Velvet Revival Inspired by Katsutoshi Yuasa

It was almost left outside.

At the back of a Los Angeles thrift shop, the chair sat untouched—filthy, overlooked, unsellable. Its once-shimmering rayon upholstery was caked in grime. Even at a deep discount, no one wanted it. The staff admitted they might set it out on the curb and “see what happened.” Most passed it by without a glance.

But we did.

Beneath the layers of dust and neglect, Veridian Grove still held its shape. An early 20th-century wingback, sculptural and restrained, its tall back and curved wings designed not to impress, but to embrace. It belonged to a cultural moment when domestic objects carried quiet codes of posture, presence, and the rituals of daily life.

At Acanthus Home, restoration begins with recognition. Not with what a piece is, but with what endures—quietly, structurally, invisibly. Veridian Grove wasn’t rescued for what it looked like, but for what it still carried in its bones: proportion, presence, and the ghost of a former life. We intervened just before disappearance—before sun, rain, or neglect could erase what time alone had not. What followed was not a makeover, but a return—an honoring of memory through method, and a gesture of resistance against the quiet erosion of time.

Veridian Grove, before restoration

In this way, our work echoes the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, the centuries-old art of repairing broken pottery with gold. Rather than disguise a fracture, kintsugi renders it luminous, treating each scar as evidence of survival and story. We see restoration the same way—not as concealment, but as continuity made visible. ¹

That continuity, for me, is also personal. In 1917, my great-grandfather traveled to Japan. He sits at a table among hosts in traditional kimono: serene, still, suspended. The chair he sat in is gone, but the image remains, a quiet reminder that design is never just visual—it is cultural, spatial, relational. Veridian Grove, in its own way, joins that lineage—a vessel of inheritance shaped by time, touch, and the shared rituals of presence.

Private Collection, 1917
A family record from Japan—where design, ritual, and memory converged at the table.

From Memory to Material

Its frame, though intact, was loosened by years of disregard. Its strength was restored while its quiet character remained undisturbed. Its wood was hand-finished to reveal an inner luster—what neglect had concealed, time had quietly preserved.

For its new upholstery, we selected a couture jacquard velvet from Black Edition, a fabric inspired by the meditative monoprints of Japanese artist Katsutoshi Yuasa. Its moody pattern—part canopy, part cloud, part memory—wraps the chair in an atmosphere rather than a print. It is a textile that shifts with the light and transforms with the room. In many ways, it mirrors the piece itself: layered, reawakened, and quietly profound.

Veridian Grove, after restoration

Yuasa, educated at the Royal College of Art in London and based in Tokyo, is internationally recognized for his evocative prints that blend traditional mokuhanga woodblock techniques with contemporary digital stillness. Each composition begins with hand-carved wood, inked and pressed in meditative layers. His compositions linger in the in-between—where memory becomes image, and image becomes atmosphere.

To learn more about his process and visual philosophy, visit katsutoshiyuasa.com.

Like Acanthus Home, Yuasa’s work is a study in reverence: for process, for material, for the liminal space between what was and what may still be. To upholster Veridian Grove in a textile drawn from his vision is to wrap the chair not merely in fabric, but in philosophy.

What was nearly discarded has become a tactile tribute to quiet mastery—an heirloom shaped by two forms of restoration: one of frame, one of print. Together, they speak of what can still be preserved, not in replication, but in renewal.

Explore More from Acanthus Home

At Acanthus Home, we believe every piece of restored antique furniture carries more than aesthetic value—it holds memory, craftsmanship, and the potential to become part of your own lineage. Veridian Grove is one of many heirlooms we’ve reimagined with intention.

To explore more, we invite you to browse our full collection of restored antique seating, side tables, and statement pieces—each one revived using traditional techniques and couture-level upholstery.

Further Reading & Collection Highlights

If this story resonates with you, we welcome you to read other entries in the Heirloom Design Journal, including:

— The Velvet Courtship: A love story told through a pair of Victorian parlor chairs
— The Bench Was Empty: A rediscovered 1919 letter and the heirloom it inspired
— The Afterlife of Objects: Why antiques still matter in contemporary design

Every heirloom we restore, and every story we tell, begins with the same quiet belief: beauty is not only seen—it is remembered.

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Heirloom Record
Origin: Unknown
Restored: 2025, Los Angeles
Upholstered in couture velvet by Black Edition, in homage to Katsutoshi Yuasa

¹ Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is a traditional Japanese technique that repairs cracked or broken ceramics with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum—honoring the history of the object rather than hiding its wear.