At Alexander Lamont we have the pleasure of working with the most talented and sought-after interior designers, contributing to the creation of beautifully conceived homes for contemporary lifestyles. We wonder at how today’s designers achieve interiors that are relaxed and informal, but also richly layered with tone-on-tone textures, splashes of colour and individual pieces that have character and presence.
Interior designers talk about tonal layering: bringing into their scheme layers of texture, tone and contrast all within a particular palette of colours to create depth and warmth. Alexander Lamont’s quietly opulent pieces and natural hand-worked surfaces are often chosen to bring extra dimension, quality and interest to such tonal layering helping designers create the personal sanctuaries of informal yet productive comfort that are the benchmark for luxury, contemporary living.
Custom pantry doors in our signature Embers straw marquetry finish bring character and texture to this Eaton Square Mansion kitchen by Todhunter Earle Interiors.
Our Labirinto wall panels in Ebony straw marquetry with silver leaf make a striking headboard in this bedroom interior by Vivianne Faye.
Custom Pavé Tables in various colours of shagreen are supported by burnished brass bases. Interior design by Aedi Interior.
New York apartment designed by Victoria Hagan: elegant tonal layering with strong splashes of colour creates a bright, rich space. Our Vespers Low Table in gesso forms part of the dominant palette of the room.
The aesthetic principles applied to the creation of beautiful interiors are also important when designing individual pieces. Alexander Lamont’s collections strive to achieve a modern seduction of hand and eye with substantial volumes and fluid shapes finished with exquisite hand-worked materiality. Within these pieces tonal layering is achieved by by choosing different materials and finishes drawn from a low-contrast, tone-on-tone palette.
Light and Dark
Whatever may be the chosen palette for a project it’s important to have accents of light and dark to create layering but also some elements of contrast.
The Ammonite Side Tables in intricately patterned White Eggshell lacquer (left) and polished Buffalo Horn (right).
The Ammonite Side Tables in lustrous shimmering horn or intricately patterned white eggshell lacquer provide natural accents of dark and light, as well as texture and fascination within the intricate handcrafted surface itself. The Ammonite tables create jewel-like accents that are durable yet minimally tonal.
Estribor Drinks Cabinet in Beechwood straw marquetry.
Estribor Drinks Cabinet in Ebony straw marquetry.
The Estribor Drinks Cabinets are sculptural pieces with asymmetrical doors that flow into each other, and beautiful tactile hardware. The exterior is meticulously inlaid with tonally light or dark straw marquetry in a staggered pattern that draws the eye around the piece. Matching the tone of the straw is the wood top and interior. These cabinets have a quiet opulence featuring a low contrast palette of materials to create monumental yet gentle elements of light and dark. Designed by Alberto Velez for Alexander Lamont as part of the 2023 Malabares Collection.
Serac Table Lamp in dark tone of shagreen (left) and in lighter tone of shagreen (right).
Shagreen brings luxurious texture into any room with natural muted colour in light or dark tones. The Serac Table Lamp with its stacked and asymmetric sculptural form in natural speckle or raw, distressed shagreen meets lines or slabs of cast bronze to exude understated tone-on-tone materiality. These are lamps that would sit timelessly in a stylish study or the grand room of a super yacht.
Tone-on-Tone
Many of the hand-crafted surfaces in our furniture and lighting pieces have tonal variations within the intrinsic character of the material itself. Take natural parchment for example where the variations in the material itself and natural contrasting tones create a softly organic surface that brings warmth into pale-palette interiors.
Isola Tables: Natural parchment blocks sit askew - contemporary, sculptural and powerful.
Designed as subtly figurative, modernist sculptures, the Isola Tables meet and interact beautifully together while being stately alone. Each piece of natural parchment is chosen for its intrinsic nature and variety to create elements that are contemporary, quiet and full of character.
Geo Table Lamp in Natural Chocolate shagreen (left) and Natural Speckle shagreen (right).
Light or dark shagreen layered against parchment creates a wonderfully textured tone-on-tone effect within the Geo Table lamp, one of Alexander Lamont’s most iconic designs. The architectural form is made up of a parchment column with the generous shagreen shade supported by bronze arms and lined with gold leaf.
Tonal layering goes to earth in this new version of our Pavé Tables introduced in 2024.
Fractured, glistening mineral shards combine to create the earth-tone mica surfaces on the Pavé tables. The raw, textured cast brass of the bases creates the impression that these Pave tables are hewn from the molten earth.
Pattern & Colour
Within a single-palette interior, pattern, colour and tonal variation can bring an extra dimension and rich, lively element to the overall effect. In Alexander Lamont’s furniture and in our wall panels pattern and colour become the moving parts, the live elements that make the piece sing.
Amadeo Cabinet in Celadon a new straw marquetry colour.
It’s always exciting to introduce a new colour in our signature offering of materials. In this new version of the Amadeo Cabinet, jade and celadon tones of straw marquetry glisten and shine like the quiet waters of the paddy field. The light, verdant sunburst of straw marquetry is paired with cool cast burnished brass elements and oak interior to create a lively tone-on-tone piece.
Kumo Cocktail Table in Ebony straw.
Kumo is designed by Alberto Velez for Alexander Lamont. With its soft flowing form that almost appears to float about the floor, the vibrant geometric pattern in straw marquetry on the tabletop brings dimensionality and playfulness to this substantial piece.
York Lantern cast from brass and bearing the words of a poem.
The rhythm of words forms both architecture and pattern on the York Lantern cast in brass in light or dark patina. Bearing the famous poem by WH Auden ‘The More Loving One’, the York lantern in dark or light bronze patina creates a reflective mood highlighting the unique graphic composition of a most beautiful poem.
Lago II crafted from our signature straw marquetry.
Lago was inspired by the view of water seen through the lines of trees or reeds beside a lake or a calm sea - how light reflects and colours change. The pattern creates depth and texture in different tones - blues, greens and neutrals to create a shimmering moment.
Custom Labirinto panels in Bangkok residential project interior design by Bill Bensley.
Labirinto I layers of straw marquetry in Beechwood with fine lines of hand-applied Mercury Gold leaf.
Labirinto II layers of straw marquetry in Ebony with fine lines of hand-applied Silver leaf.
Labirinto is perhaps our most popular straw marquetry pattern for vertical surfaces. The design layers the natural vibrancy and reflectivity of straw marquetry in natural or dark tones with fine lines of hand-applied gold or silver leaf. As light - or the viewer - moves, different iterations of the design become visible; a tribal textile appears with strong archaic lines that then fades as the metallic lines appear creating a precise graphic sensibility.
Ivoire wall pattern crafted with hand cracked Gesso, creating a texture with natural imperfections.
Sometimes nothing but a lighter shade of pale will do for an interior. Even with gleaming white materials such as our burnished gesso panels for the walls, texture and pattern can soften and temper the brightness of white and bring subtlety and interest. Using a technique called craquelure, Ivoire requires meticulous care and attention in creating fine cracks that are consistent but not too consistent. The idea is to build a linear tracery that is full of tiny imperfections for a constantly varying texture and interest in the hand-polished surface.
Interior design is at the heart of everything we do at Alexander Lamont. Beautiful interiors are our inspiration and also our mission as we strive to apply our design sensibility and technical know-how to the aesthetic vision of today’s designers. Together we create unique and original pieces for extraordinary projects.
Custom Shagreen doors create beautiful tonal layering in this interior by Creative Mind Design.
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