Art collector, dealer and philanthropist Patricia Altschul has worn many hats, including recently that of a grande dame socialite on the reality TV series Southern Charm where her beautifully decorated Charleston home, the Issac Jenkins Mikell House, is on full view. Mrs. Altschul has decorated many homes over the years, working often with the late ‘Prince of Chintz’, American interior designer Mario Buatta. With each project they worked on together, Mrs. Altschul learned design lessons from the master of scale and color. Of Buatta, Mrs. Altschul has said that she “most connected with Mario’s use of color, but I really felt a kinship with all of his work. I connected with his use of antiques and exotic objects, and I also happened to collect many of the same things he collected, like Delft and Chinese porcelain, and dog paintings.” Though Mario never owner a dog himself, the friends shared a love of dogs and Mario chose the name of Altschul’s last pug, Lily, and gifted Mrs. Altschul with many of the pug-related objects in her collection. Mario Buatta’s influence can be seen in the selection of property from Mrs. Altschul’s home being offered in The English Interior.
