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.