Baker古堡系列：留住美丽 永不过时

　　【太平洋家居网】据了解，您是Baker古堡系列家具的项目顾问，请您介绍你们的合作过程，您为何选择与Baker合作?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】我是Baker古堡系列项目顾问，为了确保细节的精湛，我对每一个生产环节进行选择和监督。我是最开始萌生还原古堡系列念头的人，我和每一位城堡的主人做出了最开始的筹备工作，现在30余年过去了，Baker仍然在生产家具、Tiffany仍在生产水晶和银饰，Mirror Fair仍然在生产镜子，其他公司依然在他们自己独特领域里制造再生品。

　　我为何选择与Baker合作?因为Baker是这个世界上唯一一个对真品再生产理解达到最高水平的公司，并且，Baker拥有世代流传的工艺，能够胜任这项任务。我被赋予极大的荣誉去监督这些工匠，当他们在工作时，每一生产流程我都要求达到完美。

　　【太平洋家居网】您认为Baker古堡系列最大价值主要体现在哪里?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】我真的相信，这么多世纪以来，那些古堡里的古董家具，会给伟大的古堡、宫殿主人带来好运、力量、成就和生命力。一个又一个世纪过去，这种精神力量也支撑着，那些领主、那些家族生存得如同勇士和国王一般，直到今天也如此。

　　不管是Baker古堡系列家具，亦或是其他古堡产品，有5样东西非常重要，需要记住：

　　第一，每一件物品都必须是美丽的，否则经过两三百年之后，它会被一件更有价值、更舒服、更美丽的样品取代。竞品不断地出现在市场上，如果一件更合适的产品出现在市场上，然后古堡主人会更喜欢它并且取代了原来的产品。但是，这种现象不会发生在Baker古堡系列家具上。所以，所有古堡系列的家具都必须是美丽的。

　　第二，这些产品必须是稳固的和实用的，因为如果它们被损坏或者不实用，它们会被扔掉。这些主人并不准备把时间浪费在这些无效的产品上，他们有能力获得最适合他们的(产品)，通常都会换掉……

　　第三，古堡系列的产品必须是舒适的，如果它们不是舒适的，那么一件更好的产品会取代它。

　　第四，记住，当这些产品被名门订购之时，工匠们需竭尽所能做出精湛的产品。为什么?因为这是一个难得的机会，可以在一个名门世家展示他们的工艺，同时也是一个很好的机会从那些能够提供更多报酬的主顾身上获得更多佣金。正如为中国主席生产一件产品一样，产品必须合适、美丽、舒适。

　　第五，Baker古堡系列家具在变化的潮流中依然保持时尚。古堡系列家具是永远不会过时的，不会像其他项目一样仅仅是一时流行罢了。所以，当下一个十年的设计师在设计他的作品时，他会拒绝所有十年前过时的产品，但他会保留古堡系列的产品，就像它们在数百年来的变化的潮流中保存了下来一样，它们也能在今天和明天存留下来。

　　【太平洋家居网】古堡系列作为Baker最引以为傲的典藏级珍品，对您有什么特殊的意义吗?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】就像为一个伟大的歌手或者音乐家录下音乐，为一幅伟大的画作拍下照片一样，其意义在于记录。像那样，我一直想要还原有结构美和雕塑美的产品，如家具、银器和陶瓷。就像一张CD和一张录影带一样，可以通过音乐和画面散发出幸福感和美感。所以我想还原那些华丽的家具。听到一个伟大的歌星在古堡、宫殿或者城堡里歌唱，这是十分美妙的。但是，把这些音乐记录下来会如何呢?那是一种多么妙的、能给世界带来幸福的方法啊。所以，我去记录那些美丽的家具。

　　【太平洋家居网】古堡系列家具中融入了一些中式的设计元素，您为什么选择这些中式元素呢?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】因为中国对欧洲多个世纪以来伟大的设计师都有着巨大的影响，所以我融入了中式元素。两三百年前，对于设计师而言，查看那些从遥远的中国通过贸易船只运送回来的赋有灵感的设计、油漆和稀有木材，是一件多么让人兴奋的事情。

