A Much-Belated Update

You’ve probably noticed we’ve been very quiet lately.  Even our Etsy shop was quiet for a month or two.  Well, we had a good excuse: we’re expecting a girl in mid-August and we’ve been busy!  Now that I’m feeling better, I’ve started posting new items to Etsy and we’re back to heading out to thrifts and estate sales (and I keep a variety of snack foods at the ready).

During the winter months, the thrifts were dead in Seattle.  We would head out for our normal Saturday jaunt and come home empty-handed after nearly 8 hours solid of visiting various stores.  It was a little disconcerting, quite frankly.  The past few weeks though, things have picked up at the thrifts.  All of our thrifting friends on twitter say that their stores have picked up as well.  Maybe people are cleaning out their garages in anticipation of summer weather?

Here’s our thrift-haul from two weeks back.  Everything but the Heath bowl actually came from the same thrift store!  That ceramic vase?  It’s by Alvino Bagni and is in AMAZING condition.   The Ken Edwards’ tray just sold this morning to a buyer in England, and the Blenko ashtray is up in the shop.

The above photo is from our all-day thrifting adventure on Saturday.  We were so surprised and happy to find new stock for the store!  We visited around 10 thrifts and were out for most of the day.  Our favorite piece would have to be the Arabia Harlequin vase (hiding out in the back right).  It catches the light so beautifully!

We hope the thrifting has picked up for you as well!!

George Nelson: Architect | Writer | Designer | Teacher

Last Sunday we caught the last day of the travelling George Nelson exhibit that had taken up temporary roots over at the Bellevue Arts Museum.  It’s somewhat rare for Seattle to celebrate mid-century design and architecture,  so we were excited to visit especially since this exhibit was originally curated by the Vitra Design Museum.

As we  made our way to the third floor of the museum, we were both giddy with anticipation — this is George Nelson after all — just think of the amazing designs we were going to see!  When we step off the elevator, we were greeted by the typical wall-sized exhibit title and a tired-looking security person staring at his watch.  We looked everywhere for programs, but they must have been out because we weren’t able to find any.  There was also no clue as to which direction patrons were to proceed.  Right?  Left?  It was anybody’s guess.  We chose left, since we could see a biography of Nelson on the wall and a glimpse of the Marshmallow Sofa.

The exhibition itself, as its title suggests, was set up to highlight different aspects of Nelson’s life.  We’re of two minds as to how effective this was.  The exhibition did a great job of highlighting just how vast Nelson’s reach was in the field of mid-century design, but we had trouble finding an overall arc to the exhibit, which made it fall a little flat for us.  There was little sense of his design process growing and changing.  It was as if Nelson’s designs sprung up ex nihilo, which is obviously not the case.

The first part of the exhibit (it seems that we chose wisely in our decision to turn left) was dedicated to Nelson the furniture designer.  Chairs and sofas were displayed on two levels, with brief titles near each object.  We particularly enjoyed this part of the exhibit because it  placed utilitarian objects as works of art, without apology.  It’s obvious to us that Nelson’s Pretzel Chair deserves a place in most contemporary design collections, but we think it’s a point that needs to be made, especially since so many pieces of mid-century decorative arts are being thrown out without a second thought.

The only downside to this portion of the exhibit was that the exhibition cards were off to one side and impossible to access without walking past the entire exhibit.  We can’t imagine that this would have happened with a line of eight nineteenth century paintings, so it seemed especially odd that the patron was expected to look at eight chairs and then read about these chairs all at once.  Although this seems like a small curatorial quibble, it very much changed the way we interacted with the exhibit because it was impossible for us to understand the progression of Nelson’s designs (and the ideas behind them) as we were viewing the objects themselves.

The case of the missing exhibition card was also an issue when we viewed the CSS unit (Comprehensive Storage System) that was on display.  As you can see, the curators artfully displayed smaller objects on the CSS unit, which we thought was a great testament to the function and style of the piece.  Sadly, the exhibition cards for the smaller items were located on a nearby wall, which meant that the patron had to cross the entire unit to get more information about a certain design object.  There were also some pieces that weren’t designed by Nelson himself — specifically Irving Harper’s flatware set for Carvel Hall.  It was almost impossible to ascertain who designed some of these smaller pieces from the exhibition card, which was quite frustrating.  (In another part of the exhibition there was a rainbow stack of Eames shell chairs.  Obviously this was a nod to Nelson’s tenure at Herman Miller, but it was a lost moment to integrate Nelson’s work with other designers at the company.)

