I'm having serious, palpable flash backs from my time working on that organic goat farm in upstate New York with this current design fixation. Maybe this is a subliminal message from my animal lover brain communicating with my interior design brain, but I'm kind of obsessed with these sheep statues. So much so that Nat Myers and I snuck one into a recent nursery design board, which the client totally went for, thank goodness. I first noticed them in higher end retail spaces and thought, well that's just a cool thing, impractical and whimsy, but dope. While up at the cabin this past Labor Day weekend, thumbing through stacks of Architectural Digest, I came across this beautiful report called "Why Every Designers Loves Lalanne's Sheep Statues" about the life and history of this woolen statuesque gem. I knew I was onto something! As I investigated a little further I realized these critters are kind of a big deal.
Cue the 60's- François-Xavier Lalanne and his wife Claude wanted to add something to their Parisian apartment that was just "pure fun", art furniture that wasn't your traditional ottoman or arm chair. Enter the Lalanne sheep statue with their patinated bronze faces and sheepskin bodies, doing the job as no other pieces of furniture or art could. I mean really, you can not help but beam with delight from these guys.
The same feeling that made these pieces popular four decades ago is now sneaking their way back into our lives, with open arms. Since you know I love a good weirdo vintage find, this is the holy grail of eclectic boho vintage, made just for a retired farm girl like myself. I especially felt this a good time to highlight these ultra luxe, stupidly expensive sheep statues since we are traveling Ireland right now, the capital of sheep loving folk and everything wool, so the timing for this discussion couldn't be more perfect.
Side note: I often joke about taxidermy-ing Harvey when he passes on, in all realness, I've looked pretty deep into how much that would set us back and I think I've realized spending 4k on a vintage Lalanne sheep may be a better investment. The same pet like quality, minus the creepiness, while avoiding that awkward discussion with my guests every time they see my dead dog perched in the corner. I'm a weirdo but I know when to draw the line!
This is the actual guy we found for the nursery and I think he;s kind of perfect. Its from Minzuu
These are also really cute for a nursery, this one is by Danish designer Povl Kje and you can get it at baby geared