　　所以，重新加入这些中国灵感，并且重新演绎这些元素，让人感到激动不已。我也愿意去中国雄伟的宫殿里还原宏伟的中国原件。但博物馆并不是寻找原件的地方。博物馆通常有美丽的物品，但它们往往是一些来自于豪宅的不实用的旧物：坐上去就会坏掉的物品，散架之后又复原的物品，或者仅仅是找来更好的物品去代替它。

　　【太平洋家居网】古堡系列诞生之后，您与Baker合作推出其他产品了吗?将来会继续合作推出新品吗?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】我们在不断寻找理想的新产品。Baker最近有一些管理层面上的变化，但新的管理层都重新给予我支持，因为古堡系列已经证实了它可以在不断变化的潮流中保存下来。但古堡系列家具已经在许多个世纪变幻的潮流中保留下来，所以能继续在今天不断变化的潮流中保留下来并不意外。

　　许多人喜欢Baker古堡系列家具仅仅是因为它不会过时。所以，当一个房间的装饰变成现代风格，古堡系列家具可以保留，或者放置到不同的房间里。 每一个新时代的设计师都喜爱浪漫的感觉，当然，实用性要与美观性相结合，所以，新的设计师会把他们最新的作品和古堡系列的作品一起放在他们的新房里。也许，新晋的设计师也会感觉得到，他们自己，也因为成为Baker古堡系列家具的新主人，感受到其所带来好运气和精神力量。

　　【太平洋家居网】非常感谢男爵Humphry Wakefield接受太平洋家居网的采访!

　　本文内容由时尚家居第一品牌太平洋家居网倾情提供。

　　以下为英文采访实录：

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite sports?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】Polo and Rugby Football must be my favourites, but I love tennis and squash too. In the Army I played Polo for my cavalry Regiment, the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales Own), and for Cambridge University. : In Rugby Football I was Captain of Gordonstoun School but also of their Rugby Team for two years. (Gordonstoun was the school of Prince Philip and Prince Charles). I played Rugby Football Internationaly as a Schoolboy (For Scottish Schools), and ,later for Cambridge University, and for Hampshire County and for the HARLEQUINS which are maybe England’s most famous Rugby Football Club. Riding horses has always been a favourite sport and I competed at highest levels. Now, I love Riding for Fox Hunting and trecking: I was riding in Turkey through snows and ice at 9,000 feet last year, and swimming the horses through wonderful river and wuld really love to ride in China. I much enjoy Bird Shooting and Deer shooting as well.

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite tourist attraction?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】Maybe Chillingham’s greatest attraction is the beauty of her thousand-year-old stone architecture and gardens against our mountains and fields. I love, our beautiful furniture and paintings and our Musical events. Our most famous attraction is, believeit or not, our astonishing GHOSTS which are truly WORLD-famous. We have been famed for Ghosts for many hundreds of years.

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite food?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】Occasional Caviar, of course, but also Bacon, Eggs and fried bread for breakfast. That is, of course, until I taste the astonishing variety of new tastes in China.

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite book?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】William Shakespeare: he has both highest human drama along with beautiful and flowing poetry. I can recite a lot of Shakespeare from memory and that gives my huge pleasure and also sends me to sleep every night to dream well!.

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite movie?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】“Kind Hearts and Coronets” where Alec Guinness, who I met in America, plays six totally different people, each different personality is an heir to a great Stately Home and each of the completely different characters is played by Guinness. Each of those different ‘Guinnesses’ is murdered by superb actor Dennis Price who plays the very cool villain of the plot.