We’re of two minds about the exhibit.  It would be a great place for a person to get a good introduction to Nelson’s oeuvre, and for those who want to gawk at mid-century design.  For those of us expecting an exhibit with a larger narrative about Nelson’s life and the ways in which his designs interact with 20th century design in general, the exhibition is sorely lacking.

Some Auction Action

For the past two weekends we’ve skipped our local estate sales and thriftstores in favor of visiting a few, local auctions.  Compared with our usual haunts, auctions take a lot more effort, but they can certainly be worth it if you know what to look for and how to shop.  Last week’s auction was over an hour drive from Seattle, but we had spotted some interesting lots, filled with mid-century Finnish glass.  We poured through the auction catalog and we were especially happy when we spotted a large Tapio Wirkkala Orkidea vase labeled as a “Modern Art Glass Vase.”  Most local auction companies run weekly or bi-monthly auctions so they don’t have time to research every last listing in their catalog; when you’re looking through a catalog make sure to go through every photo, because your knowledge very well may pay off!

At this particular auction, the auctioneers stuck a good number of pieces in box lots.  These are a mixed blessing because you are literally purchasing everything they can fit into a box.  In the case of the Iittala glassware, however, we were more than happy to pay for the entire box!  (Yes, we bought an entire box filled with Iittala glasses.)  Sadly, unless you’re the only person who knows the value of something, be prepared to pay more than thriftstore prices at most auctions.  The audience of this auction was populated almost entirely with dealers who, even if they don’t know what Iittala is, know that it’s interesting and probably worth a buck.

We research each listing we’re interested in BEFORE the auction so we arrive there with our maximum price already written in stone.  But once you get to the auction you have to pick up each item you’re planning to purchase and check the condition.  We really wanted to buy a Nuutajarvi glass bird at this auction…until we saw that it had a sizable chip, that is!

This weekend, Mr. Butter went to another auction in an entirely different part of the city and found another treasure trove of Finnish glassware.  Last weekend’s auction took over 8 hours (no, really) in an unheated room filled with cranky dealers.  After that experience, as fun as it was, I decided to stay home and warm while he braved the second auction.  This one was an estate auction, which occurs in the house itself.  Thankfully, Mr. Butter was back after only 4 hours!

Yes, that’s even more Iittala glass.  The best score of the day was a box lot that included the two ceramic pieces in the front of the photo.  Both are beautiful pieces of Arabia that were grouped with a piece of mid-century studio pottery as “Box of Studio Pottery.”  It always pays to turn over everything in a box lot because you really never know what’s hiding!  Mr. Butter reported that this auction went a lot better than the last (read: he spent less money) until a dealer showed up who was willing to pay market value on everything.  He suspects that the dealer was going to ship the entire haul overseas, which makes sense because we know the going rate for this stuff in the local, US market.

Auctions are a lot of work, but they can definitely have some rewards.  But take it from us, bring snacks, a lot of patience, and come well-prepared!

A (not so) Little Vase

Last week at the thriftstore we found a rather humble vase.  It was a little lopsided and I wasn’t sure we should bring it home, even though Mr. Butter–our resident glass expert–turned it over and found a signature.  Littleton 1962. So we took our vase home and decided to do more research, because even though the vase was signed Littleton, there was no way it could actually be made by Harvey Littleton, right?

After a bit of research and some help from our friends on Twitter, we found another example of his signature on one of his more experimental pieces from 1976, which looked very similar to the one on our vase.  Even more intriguing was the photograph we found from a glass enthusiast who attended a Penland workshop and got to meet Littleton himself.  During the workshop, she took a photo of Littleton’s first vase, and it bears a striking resemblance to our vase in form and in color.

We’ve emailed a few experts in the field and everyone has told us to get our piece authenticated by Maureen Littleton, who owns a gallery in Washington D.C.  Cross your fingers that we get some good news!

Mid-Week Thrifting Report

Last week the thrifts were dead.  It was like they were trying to tell us something: make cookies!  decorate your tree!  clean your kitchen!  This week we’ve had much better luck, thankfully and we’ve listed a few of our favorite finds in the shop already.  We actually found this Nambé bowl at last weekend’s digger sale (we blogged about the sale here) and finally took a few good photos of it.  This is an earlier Nambé bowl and features the impressed back-stamp.  It’s up in the shop!

We haven’t been able to find much information about this Alugrand of Norway enameled bowl, but we know that we love the saturated splash of color!

This wire dachshund has so much style.  We sold another of these rather quickly so we were more than happy to add his brother to the shop!We also snagged this beautiful, brass trivet designed by R. Dayagi for the Hen Holon company of Israel.  Dayagi is known for his modernist menorahs, but he also produced a line of trivets for Hen Holon as well.  Functional and simply stunning.

