A Valentine from Parvum Opus

 Parvum Opus is pleased to provide desk furnishings
made to order in your choice of colors and patterns.
Visit our shop for details.

Warm Valentine's wishes from Parvum Opus!

We're getting ready for a new batch of stunning papers to arrive in the bindery from around the world. Even while winter lingers, it looks like spring in the workroom with these new colorful additions. We look forward to sharing the resulting new works!

Letter Sorters of All Sorts

A desk organizer/letter sorter from the new range at Parvum Opus.
This one features a beautiful French hand-marbled paper.

Recently, we introduced our new letter sorter designs at the bindery, and their popularity leads me to believe that there must have been a bit of pent up demand for an object that was a staple of the well dressed desk in years past. I thought it would be fun to do a Pinterest search for unusual antique and vintage letter sorters, and I came across hundreds of variations... The images on Pinterest don't always come with complete descriptions attached, but these ten are all aesthetically interesting enough that I thought you'd enjoy seeing them. Let the sorting begin!

An antique English Victorian Era papier-mâché letter holder. I love the cut-out shape of this piece-- lovely!
Image via rubylane.com.

    
                                                                       

An elaborately moulded faience letter holder, France 1880.
Image via onlinegalleries.com.

A Tiffany Studios bronze and glass letter sorter.
Image via liveauctioneers.com.

This is something I'd never seen-- a vertical stack of papier-mâché wall-mounted letter sorters, English, 19th C.  
Image via rubylane.com.

A fantastically crafted silver-gilt and champlevé enamel
letter holder by Antip Kuzmichev, Moscow, circa 1890.
Image via sothebys.com.

And now for something completely different:
a pair c1870s Victorian Gothic Bronze Desk Top Letter Holders
Image via rubylane.com.

A sterling silver overlay leather desk top letter holder box, ca 1860.
I love the curved lid on this design--most elegant.
Image via rubylane.com.

If I had to choose amongst the letter sorters in this post,
it might have to be this one... Such and unusual and beautiful design!
An antique French Bronze Enamel Letter Holder.
Image via 1stdibs.com.

This one is plainer, but such a classic beauty:
a 19th c English mahogany letter sorter cabinet.
Image via etsy.com

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless variations in design, manufacture and materials--especially from the 19th century-- thank you Victorians! They all have style and personality, don't you think? 

New Projects

The new Grande French Curve Letter Sorter, made to order 

in hundreds of paper patterns. This beautiful blue palmette pattern

is made by Rossi. 

Whew, it's been such a busy summer at the bindery! I hope this post finds all of my blogging friends well and enjoying the autumn. In my attempts to compose the best new post possible after such a long absence, I thought it best to simply share some of our favorite recent projects. I hope these colorful images speak for themselves, and that they might also hint at the great pleasure we take in crafting each one. 

An Archival Storage Box made with one of our favorite papers, a
vintage Italian map design, made by Cavallini. 

A new Petite French Curve Letter Sorter, made with a cheerful fleurs de lys
patterned paper by Rossi.

A bespoke Hexagonal Pencil Cup and Note Tray with matching
golf pencils made with our client's vintage hand-blocked paper.

A Stacking Desk Organizer and matching Pencil Holder, made using our client's
Italian wedding paper.

A Desk Set including a desk pad, lidded pencil tray, a pen and pencil holder,
8 1/2" x 11" paper tray, and 2 note folios. In this case, our client selected a beautiful turquoise Florentine paper by Rossi and dark brown Italian book cloth.

A bespoke Journal and matching Archival Box, jacketed in a beautiful
Japanese Chiyogami paper in shades of gray and orange.

A couple of views of our new Paper Trays, made in four sizes and
an array of stunning patterned papers.

A refillable Notepad Folio in one of our new paper selections,
a pea-green hand-marbled paper from France. 

A bespoke modified Clamshell Box, made to our client's
specifications, and using another French hand-marbled paper, this time
in shades of violet.

A bespoke Desk Set in a paper chosen by our client, a green
and blue floral by Rossi.

A Desk Pad and Petite Letter Sorter made in Cavallini's vintage
world map paper, paired with Italian book cloth in a deep wine color.

