It's been something like 400 years since Chinoiserie, the Western fascination with "Chinese-esque" (a direct translation of the term) iconography, began blossoming on the castle walls and porcelain carafes of Europe's elite, but the style, oft presented as a delicate menage of flowers and teahouses, has defended its title as a luxury decor go-to with aplomb. In this millennium, the pattern, perhaps most famously beloved by France's Louis XV, is used as it has been for centuries: in French chateaux and the, erm, anti-minimalist residences of the modern-day aristocracy. Equally often, it's spiced or tempered, to be implemented alongside nude photographic prints of Marilyn Monroe (like in Jorge Elias' master bedroom in Sao Paolo, above) and inside Mississippi dining rooms. By way of studying the many faces of the motif, today we dive into photos in past issues of Architectural Digest, pilfering the magazine's neatly organized AD Design File, a digital archive that launched last year. A dozen stunning shots, below.
↑ In Southampton, N.Y., the Prince of Chintz Mario Buatta incorporates hand-painted wallpaper by Haleh Atabeigi and a Stark carpet to build a dining room with the feel of a secret garden. [July 2013]
↑ Designer Ann Holden commissioned New York-based artists to paint a mural of "a misty Louisiana swamp scene" in this New Orleans dining room. [July 2009]
↑ For the dining room of her own Manhattan pad, designer Elissa Cullman brought in Asian accents and antiques. [Sept. 2006]
↑ In the dining room of her L.A. home, designer Lauren King combines a Regency-period crystal chandelier with Chinoiserie walls and a circa-1780 mahogany pedestal table. [July 2011]
↑ In the Mississippi home of Warren Hood, chairman of Hood Industries, the Chinoiserie style comes in the form of Gracie wallpaper that depicts scenes from the Mississippi river. Designer Richard Keith Langham also brought in Schumacher silk curtains and Hepplewhite armchairs. [March 2011]
↑ Another shot of fashion honcho Valentino Garavani's French chateau; the winter garden is lined with Chinese panels. [Oct. 2012]
↑ A library in Marc Jacobs president Robert Duffy's Manhattan home features an Edwardian leather armchair and a hand-painted wall mural by Matt Austin, all dressed by McGeehan Design. [March 2011]
↑ In this dining room designed by presidential decorator Michael S. Smith, Chinoiserie-style wallpaper of the Turkish coastline serves as a backdrop for a 19th-century cupboard and George I-style chairs. [July 2012]
· Chinoiserie Gallery [AD Design Files]
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