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‘A set of clues to who they are’: artists and authors on their marvellous mantelpieces
Fascinated by the objects on his mum’s fireplace and what they say about her, Orlando Gili embarked on a project to capture creatives’ collections
Adding to the mad clutter are granny’s carriage clock, two sepia paintings from a Kentish Town junk shop, weird reptiles supplied by gecko-loving children, a grolla(drinking goblet) from Turin, and a mysterious gourd which was a wedding gift from Arianna Stassinopoulos (now Huffington). Michael: My studio mantelpiece, in our house in Bloomsbury, London, is a disarray of photos, cartoons, love letters, chocolate sardines, booze, my MBE and other awards, underneath a towering Saul Steinberg poster from his New Yorker magazine cover entitled View of the World from 9th Avenue. Hilary: In the living room the mantelpiece is a bit of a shrine to Charlie Barker, Michael’s beloved dachshund, who first brought us together at the French House bar in Soho, where we met (and I’ve worked for 20 years).
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