Objects of Desire

A personal celebration of the hunt for, and the joy of living with, favorite collections and things

Our home is an expression of ourselves in many ways, largely through the objects we accumulate. For Maria Hummer Tuttle, the objects she has collected over the years, from the priceless to the flea market finds, are precious not only for their beauty, uniqueness, and craftsmanship but also for their connection to the past and the future, for their resonance with one another. In this exquisitely illustrated book, she serves as our guide through her three homes—a house on a hill overlooking Los Angeles, a pied à terre in New York, and a beach house in a tiny town north of Los Angeles—focusing our attention on objects ranging from an ancient Chinese horse sculpture to a Louis XV clock, a Wiener Werkstätte goblet to a Willem de Kooning painting, a 19 century silver lemon squeezer to late 20th century furniture by Italian designer Ettore Sottsass. With a foreword by master ceramist and acclaimed author Edmund de Waal and featuring two lavish gatefolds, Objects of Desire is a feast for the eyes and a cherished object in its own right.