A creative dumping ground for issues that interest me personally and professionally, with the thought they may interest you too. Issues such as the business of design, the design of business, the design of objects, design strategy, creative direction, innovation, creativity, thought leadership, observations, as well as recommendations, mid-century modern decorative arts and architecture, and the state of my thinking (and currently the state of my heart).
Saturday, November 07, 2009
French Provencal Louis XV Lovliness
December 09 UPDATE: After discussing this furniture with Christie's, Wright20, and several other auction houses and furniture dealers, though you can't fault me for trying and spending significant time doing so, you can begin laughing at me. This stuff is of value, but not as valuable as I had thought. The exception being the bedroom stuff, which has generated a great deal of collector and auction house interest. So head into Jubilee this weekend and some of it will be priced.
Jubilee Furniture just got a donation beyond anything they've ever seen. I'm a mid century modern furniture and decorative arts collector, and although French Provencal Louis XV style furniture is like a foreign language to me, it does not take a genius to understand how special this donation really is.
So I spent several hours taking photos (as I have done several times in the past) of this amazing furniture on Saturday afternoon. Love taking photos, I love everyone at Jubilee, and I love furniture (especially Time Life Chairs by Charles Eames for Herman Miller), so this was a great day.
I am currently in the process of communicating with a few choice auction houses for their assistance. If you can help me identify these pieces, I and Jubilee would really appreciate it.
While I was at Jubilee I shot several more pieces from their very stocked showroom. Below are both galleries.
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Here's a toy I've had since childhood. It's 43 years old. One owner. He's a Weird-Oh brand and goes by the name Digger. Age 43, marked 1964 by Louis Marx & Company. A Hawk Model to be exact.
Christmas 2007, my wife Janel received her first sewing machine. She's often considered getting one, but for any number of reasons we never pulled the trigger. Since that time, she's been working diligently in her free time to learn how to use it. She plans to take classes, but thought she would fool around a bit to get some basics nailed down first.
Well, she did way more than nail down the basics. In fact, for nearly every weekend she's had free time since Christmas, and on some weekday nights, she's began making purses and over-the-shoulder bags of all shapes, styles, colors, and sizes. From the look of things, you would think she's been sewing all her life. In fact a few weeks back, a group of dear friends organized a purse party for her and she somewhat timidly boxed all her new creations up, hoping they would be well received. Well received they were, and she sold almost every one! Almost 40 bags in total! The purpose of the party was to raise funds for our El Salvador adoption fund.
Take a look at her purses in our Flickr set, or the Pictobrowser gallery I made (above) for this post. To see them bigger, go directly to the Flickr set I just mentioned, or click on the word "Link" in PictoBrowser and it will take you to the Flickr page I have set up. These are literally the first thing she has ever sewn. I am super proud of her. For one, she is really talented. I think her ability to sew so well was as big a surprise to her as it was me. Secondly, she had her mind set on learning how to sew so she could make enough bags to sell. Since selling them all since, she has made another 12 more bags for people who have seen them and asked for their own.
I can't wait to tell our children someday about how driven she was to make these bags. She did it with these children in mind. Children we don't yet know, but one's God has planned for our family. Janel is an amazing wife, and she encourages me by how faithful she is, and how much she already loves her children. The one's we have not yet met.
These bags are a tangible example of Janel's loving nature and her desire to glorify God. I am so proud to be her husband and so looking forward to helping her raise the children God places in our care.
This is a set of images I took to continue to improve as a photographer and also as we prepare to open our etsy store and eBay some items to raise money in continued preparation for our adoption. If you want to see any of the images larger, click the "link" button in the pictobrowser interface. Some of the portrait/vertical shots get lost behind the pictobrowser interface.
During the last month or so I have been using one of these in my home office, and you know what? The Knoll Pollack chair is really comfortable. Time permitting, I may attempt the extra research on designer Charles Pollack as I have Warren Snodgrass in the past, to find out what went into the thinking and the design of this wonderful chair. I already discovered Pollack worked with George Nelson's office and went to Pratt. If I find out more, I'll share that here.