A “Digger” Sale

When we scour our online sources for upcoming estate sales, there’s nothing that we like to see more than a “digger” sale.  What’s a digger sale, you ask?  Well, picture boxes stacked to the ceiling, furniture arranged like a jigsaw puzzle , an episode of Hoarders in the making.  We know many people who won’t go to these types of sales since they require gloves, flashlights, and a strong back.

This sale was particularly hard-core since there was no electricity or heating in the house, so it was below freezing.  Yes, I know…we’re crazy.  Even so, we were first in line, mostly so we could snag an Alvar Aalto bar-stool and chrome eye-ball lamp that we spied in the photos.  I forgot to take photos of these last week, so you’ll have to picture both in your mind’s eye while you look at the other smalls we snagged at the sale.

Honestly, most of the items at this sale were in really rough condition (including the Aalto stool, sadly).  The person had wrapped early 19th century books in saran wrap, ostensibly to protect them, but he actually just gave moisture a place to chill out and grow mold.  We saw so many ruined books at this sale that it was heartbreaking.  The only one we ended up pulling out of the moldering stack was a first edition of Eugene O’Neil’s Long Days Journey Into Night, with its original dust jacket.  Thankfully, this book didn’t have any problems with foxing or mildew.

The rather atomic ceramic piece is by Charles Houston, whose name has been almost lost from the annals of 1950s ceramics, sadly.  We think this black-and-white piece has a lot of personality and–what’s more–he’s from the Central Valley of California, which isn’t known for it’s production of art pottery in the 1950s like Southern California is.  If anyone knows more about Houston, please let us know!

The other piece of pottery that we pulled out from the depths of smelly boxes was a piece of Lapid ceramics.  I’ve blogged a little about Lapid before and I continue to think that Lapid is one of the sleeper companies that will soon become more popular with collectors.  It’s gorgeous stuff!  Our piece is up in the shop for anyone who’s interested.

The final piece we snagged is the brass organizer in the back of the photo.  We love vintage office supplies–let’s face it, they’re much more sturdy than the plastic crap we pick up at most office supplies stores.  This file organizer is constructed out of a single piece of solid brass and would be a welcome addition to your (teak) desk.

Thrifting Roundup: 11.26.11

I can’t believe that November is almost over!  This autumn has been a busy one for Mr. Butter and me.  We’ve thrifted in fits and starts, but it seems as if we haven’t been up to our usual tricks.  We went on an afternoon thrifting circuit on Wednesday and here are the finds!

I’m a sucker for papier mâché figures from the 1970s.  These pieces fly under many people’s radar, but they can be quite collectible, especially pieces by Gemma Taccogna.  The larger papier mâché figure in the photo is by Abelardo Ruiz, another artist who, in my opinion, rivals Taccogna.  We listed the lovely lady in the shop and she’s already found a new home!  At the same thrift, we found a papier mâché pencil holder in the same style.  This one was produced in Japan, but has the same beauty as it’s Mexican counterparts.

Mr. Butter’s eagle eyes spotted two bucket tiki mugs at a thrift and we couldn’t help but scoop them up, especially since they were made for a local restaurant, The Four seas.  Ooga Mooga has a brief write-up about the mugs.  If you haven’t visited their site before, it’s an amazing resource for collectors!

The beautiful brass in the photo is a vintage chanukiah designed by R. Dayagi for Hen Holon.  Dayagi’s designs are quite amazing, especially his brutalist chanukiah and menorah.  This is the first one we’ve found and we were quite taken with it.

The last two pieces are the only things we’re keeping this week.  Mr. Butter has a soft spot for the designs of Joseph Low so he was quite happy to snag the Handel LP with Low’s cover design.  I love how his art references medieval and archaeological subjects while, at the same time, remaining completely modern.  Lastly, Mr. Butter found a Holmegaard cocktail glass, designed by Per Lutken.  Perfect for sipping a dram of scotch, wouldn’t you say?

Our Items from the Designer Estate

I realized after publishing our last post that I had neglected to share the items we took home from Propst’s estate.  We’re planning to keep many of the items from the sale, but a few will end up in our Etsy shop, so drop us a line if you want something reserved.  The photo below is our table of finds from that weekend.  (We also went to a few thrifts after the sale so the Heath ashtrays, Swedish spice jar, glass, and the Nissen cutting board are not from the estate.)

One of the reasons why we decided to attend the sale in the first place was that there were a few games designed by Piet Hein for Skjode Skjern.  I had actually been planning to buy Mr. Butter a few of these for Christmas this year, so it was pure luck that I spotted them at the sale.  Hein was a designer, inventor, mathematician, poet, and all around bad-ass, so anything designed by him is more than welcome in our home!