A gaggle of Travel Picture Frames made for a wedding party, again
featuring the turquoise Florentine paper by Rossi. 

.....And so on, and so on... The cheerful work continues...!

Happy New Year!

A set of stacking desk organizer trays and matching pencil holder
in Turquoise Florentine paper.

Warm New Year wishes from Parvum Opus! It's been much too long since I've treated myself to the pleasant task of posting here to share the latest news from the bindery. It's been a cheerfully chaotic couple of months at Parvum Opus, with new projects, new tools, new bindery assistants, and a new online shop.

A desk blotter and pencil holder in hand-marbled paper made in France.

With so much going on in the bindery, I thought it might be nice to begin this year's posts by sharing some recent projects with you today. All of the materials you see in these designs were chosen by our wonderful clientele. Often it happens that we source materials for a bespoke project and end up so smitten by a color or pattern that we add it to our permanent collection. 

A pair of accordion files for one of our favorite clients...
made with Florentine papers.

And a desk set in Aqua Japanese paper for another dear client.

Each year we add to our palette of papers and book cloth colors, and it's great fun for us to see how cleverly clients combine them. 

The latest in paper options at the bindery.

 

Our beautiful Italian book cloth range.

No detail is too small! Inspired by the great designer Roger Banks-Pye
and the desire to use every scrap of gorgeous paper, we've added
these playful matchboxes to our range of products.  

At this moment, our bindery's book presses are full of more projects that I will be happy to share very soon. I'm very grateful to have had the privilege of working on interesting projects with so many charming and creative people from all over North America and the UK last year, and we're looking forward to continuing our fulfilling work this year. I hope that 2014 brings health, friendship and joy for all of you.  

Anatomy of a Well-Dressed Desk, Part 2: Stationery Boxes and Letter Sorters

A Grande Letter Sorter from our bindery, Parvum Opus

In part 1 of our series, we focused on the desk blotter, the aesthetic and functional focus of the well-dressed desk. So, now that you have chosen your beautiful writing surface, the next key item to the well-dressed desk is some sort of stationery box or rack to hold your wardrobe of fine writing papers and sort your correspondence.



A 19th C English writing slope

Today, we have a selection of exquisite antique writing boxes, letter racks and some of our own work to inspire you. No matter what the material style or provenance, all of these pieces share an elegant but highly functional design. It's no use filling your desktop with decorative nick-knacks only to have your stationery scattered in a drawer, or, heaven forbid, a plastic wrapper or box! Using beautifully made fine objects in your everyday life is the best way to train your aesthetic and develop a sense of connoisseurship. It's also a joy to use pieces like these: just seeing them on your artfully arranged writing desk is an open invitation to put pen to paper. 

An amusing wishbone-themed toast rack by William Hutton and Sons, Ltd.,
hallmarked Birmingham, 1903

An example of a toast rack reimagined as a letter rack 

These boxes and racks make it easy to keep your writing paper, notecards, gift enclosure cards and special letters organized and at hand. Some of the pieces we've chosen to share here are rare, superbly finished antiques, while others are more humble objects, but still charming and full of character. No matter their provenance, carefully selecting and using  vintage, antique or handmade desk accessories is clearly more fulfilling--and not necessarily more expensive--than using a mass-produced plastic or base metal ones from a big box office supply store. 

A 19th C Chinoiserie lacquer letter rack

A set of stacking stationery trays from Parvum Opus, available in various sizes

What's important here is the careful attention paid to the objects you decide worthy of a place in your home. Once you decide on a style and a set of features that suit your needs, you can use your curatorial ingenuity to bring character and elegance to every aspect of your decor, not just your desk.  Even as the products available for purchase in chain and specialty stores become increasingly homogenous, the internet makes it easier than ever to locate or commission unique letter sorters, stationery organizers, and other desk accessories. A quick search for images of antique letter racks or writing boxes will yield many thousands of exquisite pieces. It will inspire you, but beware: you might just find yourself unable to limit yourself to just one desk!

For more information on our work, we invite you to email us at: info@parvumopus.com or visit our bindery's  website, www.parvumopus.com

A Petite Letter Sorter from Parvum Opus



Portable Writing Box, Vizagapatan, India, 1850-1880

A Victorian woman's writing box