Obsessed with chairs.

It has been quite a while since I posted, but now I am on holidays I can do some catch up posts.  There seems to be something special about chairs suddenly, and in the last couple of months I have bought a few with no real purpose in mind.  The design of chairs is very cool, and every chair has a different personality.  Unfortunately a lot of people also share my enjoyment of chairs with unique design, and the really special ones are expensive when they are for sale.  Like the Eames chair (right) valued at about $3000 plus.  Replicas sell on eBay for about $600.


I am especially loving Tessa chairs.  Tessa is a company in Melbourne that sells beautiful chairs worldwide.  Designer Fred Lowen founded Tessa with his brother Howard Lindsey.  The Tessa T1 chair received an award in 1970 and the T4 hammock design chair was in the Cologne Fair in 1971 and they loved it.  Tessa still make leather chairs and lounges that are still popular today.


Recently at Abbey's auctions I watched a chair that looked like a well used Tessa style chair, together with 2 well worn footstools, come up for sale.  Even though the sale had a special Mid-Twentieth Century design section, no one really wanted the chair and footstools.  I hadn't really looked at the items to buy, but I jumped in.  I paid $50 on the hammer (about $60 all up).  They are pictured below.

During the auction, Sam and I sneaked a closer look at the chair.  We raised up the seat cushion, and what did we find, but a Tessa tag.  Of course we did.  NICE PICKUP!  They are all cute retro pieces.  Even though each one would be a great project, I decided to sell the footstools.  I have made my $60 back selling them alone.  The Tessa chair is a T8, without arms.  The seat is worn and coming away from the frame at the top.  T8s can sell on eBay in good condition for about $140.  I rang Tessa, who will redo their chairs to your specifications.  They can do any Tessa cushion design on my Tessa frame for $485.  Seeing that the chair has now cost me nothing, I don't know whether to list it as is, and get whatever I can for a worn Tessa T8 on eBay, or, get it recovered and keep it.  So, at the moment it is living in my shop room.  It's great to sit in while I look at all my shop stuff and think.

The chair obsession may also be contagious.  Sam loved this Wellington chair with a swivel base so much we HAD to have it.  It came from Mrs Secondhand in Brunswick.  Sam jumped into their moving truck to test sit on the chair, before it had even be unloaded into the shop.  I wish I had a photo of his legs sticking out from the back of the truck while he was test driving it, it was super funny.


This last chair I want to show I also got from auction, from Steven Graham Auctions. I got some cute children's chairs that day, plus this industrial style office or desk chair.  I can only guess how old it is and where it has been used over the years.  When I bought it, I had intended to sell the chair, but so far it's stayed on display in the hall way.  I love walking past it and appreciating the shape and unique design.  And the little Foo Dogs that my Dad gave me to guard the front door love sitting on it.

Shoppers Notes


I get my approximate valuations courtesy of www.carters.com.au
Tessa website- www.tessafurniture.com
Abbey's Auctions- www.abbeysauctions.com.au
Mrs Secondhand- www.mrssecondhand.com.au/
Steve Graham Auctions- http://stevegrahamauctioneer.com

Old school audio

It was sad to see my old stereo system go.  I had bought it in 1988 (when I was 15),with one of my first paychecks from working as a junior checkout assistant / dog's body, at Coles supermarket.  Still in excellent cosmetic and working condition, someone got a bargain on Ebay for $50. 

 Since moving house, the system had lived on the floor in the lounge room.  It was big and out of place and needed to find a new home and someone to use it and love it.  However, this led to the problem that I have quite a few old records (and sometimes add to my collection when the whim takes me)... so, how would I play them now?  Obviously I NEEDED a new (old) record player.  Nothing big, just a turntable this time.  I bought a lovely Garrard turntable with integrated HMV amplifier and matching speakers, on Ebay.  I had already sourced a cool stand for it from Mill Markets Newcombe.

Unfortunately, since bringing the player home it hasn't been playing to the end of the records correctly, so it's going back to the seller for a fix.  Hopefully, cross fingers that the fix ends happily.  But, yesterday I spun a little Michael Jackson and Elvis on it, and it sounded great.
Last week I also picked up this cool orange coloured radio cassette player, in the shape of a helmet (?) at Nobelius Auctions.  How retro looking is it??!  Nobelius, in Surrey Hills, have been a favourite auction house of mine, but sadly, they are closing down after their next auction.  I bought it to resell later, but after using it yesterday, I am not sure I can part with it, at least for a little while!!

