Marketscape: An African Adventure

Edited by Karen D. Singh, Text by Karen D. Singh and Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

The untamed flora and fauna of the world's second-largest continent have been appropriated by the proud and the profane. Alex Davis Studio's Moonlit Safari, a 38-piece line of furniture, lighting, and accessories, deftly avoids hackneyed aping. "It's a corrective, contemporary reinterpretation of the old decorative style of the safari," Alex Davis says. He gets a big assist from stainless steel.

Tusk motifs link the Kudu floor lamp, 60 inches high, the Kudu side table, 25 inches high with an aluminum top 24 inches in diameter, and the Mammoth sculpture, with its curved tusks extending 60 inches from a cast-aluminum head. The Ox sculpture gets on the horn with a span of 31 inches. And flyaway seats characterize a trio of stools with different bases: the four splayed legs of Senufo, the abstracted crouching figure of Pygmy, and the simple circle of Asante. Davis also has a soft side: four pillow patterns and a faux zebra rug, all in polyester felt. But even these can't escape his signature stainless steel—they're hand-embellished with a laser-cut appliqué. 91-11-2649-5473; alexdavisdesign.com. circle 408

From top: Ox; Kudu