Worth note is the very 70's Retro upholstery. It has really grown on me when you consider my penchant for a late 50's, mostly 60's interior, decorative art and furniture look. I am sure the current 70's collectors will enjoy the look.
Introducing my newest thrift furniture finds – two fixed height Herman Miller Eames Aluminum Group Soft Pad Management Chairs (pictured above), plus it's big brother, the Soft Pad with swivel and adjustable height (not pictured). I picked them up this weekend. The big brother is my new home office chair, the two fixed height chairs will be on eBay soon. I also bought a Herman Miller Eames Aluminum Group Soft Pad Lounge Chair at a garage sale last year for $10. My crib is starting to look a bit like a Herman Miller showroom. Here's to hoping some day I'll find a classic bent ply lounge chair and ottoman at a garage sale!
All three of these new chairs from this weekend have just 4 legs–the most vintage and desirable configuration that thanks to OSHA in 1990, all changed to 5 leg versions. 4 leg versions are no longer made. Aside from my original Eames Time Life chairs, which will also be on eBay soon, these chairs are second to none. And don't forget my work chair.
I often wonder what the dot-com Aeron chair is like. Though not vintage or classic looking enough for me (like the Aluminum group), I understand it too is an awesome chair.
Spin through the photos above. They were taken for a variety of reasons. For one, I am using my Canon Digital Rebel 300D more and more, and this was more practice. Secondly, much of these shots are for use as I go to sell this stuff. Not all, but some. And last, these photos are just plain fun to look at, and a big portion of BarryBlog readers respond to posts I have about such things. Plus, and perhaps the most important reason to me, and the reason I started BarryBlog in the first place, is because I'm enthusiastic about craftsmanship, charm, and innovations of the past, and so I share these mostly vintage treasures so you can appreciate them as well.
I'll be posting about this in greater detail soon, but for now, I'm realizing that based on the reality of life as I currently know it, the word "soon" could more reasonably end up meaning "never," so take a sneak peek at these incredible in-house, very limited edition publications. They are from Herman Miller Incorporated, and were produced in conjunction with the great design thinker Ralph Caplan, and designed by the legendary John Massey of Container Corporation of America fame. I so admire John's legacy of work and thinking. I inherited these from a former Creative Director I served with while still in Michigan. As I stated in the comments section of an AIGA post recently...I received these in 1988 and still treasure all four of these publications. They were in-house produced articles on four subject matters. ATTENTION. CONNECTION. TENSION. And OMISSION. All four read "some incomplete thoughts with room for improvement, by Ralph Caplan." They played an important role in the fabric of my overall design thinking at a critical time in my design career, one which now spans some 20 years. I will be photographing the interiors, which of course is the important part, when I can. For now, enjoy the eye candy.
So I'm finally posting on my newest and most cherished Mid-Century Modern artifact...and collector deal of a lifetime– my Herman Miller Aluminum Group Executive Management Work Chair, or Time Life Chair. Perfectly orange (for my friend Jess) and super soft, super plush high quality leather...the Bentley of the chair world. And the most luxurious chair I have ever sat in. So here it is, along with a few odd ball office shots for context. Let me know if you want one. I have 6 more (albeit not in as pristine condition). I bought them to sell, so let me know if you too would like one. Following is some additional info for anyone intreged and interested in learning more. A NY Times article called Seats of Power. A distant cousin. A recent eBay listing. Another. And another. A recent sale. Architonic coverage. A current listing at $3,300.00. Yet another. Herman Miller's page. Learn more about the chairs history, and download the original Charles Eames designed leaflet from 1960 announcing the chair in PDF form here. See what midcenturymodernist has to say about this.