Shoppers notes:

Mill Markets is the mother ship for collectors in Victoria, they are in 7 different locations (and I hope to have a stall there one day when I have time) see http://www.millmarkets.com.au/

Nobelius Auctions, one auction left, see http://www.nobeliusauctions.com.au/index.html

2 lovely auto trolleys

Mid-Century Trolley

Unfortunately all holidays come to an end.  My last purchase for the holidays was a fantastic mid century auto (or drinks) trolley.  Auto trolleys are more commonly seen in dark timber with turned legs.  I did already have a beautiful art deco trolley that is now for sale on eBay.  See the two pictures to compare styles.  Which one do you like better?   I love both of them, but the retro style is my new passion and fits into my living room style.  I hope someone buys the art deco one and loves it though.

Art Deco Trolley

The art deco trolley I bought last year at Abbey's Auctions.  The mid-century trolley I bought last weekend at The Second Hand Shop.  I had seen the trolley on their website in the previous weeks and really liked it.  However, it wasn't until I read a tweet Saturday morning about them having a sale with 10-20% off most items, that I had the sudden urge to drive an hour across the other side of Melbourne to see if they still had it.  After parting with $200 I had the trolley and was heading home.  I have a few "barenalia" things on the trolley.  As you can see I like amber glassware (amongst many other things). 


Shoppers notes:

Abbeys Auctions have a general auction every Friday and an antique auction every 6 weeks.  They are located at 480-482A Station St, Box Hill.  See http://www.abbeysauctions.com.au/


The Second Hand Shop is located at 10 Binns St, Montmorency.  See http://www.thesecondhandshop.com.au/ or Facebook
& Twitter 2ndhandShop. 

Crochet Details

There's a mini revival of crochet happening in my home since a "care package" arrived from my Mum.  Check out the golden yellow tablecloth and orange doilies Mum pulled out of the moth balls and sent through the mail to spruce up my tables.  What beautiful colours!  Mum couldn't even buy that golden yellow colour at Spotlight to mend the tablecloth.  My Nanna was an avid knitter and crocheter, but so few people are skilled at crochet anymore.  I would love to order a retro throw rug from her, but unfortunately she is not here to help out.  I'm keeping my eye on eBay for someone else's Nanna's handiwork, in the yellow/orange/brown pallet hopefully.


Shopper's notes:

Coffee table, $275, purchased from Southern Bazaar, Inverloch, see http://southernbazaar.com.au/gallery/

Teak bowl on kitchen table $25, purchased from Lost & Found Market, Perry St, Collingwood, see http://www.lostandfoundmarket.com.au/

Teak platter on coffee table, $10, purchased from Collectable Antiques, Thompson Ave, Cowes.

Luxury Shag Rug 160x230cm in Beige Mix, $99, purchased from http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/

Sleepy Hollow Chair

Just a few hours after we arrived back from Singapore I bought the most fantastic chair.  It really proves you have to act quick sometimes, or the best finds will be snapped up.  I had slept a few hours, then woke to do my obsessive routine of checking my eBay searches on my iPhone.  I was really just half awake and very tired from being on a plane all night.  I quickly found a chair just listed by one of the sellers I follow, that really caught my eye.  It looked cool, kind of unusual, with a bit of honest wear, but not too much, and was the right look and colour for where I wanted to place it.  It was called a "Sleepy Hollow chair".  I had seen another chair advertised using this name previously, but knew nothing about the design, who produces them, where, their value, etc.  Knowing that this was probably not a good time to make a decision regarding a chair, I decided to open my laptop and vaguely made a search about Sleepy Hollow chairs.  Not much, a couple of pictures in ads, a definition, very little info.  According to Dictionary.com: 

Sleepy Hollow chair

noun U.S. Furniture .

an armchair of the mid-19th century, sometimes on rockers, having a single piece forming a high upholstered back and a concave upholstered seat.

The seller also had a picture of the chair on her Facebook page and after looking at the photos and listing a couple of times I had decided I really liked this chair.  I thought I should wait until the next day when I had a chance to properly rest, to have clear mind and see if I still liked it before I bought it.  Except, it was a Buy It Now item, I also knew the seller had a lot of followers and very reasonable prices, and the ad stated it was rare and a bargain, so I anticipated that it might only be minutes before someone else bought it.  It was probably now or never... So, I pressed "Buy It Now".  "I think I may have just bought a chair" I told my partner.  He laughed.  SO very like me.  I put a message on the Facebook photo:  "It's mine!"  I sent an email about picking up the chair.  Then I put my laptop on the floor, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Sleepy Hollow chair: $349.