　　【PChouse】What’s your favourite collection?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】My favourite thing to collect is ‘beauty’! Whether it is Chinese or English, ancient or modern, furniture or painting, weapon or textile, just so long as it is thrilling in beauty. Sadly, art and furniture products of today set out to be ‘clever’ and intellectual and certainly practical with furnishings, but the ‘moderns’ seek out those qualities alone and forget rather the ‘beautiful’ which adds such and extra happiness to life. Former ages had all those qualities of practicality but combined that with elegance and beauty. My intellect is quite sharpened enough with today’s tax returns and politics. I am lucky enough to have wonderful Chinese works of art dating from over the last two and a half thousand years and they blend so perfectly with my collections from Europe.

　　【PChouse】We learned from press that you like to travel. What do you think travel can bring you? Among all the places that you have visited, which one do you like the best?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】I love travel because of the excitement of new ideas and new sights: the vastly different experiences between, for instance, the glories of the ice and snow bound Antarctic and the elegant perfection of classic sights of Peking. They are both totally extraordinary and most definitely all to be experienced to add to the glory and diversity of life. MY FAVOURITE PLACE you ask? That is like asking which girlfriend, child or even horse you like best! Each is so different and each brings something totally different and fresh to life. Besides one child might be sgreat to go to the opera with and the other to climb a mountain with? Wth places as with humanity, one can scan out the unacceptable or try to, if the glories are really worthwhile? I have seen such great beauty in China, both natural and manmade. There is such great beauty in so many countries throughout the world and in such profuse variety/ it is also there in the Museums in the homes and in nature.

　　【PChouse】It is said that you have participated in the explorations of Mount Qomolangma and the Antarctic, and these activities are very adventurous, so how do you like adventures? Do you think the fact that you love to take on adventures is due to the fact that you inherited the spirit of knighthood from your family? After all, your father-in-law is one of her Majesty the Queen's personal Knight. Can you briefly introduce the notion of chivalry to our Chinese readers? It is very exotic and mysterious to us.

　　【Humphry Wakefield】Yes, and my Father was Treasurer and Comptroller of Her Majesty The Queen’s Household though he was a Classical scholar, mountaineer and Member of Parliament as well as a Minister to Winston Churchill. But, to answer your question, from 600 years ago (and from before and since) Chivalry has been a “culture” of honour amongst leading families throughout the entire world, with ancient China (up till today, I am sure), of course, included. There is a universally understood ‘pact’ of ‘how one behaves’ in the fierceness of war and in the calm of home. This universal acceptance of chivalaric behaviour is an all-important bond for nations, especially in wartimes, just as is Music, Art, Sport, Learning and Science. This culture of Chivalry demands that you: A) Live life to the full, taking all honourable risks you dare to take; B) You must try to Win, but you must only win at games and war by fair methods and give honour and protection to others most especially if they obey that code. C) Disregard personal safety so far as you dare; D) Always Care for women and children. E) Love and protect beauty in nature or manmade works and have reverence for tradition and honour. (ALL OF THAT, OF COURSE, RELATES TO STATELY HOMES and their families, the protection of those Homes and their survival.) . The culture really says to live life to the full. Don’t worry about safety, but love glorious things, protect women qand children, protect the best in humanity and rise above or destroy evil. Back in the AD 900s we had a King Arthur: He had his “Knights of the Round Table.” The table was round because all people were equal (but there must have been a ‘pecking order’ all the same) These Knights were all men of total Honour and chieftains at warfare. I truly think that is why the present Stately Homes Lords are famous bird shots and polo players (as is Prince Charles and his sons), as they had to be brilliant athletes and fighters to survive those wars and battles. Those Stately Homes families are also strong in politics and industry today from many generations of practice. Those Stately Homes families do also support beauty and Craftsmanship in their Castles and Palaces and, of course, they support the great traditional STATELY HOMES themselves. I think that Chivalry has related to horsemanship, down the centuries, at least. That is partly because the survival of warfare, in old times, depended on skilled horsemanship, and also because horsemanship does not call for brute strength but for a personal relationship of calm and trust between horse and man, a trust with relates to a dimension beyond reason and certainly beyond force.

