Homewares Inspired by Hunting Tools and Sea Creatures

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An Umbrian Resort Set in a Former Medieval Fortress

Within a nearly 40-acre park in Umbria, Italy, the painter Lemmo Rossi Scotti’s former 19th-century villa has been transformed into the new Borgo dei Conti Resort. Credit…Dario Garofalo

The central Italian region of Umbria — with its unspoiled landscapes and ancient Roman ruins — has long been a source of inspiration for artists; in the 15th century, the region even gave rise to a namesake movement that counted the Renaissance painters Pietro Perugino and Raphael as members. It’s against that backdrop that the Babini family — who also own the Hospitality Experience, a hotel group, and the Place of Wonders, a foundation dedicated to preserving traditional Italian craftsmanship — recently opened Borgo dei Conti, a 40-room resort perched on the grounds of a former medieval fortress about a half-hour drive from Perugia. Inside the property’s original neo-Gothic villa are preserved frescoes and wood-beamed coffered ceilings along with Etruscan terra-cotta floor tiling and furniture covered in fabrics handwoven at a nearby textile atelier. Between meals at Cedri, a fine-dining restaurant placed in a former limonaia (lemon greenhouse), and L’Osteria del Borgo, an all-day trattoria serving Neapolitan pizzas, guests can visit the wellness spa — complete with saunas, a salt room and an outdoor solarium — or visit the Italian-style gardens of the surrounding 40-acre park. From about $650 a night, borgodeicontiresort.com.

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A London Jeweler Turns to Home Goods Made With Precious Metals

Walk down a side street in London’s diamond district and you might catch the scent of frankincense and agar wood as it drifts out of the showroom of Alighieri, a jewelry brand that takes its name from the 14th-century Italian poet Dante Alighieri. “We describe it as the smell of church vaults and old libraries,” says Rosh Mahtani, who founded the company in 2014 to make heirloom jewelry. Now she’s creating items for the home, including this incense. The housewares collection, Alighieri Casa, is made up of tableware and cooking accessories with imperfect finishes. A bright, gold-plated candlestick curves into a lion’s paw — a reference to Alighieri’s best-selling lion medallion pendant, a talisman for courage — while another pair look like asymmetrical silver pebbles. Bottle openers shaped like lobsters and sea horses blur the line between ornaments and kitchen utensils; Mahtani wears one on a length of black leather cord as a necklace. Gold-plated and stainless-steel cutlery are made at a female-owned foundry in Delhi using a method called sand casting. The tactile pieces, which reference tribal hunting tools, feel precious, but Mahtani hopes that people won’t set them aside for special occasions. “Life is tough,” she says, “and most things we can’t control. But we can build rituals for ourselves at home that are beautiful. There’s a lot of comfort in that.” From about $190, alighieri.com.

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Black Abstract Art, on View in Los Angeles

While the sheer expanse of the Black experience defies easy categorization, a number of artists have focused their practice on chronicling its contours. “Social Abstraction,” a two-part exhibition opening at the Beverly Hills Gagosian before moving on to the gallery’s Hong Kong location in September, assembles 13 of these artists — among them Theaster Gates, Cy Gavin, Alteronce Gumby, Lauren Halsey, Eric N. Mack and Amanda Williams — to explore Blackness through abstract expression. Curated by the gallerist Antwaun Sargent, the mediums on display range from resin and oil paints to textiles, rubber latex and synthetic hair. “I’m working to complicate the reduction of Blackness that a rush to solidarity with a phrase like Black Lives Matter generated [in 2020],” says the Chicago-based Williams, whose work often blends art and architecture. “The blanket desire to embrace Blackness actually resulted in its flattening: a matte Black.” Williams conjures childhood memories of joyful summers within her poured-paint composition titled “CandyLadyBlack (This Stuff Is Starting Now).” The work’s Jolly Rancher-hued palette is a nod to the sweets sold by local women during the ’70s and ’80s in Black neighborhoods across America. “They were stewards of community and extended family, but also businesswomen,” Williams says. The title of the canvas — which incorporates a lyrical snippet from Cameo’s 1986 hit song “Candy” — serves as another element of nostalgia. “My memories of the song are about middle school sleepovers and lip-syncing with best friends,” Williams says. “Social Abstraction” is on view at Gagosian Beverly Hills from July 18 through Aug. 30, gagosian.com.