When I went to the shop to pickup my chair, Mrs Secondhand, aka. Tracey, said she had so many enquiries about the chair after I bought it, especially from dealers.  Phew, lucky I acted on inpulse!  She had even sold it to me cheaper than it was marked in the store.  When you sit in the chair it's super comfy.  And it looks so fantastic too!  I love the usedness of it, the unique shape, the fact that it was a bargain, and that for once, I was lucky.

Mrs Secondhand is online: http://www.mrssecondhand.com.au/

on Facebook:  mrs.secondhand

and eBay:  mrs.seconhand1

and Gumtree: mrs.secondhand

and in Brunswick Thurs, Sat, Sun: 11 Ann Street, Brunswick 3056.

Singapore

We spent 10 days in Singapore recently.  Before leaving, I had looked up all the suggested locations to find antiques and collectables, wrote down some addresses and instructions on the train stops and bus numbers to catch.  It all looked promising.  However, reality was a little different.  We spent many hours sight seeing, immersing ourselves in Singaporean history and culture and visiting tourist attractions.  That was fun.  We also spent many hours LOOKING FOR interesting things to buy.  Unfortunately, very little came out of it.  Most Asian antiques are very expensive and the retro finds were very very rare.  On a few occasions we found the anticiated shop, only to find it was closed, with no opening hours on the door.  Due to much building and development works, some places had moved out.  The struggle to find places was too hot and frustrating to call it fun.  This did lead us into some interesting places though, off the beaten track and into the regular lives of Singaporeans.  That part I did enjoy.

For people heading to Singapore, who want to see some antiques, two places I can recommend visiting are Chinatown (there are a couple of shops filled with Asian antiques, hidden behind the cheap tourist stuff on tables), and Tanglin Mall at the Tanglin Road end of Orchard Road (just don't go on a Sunday or too early in the morning).  It seems retro has been tossed out for new shiny expensive objects in Singapore.  We did see a couple of gift shops that are using copies of retro objects and making them into something else, like a box brownie camera that is a clock.  (See http://www.thewrightgift.com/products.php for examples).  I don't like the idea of changing objects like that because I appreciate their original design and functionality and I like the history of different items.  But I do like that it exposes a different set of people to the objects, other than just the retro/vintage collectors like me. 

In an interior design store, I also saw natural objects (like a sand dollar or a reproduction skull) placed on an industrial style base or stand, to create a decorative piece.  That style of thing I found very arty and very intriguing.  It's like spotlighting a piece of nature and putting it in your living room for everyone to appreciate it's beauty and uniqueness and to be inspired by it.  One other notable find, although I had no chance of being able to afford it, was a funky wall piece featuring a comic picture made entirely of lego.  This was in a shop where you had to walk over a beautiful fish pond with coi to reach the displays.  It's called John Erdos Home, on Dempsey Road (http://www.johnerdos.com.sg/)  The artist who makes the lego pieces is called Eugene Tan.  Very cool. 

The Beginning of Retro

Since buying my house, I have become obsessed with looking for retro furniture.  Some of the bizarres and shops in Melbourne stock fantastic retro furniture, as do the Mill Markets.  (I will list shops in another blog entry).  But at the moment, there is a lot of cool furniture to be found on eBay.  And, being holidays, it is so much easier to check out eBay listings in the comfort of your own home! Much of this furniture is well loved and shows some minor signs of wear, which is even more attractive, showing authenticity.  The problem with eBay is actually winning the auctions, which can prove tricky. 

Teak sideboard purchased from eBay $480

Dining detting purchased from eBay $260

I bought the two pieces above from eBay, the sideboard looks like Parker or Noblett or Chiswell or similar, but there are no markings.  A coat of Danish Oil has helped spruce it up, and I don't mind the small spots and marks that prove it has been around for 50-60 years.  Just imagine what life this piece of furniture has witnessed!  The dining table is a round marble look laminex in a tan/gold colour and there are four gorgeous orange buttoned vinyl swivel chairs.  This one dates from late 1970s-early 1980s.  The dining suite was made in Melbourne and possibly the sideboard was too.  Love them both!!