She, in a sequined evening gown, lounges languidly on a high-backed settee with arms that swoop down into near nothingness. He, tall and refined in white tie and tails, mixes martinis in a chrome container, pouring ingredients from cut-glass decanters on top of a deeply fluted liquor cabinet. The room is seductively lighted with silver table lamps and small sconces; geometric shapes catch the eye on the walls and tables; the figurine of a lithe maiden, draped in a wispy fabric and holding a globe aloft, graces a desktop.

She could be Ginger Rogers, he, Fred Astaire, preparing for a night on the town. The setting for this scene of unrestrained elegance is unmistakably art deco. Of course.

Our love of deco has been like any love affair, full of ups and downs. It burned with the passion of young love from the 1920s and into the 1940s. Then our collective desire for it waned, but it was never far from our hearts. It was always there, waiting to be rediscovered and appreciated once again. That time is now.

The cubist patterns, exaggerated shapes, exotic woods and finishes, fluting, channeling and embellishments - all of the elements that mark the birth of contemporary furniture - are back reinterpreted forms. At the spring furniture market in High Point, N.C., art deco was being romanticized once again.

In addition, some manufacturers, such as William Switzer, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, are producing line-for-line copies originals. The real thing, from picture frames to ashtrays, as well as major, attributed works in elegant woods such as Macassar ebony, rosewood, parchment or the snakeskin called shagreen, are selling briskly in antiques shops and at auction.

The price range for originals is considerable. As little as $20 might buy a small accessory. Marcus Tremonto, a vice president of 20th-century decorative arts at Sotheby's/Chicago, reports that at the high end, prices of some originals have hit $1 million.

"The clothes, jewelry, settings and furniture of such a glamorous period make people more aware," said Chicago art deco antiques dealer and collector Steve Starr. "Plus, the look is still very exciting, very modern," said Starr, author of "Picture Perfect," a book on deco photo frames from 1926 to 1946.

The revived popularity is also consistent with a thirst for something retro (even '70s style, of all things, is being embraced) as we inch closer to the millennium.

Whatever the cause, art deco style is spreading into the mainstream, as seen in its presence in designer show houses. At the May show house of the American Society of Interior Designers in Evanston, Ill., Marlene Rimland created a fantasy ocean-liner suite with distinctly deco overtones. A stainless steel bed draped in sumptuous fabrics, curvy deco-style settee and chairs by Switzer were accented with touches of silver and silver leaf.

What endures from the latest crop of deco depends on the interpretation of the key elements, and ultimately on those features by which we judge all good design: form and craftsmanship.

John Black, vice president of design and development for Baker Furniture in Grand Rapids, Mich., put it in perspective. "There is not so much a resurgence as an appreciation of the time period and of historical design," he said. "Art deco is appreciated today because of a growing respect for the cabinetmaking craft," which started with appreciation of traditional forms from the 18th and 19th centuries.

There are examples as early as 1912, but the style was formally introduced in Paris at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925. It flourished in America, where it was nurtured in architecture, with classic buildings such as Donald Deskey's Radio City Music Hall, and in industrial design with the advent of chrome and plastics.

From kitsch to the sublime, common motifs included Egyptian details (inspired by the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922), stylized panthers, gazelles, garlands and maidens.

Classic art deco shapes are derived from geometry - pure and simple squares, circles, arcs, triangles and asymmetry, punctuated often through repetition. Art deco was reflected in -- nearly every category: furnishings, lighting, art, tableware (think of the elegant silver coffee services, some of which are still reproduced by Christofle), glassware (Lalique and look-alikes), clocks (Cartier), fabrics, jewelry (the advent of plastics), and Bakelite.

But none of these designs actually were called art deco until the term was coined in a 1968 book by Bevis Hillier, according to Alastair Duncan, author of "American Art Deco." In France, the movement was art moderne; in America, modernist, although deco style showed up in Spain, Russia, Czechoslovakia and even Turkey, where mosques found their way into deco-style weavings. Deco simply reflected the contemporary attitude of the day. This is one reason that there's so much confusion about what is art deco and what is moderne, with fiercely drawn lines.

"Art deco is the last true period of craftsmanship," said Vicente Wolf, who took from it some of his inspiration for his new 20th Century Collection. "In the '50s there was good design by Charles Eames and Alvar Aalto. But this original art deco is about hand-craftsmanship, a working detail of beautiful woods and one-of-a-kind pieces and the sense that there was a strong connection between the designer as an artist and the craftsmen who were artists."

Steve Starr has been selling new and old deco for 30 years. Whether it's a lamp, vacuum cleaner, picture frame, ice crusher, table or chair, Starr says that the pieces bought today are being used, not just collected, whether they are old or new. He believes the pieces are just as "courant" as they were in their time.

"Good design will never go out of fashion," he said.

Sources

* Baker Furniture, 1665 Monroe Ave. N.W., Grand Rapids, Mich. 49505; 616-361-7321.

* Clarence House Ltd., 211 E. 58th St., New York, N.Y. 10022; 212-752-2890.

* Alan Koppel Gallery, Suite 2850, 875 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611; 312-640-0730.

* Marge Carson Inc., 9056 Garvey Ave., Rosemead, Calif. 91770; 626-571-1111.

* Roche Bobois USA Ltd., 183 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016; 800-972-8375.

* Steve Starr Studios, 2779 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60614; 773-525-6530.

Pub Date: 9/27/98