creation of nature. A mancave is a creation of man. It's man's wonders that we should take more time to appreciate. Images like these are our modern day cave-paintings. They are a snapshot of our everyday life as humans- just as mud paintings of blokes hunting zebras were 30,000 years ago.

AV Technology - Heard and not Seen

Take a look at the row of books under my telly. Some interesting reads certainly, but the book in the centre is the most interesting. It's a HP Media Smart Wireless Media Extender and it wirelessly streams content from computers around the mancave to the TV and through the sound system.

But it wasn't designed to be propped up on its side. I'm uncomfortable with the traditional ethos of flaunting a portfolio of high-tech AV kit in the living room. Technology should enhance our quality of living and it should do so in an unobtrusive and effortless way. At the end of a busy day I want to relax in a living room, not a data centre - the less technology on display the better. Available in the US for around $250.