　　【PChouse】You have once rebuilt the Terra castle and have also repaired the Northumberland castle Chillingham, why are you so interested in these castle projects?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】 I love Castles as they somehow manage to carry the romance of their dramatic past history of armed action with them, along with the spirits of their powerful past owners and the beauty of these Castles’s contents and natural surrounds. These Castles have seen wars and kings, brave acts and clever feats of arms, with involvement in highest politics, power and front-line action. And these Castles have also housed music and the greatest musicians of their days, and they have furnishings and paintings of the greatest beauty in the country. Even when the Castles are partly fallen and ruined, they still have the memories and they have the potential to revive that spirit with restoration. The Castles I have revived have always been connected with my own family, so I feel the family Ghosts are enjoying recognition and life again and I feel these Spirits are working with me to help me. Certainly it looks that way if you read our Chillingham Castle Ghost stories of ‘helping hands’ in difficult or unlikely situations. With restoration it is also always wonderful to bring a ‘Sleeping Beauty’back to full life and laughter.’

　　【PChouse】I heard that you have designed the The Square Hotel suite (It was the 13 topmost suites at the PLAZA HOTEL in NEW YORK) for Mrs. Trump, how do you like interior design? What are your favourite design styles?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】I designed and furnished the 13 topmost suites for the NEW YORK PLAZA HOTEL, then owned by Mrs Trump and her family. We won many awards for these “Stately Homes” Suites of Rooms. But, it was easy for me! I designed the Suites with BAKER Stately Homes Furniture, with TIFFANY Stately Homes Crystal and silver, with MIRROR FAIR Stately Homes mirrors and Stately Homes Ceramics and even our lamps. We named each of the 13 Hotel Suites with the name of one of the great Stately Homes in the Baker Collection. When the Suites were completed, I arrange for all the Lords who owned these Stately Homes’ Castles and Palaces to have dinner at CLARIDGES HOTEL in London with, to meet Mrs. Trump to celebrate the grand opening of the PLAZA Stately Home suites.

　　【PChouse】You are an esteemed consultant of Baker’s Stately Homes Collection, could you give us a brief intro on the products? What characteristics do you think these product possess, and what values do you think these products can bring?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】 I am the consultant to the Baker Stately Homes Collections, and I select and supervise the manufacture of each piece to ensure the detail is superb. I also initiated the idea of the Stately Homes Collections and made the original arrangements with each of the the Lords, now more than 30 years ago, with Baker making the Furniture, Tiffany the crystal and silver, Mirror Fair making the mirrors as they still do, and other firms making replicas off their special areas.. I truly do believe that pieces copied from the great Stately Homes carry with them the Good Luck, the Power and Force of Achievement and Life that these great Stately Homes’ Castles and Palaces have given to their most fortunate Lords for so many centuries. That spiritual power is why those Lords survive as warriors and National Leaders century after century, the same families, right up to to this day. It is important to remember FIVE things, with BAKER Stately Homes Furniture and with any other Stately Homes product. FIRST OF ALL. ….Each piece HAS to be BEAUTIFUL or it would have been REPLACED over the last two or three hundred years by a more useful/comfortable/beautiful example. Rival pieces come on the market the whole time, and if a more suitable piece arrives on the market, then the LORDS will prefer it and replace it. BUT, this has not happened with the pieces in Baker’s great Stately Homes Furniture Collection. So all the Stately Homes pieces HAVE to be BEAUTIFUL? SECOND OF ALL….. These pieces simply HAVE to be STRONG and PRACTICAL, because if they broke down, or were impractical they would have been thrown away. These Lords are not prepared to waste time on things that do not work for them, they can afford to acquire what suits them best and so they do…….. THIRD OF ALL ,…. Stately Homes pieces HAVE to be COMFORTABLE, if they were not comfortable then a better item would have been replaced. FOURTH OF ALL: Remember that when these pieces were ordered for these famous homes, the Craftsmen made the superb best they could! Why? Because it was a wonderful chance to advertise their skill in a great and famous home, as well as a chance of earning future commissions from those who could afford to pay for the best. . Like making a piece for the President of China today? Get it right! Make it beautiful! Make it comfortable! FIFTH OF ALL … Baker Stately Home furniture lasts through the changing fashions. Stately Homes furniture is never ‘dated’ as other items which are only fashionable ‘right now.’ So, when the designer of the next decade draws up his decorations, he will reject all the previous ‘dated’ pieces from ten-year-old-designs…but he will KEEP the Stately Home product…just as they have survived those hundreds of years of changing fashions, so they survive today and through tomorrow.

