Polly Jessup

Pauline Daniel "Polly" Jessup is known for her graceful and sophisticated interior decor for society's biggest names-du Pont, Ford, Whitney, Mellon, Reed, and countless other socialites. She was given her nickname in a 1987 New York Times editorial, at the end of a prolific six-decade career. Jessup oversaw many significant commissions and her work persevered through the economic downtowns of the Great Depression and well after the post war boom. This new volume weaves social history and a fascinating cast of characters into the fabric of her story, using images of her work and recollections from clients and colleagues to document, for the first time, Jessup's history and contributions to the design canon. Author and curatorial historian Maggie Lidz has written the volume's three principal chapters, which look variously at the life and career of Polly Jessup, Jessup's notable clients and their "Jessup Rooms", and key employees of her company, Jessup Inc. Each of these chapters is heavily illustrated with a wealth of colour shots of surviving interiors, archival photographs, and ephemera from the collections at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, The Society of the Four Arts, The Edsel and Ethel Ford House, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.