Propst also had a few kokeshi dolls, which–as regular readers know–is a new obsession at Chez Butter.  Also in the above photo are a group of stainless steel sugar bowls and a creamer from Arne Jakobsen’s “Cylinda” line for Stelton.  They look light, but these bowls have an amazing heft to them and the lids fit perfectly into the sugar bowls, creating a beautifully-uninterrupted line.  We also picked up this Dansk saucier at the sale.  This shape is usually called a butter warmer, but it’s much larger than the ones we’ve seen, so we’re calling it a saucier to differentiate it.  (Both the Cylinda and the saucier will make their way to our etsy shop eventually!)

My favorite piece from the sale is this rather humble Finel bowl, designed by Kaj Franck.  I collect these bowls, but usually I sell the ones we find that aren’t patterned.  I’m keeping this one, however, as a remembrance of our sale.  It’s still labeled with Propst’s name, and I like to think that this bowl might have been taken over to friends’ houses.  It’s a beautiful royal blue color that is rather hard to photograph, but it looks perfect with its friends along the top of our hutch!

A Designer Estate

A few weeks ago Mr. Butter and I spied an estate sale that looked right up our alley.  We’re a rather odd couple (if you haven’t realized that already): a good evening for us is grabbing a beer and sitting in front of our computer researching estate sales, an unknown item, or a designer we’ve recently discovered.  Two PhDs really know how to live it up!  There we were, on a Tuesday evening, exclaiming over Eames tables and other goodies we spied as we sifted through the photos.

So we got up early and trekked to the house, and there we waited with our friends, Sarah and Josh, who joined us for the early-morning festivities.  Once we were lined up near the front door one of the workers at the estate sale mentioned that the owner of the house was a designer for Herman Miller — and not just any designer, but Robert Propst, the inventor of the cubicle!  When she said told the crowd, a hush went over all of us and I felt very lucky to be second in line for the sale!

It all made sense now.  Mr. Butter and I both noted that the house had shelving units that resembled cubicles!  After a little research we found out that Propst had designed a number of houses on the property to showcase how his system could be transported from the office to the home.  The house was basically an open shell and the modular shelving systems created the various “rooms” in the home.  I have to admit, the kitchen seemed practical, stylish, and very usable.

We found some wonderful items for our shop and for ourselves as well, including the Kaj Franck-designed enamel bowl with “Propst” labeled on the bottom.  (If we end up selling anything from the sale, we’ll make sure to make a note of it in the etsy listing.)  Our friends snagged an amazing (and I mean, amazing) George Nelson bar cart for a song.  I have to admit, I was very jealous.

But the entire experience left a bitter taste in my mouth.  Many mid-century designers are passing away and I’m not sure they are being honored as they should be.  It’s my hope that many of us who attended the sale will give the items we bought a special place in our homes.  I know that I will.

We Just Might Be Onto Something…

After scouring the internet for hours-and-hours research Scandinavian modern design, we’ve realized something important.  Much like stereotypical artists need a beret in order to have a painting show at the Salon de Paris and professors need elbow patches on their blazers in order to get tenure, every Scandinavian designer worth his salt posed with a smoking instrument.  Not only did the smoke look artful as it wafted out of the photo’s frame, it gave the designer gravitas.  To wit:

Here’s a young Borge Mogensen flirting with the camera whilst smoking a cigar.  Doesn’t he look artsy yet serious?

From Mogensen's Wikipedia Entry

Here’s the inimitable Hans Wegner, pondering a Papa Bear while having a smoke.  (I know, I know, it’s not actually a Papa Bear, but we like a little alliteration in our lives, okay?)

From the Scandinavian Design Website

But by far the best smoking implement for posing wasn’t a cigar or cigarette, but a pipe.  Even today, you HAVE to pay attention to someone smoking a pipe (well, usually because it’s going to be a hipster with a handle-bar mustache, but you get our drift).  Scandinavian designers were no different — they wanted to been seen as well!

Enter the original hipster, Arne Jakobsen.  I’m not going to lie, I got my latest pair of frames after seeing this photo.  He is such a rockstar.

From Poul Webb's Biography of Jakobsen

There’s only one designer who out-hipsters Arne, and that’s Tapio Wirkkala.  Come on!  Look at Tapio smiling with his eyes, flirting with you, while he smokes his pipe.  This is a man who is confident in the fact he’s a complete bad-ass.

From the Scandinavian Design Website

Wait for part two, where we find even more Scandinavian designers holding their own with their stogies!