A Guide to the Best of Southern California : FEMININE FURNITURE : HIGH STYLE : Boris Sipek Furniture

Feminine sensibility, playfulness, rich forms--these traits describe the designs of Prague-born Borek Sipek. Sipek has no time for the stripped-down look of furniture design; his work, particularly his crystal vases adorned with flowers, evoke the sensuous, curvaceous art nouveau style of a Tiffany vase. Certainly, two recent Sipek pieces exemplify the feminine: the Ritual table ($1,950)--bordered in wavy-edged nickel-plated brass resembling a doily--and the Gudrun am Leineufer side chair ($875)--reminiscent of a prop from the Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house.