Todd Merrill

James Mont: the King Cole Penthouse Todd Merrill

The first book devoted to James Mont, the important and uniquely American Mid-Century interior and furniture designer. He established his reputation in America for creating custom clandestine bars during prohibition for Hollywood stars and East Coast mobsters. By the mid-thirties he had a thriving design business based in New York City. His aesthetic was defined by combining post-Deco glamour with Oriental accents such as exotic finishes, smoked mirrors, and an abundance of silver and gilt. His characteristic designs often refashioned Asian motives, a transformation Mont described as "Chinese Modern". It was very common for one of his creations to have more than a dozen layers of lacquer and/or gold leaf.