　　【PChouse】Why did you choose to cooperate with Baker on this project? The Stately Homes Collection is regarded as Baker’s Collection of Treasures, what do you thinks this means to you?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】 Like the idea of recording the music of a great singer or musician, or photographing a great painting. Just like that I always wanted to replica pieces of structural or sculptural beauty, such as Furniture, Silver and Ceramics. Like a CD or a Video can spread happiness and beauty with music or paintings, so I wanted to do that with magnificent furniture. It is wonderful to hear a great singer in a great Stately Home, whether it is a Palace or a Castle. But, to have that music RECORDED? What a way to spread world happiness. So, I have RECORDED BEAUTIFUL Furniture. But, BAKER, were and are the only firm in the world to understand this concept of replica at this topmost level. And Baker had and have the multi-generational crafts force able for this task. I am given the huge privilege of supervising these craftsmen as they work to make each of the pieces I have selected to be perfect.

　　【PChouse】We noticed that the design of Stately Homes Collection has a few Chinese elements blended in, why and how did you choose these Chinese elements?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】I included Chinese elements because the Chinese have given brilliant influence to the greatest designers of Europe for many, many centuries. It was thrilling for designers, two and three hundered years back, to examine inspirational designs, lacquers and rare woods brought back by our great trading boats from distant China (my own family had five trading ships for two hundred years, just as an exciting extra to our life!) So, it is thrilling to reproduce this Chinese inspiration and re-introduce it, full circle, back to the Motherland. I would also love to replica great Chinese originals from a great Chinese palace. But, Museums are not the place to find pieces. Museums often have beautiful pieces, but they are usually the impractical cast-offs from a great home: pieces which were broken when sat on, pieces which fell apart and were replaced, or just that better pieces were found to replace it.

　　【PChouse】As an expert in antique furniture, do you have any insight about the antique furniture of the royal family of ancient China? In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between the Stately Homes Collection and the royal Chinese antique furniture? And do you possess any royal Chinese antique furniture?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】I would love to find Chinese pieces to replica. The wonderment of our British Stately Homes is that, as I have said above, however frail the piece of furniture may look, those pieces have proven themselves strong and practical (or they would have been sent off to a Museum to be ‘looked at’ rather than ‘used’). Rather than wonder what might have been, it is easier to go to the still-living Stately Homes of England and see pieces, in daily use, in the glory of their living and natural surroundings.

　　【PChouse】Besides the Stately Homes Collection, have you launched any new products for Baker? How would you continue your cooperation with Baker in the future?

　　【Humphry Wakefield】We are constantly on the lookout for ideal new product. Baker have had a change of management recently but the new management have assured me of renewed support as Stately Homes has proved that it can survive the changing fashions. But Stately Homes furnishings have survived the changing fashions for so many centuries, so it is no surprise that Stately Homes continues to survive through the changing fashions today. Many people enjoy having Baker Stately Homes furniture simply because it does NOT go out of fashion. So, when a room décor is changed for the modern look, the Stately Homes pieces can stay put, maybe in a different room. The designers of each new era love a touch of romance and also, of course, that sense of beauty combined with practicality and so the new designers include the Stately Homes pieces in their new room settings along with their latest pieces. Maybe the latest designers also sense that they, themselves, also touch the Good Luck and spiritual power that Baker Stately Homes furniture carries to its lucky new owners!