Last summer my wife and I vacationed in Golden Colorado to visit my brother-in-law. During the week he generously gave us full use of his car while he was at work, and we took it to downtown Denver one afternoon to visit Antique Row on Broadway street. We came across a place called Hooked on Glass, which for the most part specialized in, well, collector glass of course, but in addition to a bunch of Heywood Wakefield items and other great mid-century decorative art , we found these 3D pieces of art. The minute my wife and I saw it, we knew these were special.
Upon returning from Denver, I began my research. Each piece is hand signed "Wysocki" on the back. I found a ton of work by him, mostly Americana puzzles and impressionism painting. Some of his work is selling for big dollar on eBay, so I decided to call him. Harry as very kind to have spoken with me, and he was fascinating to talk to. A graduate of the former Art Center in Pasadena, he had a long career as an ad man. To make a long story short, he told me the whole story behind these 3D artworks. He told me they were ideas he had for art while he was working at an ad agency. He wanted to try and prototype these out, so he went to a machine shop and had a mold made first out of wood, then he took that to a plastic extrusion facility and had prototypes made. He then took these to a company who specialized in making art for office furniture stores, which he tells me was a rather common place for art to be sold then, at which point he and this company produced rather short runs of the cat, owl, plus a third which I can no longer remember. Suffice it to say these are super rare, and from my conversation with him believe these may be worth several thousands dollars each. Harry is alive today and maintains a studio.
This is some information about Harry from his website.
A dichotomy exists in Wysocki's present works as expressed by his ability to paint impressionism along with his fascination for nostalgia. His many collectors appreciate his diversity. He describes his Americana paintings as nostalgia: a time before computers, hi-tech movies and fax machines, when traveling by horse and buggy were the mode of transportation. He finds a lighthouse, an old hotel, a railroad station, and then the historical research begins. He delves into archives, haunts old book stores, or talks to old-timers who remember "the way things were", and the painting begins to evolve. The finished portrayal is history, nostalgia, and fantasy.
It is really fun for my wife and I to spend time together looking for collectibles and treasures. And for me, I have even more fun doing research and at times speaking with the artists themselves to hear the story behind the treasures. The truth is, neither of us have the desire or resources to spend very often, but admittedly we do have a knack for finding deals. Big time deals. And it's something we enjoy together. These two pieces were the most we ever spent on art. $240. But if my research is correct, this could represent a $4,000-6,000 profit. Not bad for an afternoon spent doing what we really enjoy. Next time you see a garage sale, flea market or collectible market, stop in and see what you might find.
My friend Tom let me take his camera (Canon Digital Rebel EOS 300D) to Costa Rica. I quickly realized this camera was a natural extension of my hand, eyes and brain. So after some begging and groveling, he let me buy it from him. Yesterday I put it to the test with still life found objects around my house. Below is what I came up with. Keep in mind these are without any lighting besides what was coming in the window, and it was rather gloomy and rainy to say the least. So overall I am very happy with the results. If you like the photos, they are available for your commercial use by way of a commercial Attribution Creative Commons license. Hey, it's all about sharing. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.
UPDATE: I have uploaded several new today (12/03/07)
Pardon the selfish nature of this post, but I'm experimenting a bit with my Flickr photos, some new code and trying to resize it a bit to fit all nice and whatnot. As a by product of this, you are more than welcome to grab these images and use them for whatever you want. In fact I've made this offer before here and here, and they've been downloaded over 4,500 times so far. Okay, back to the experiment...
A creative dumping ground for issues that interest me personally and professionally, with the thought they may interest you too. Issues such as the business of design, the design of business, the design of objects, design strategy, creative direction, innovation, creativity, thought leadership, observations, as well as recommendations, mid-century modern decorative arts and architecture, and the state of my thinking (and currently the state of my heart).
Senior Art Director publishing; Follower of Christ; Boxing fan (and one time promoter); Collector of mid-century modern furniture, decorative arts and housewares.
