Paul McCobb for the Planner Group

The furniture of the people ... Up early on a very rainy Saturday, I saw an estate sale sign on the road after picking up my morning coffee and with bleary eyes entered the 1920's bungalow stepping back in time to somebody's eclectic mix of mid century oriental and early 20th century heavy wood furnishings. Walking through the house there wasn't much of interest for me, but seeing the things they left behind and accoutrements of their lives told the story many years in the making. It was the simple, splayed leg coffee table propped conspicuously on top of the old brown wood kitchen table that caught my eye. 

Planner Group Label by Winchendon Furniture Company

Coffee Table by Paul McCobb

This piece has 3 cleats for the legs which is a bit unusual. Pictures of other similar McCobb tables have 2 cleats either crossed or in line.

3 cleat foot attachments - Paul McCobb Planner Group

Back in the day, you couldn't go wrong buying a 1950's Paul McCobb coffee table for your ranch house and for many, the Planner Group designs define mid-century furniture. Paul McCobb furniture is everywhere as he made a LOT of it and it was cheap - at the time :) Love it or Hate it, there is little in between when it comes to the man and his designs. It was the SHAPE not the materials that differentiated his works. 

Oh! I waited until half off Sunday and a break in the rain before throwing it in the back of the blue truck for the ride up to Highland House 

Atomic Amoeba Glass

Bringing a little mid-century modern style and grace to my kids bathroom, I found this Federal Glass Contemporary pattern better known as amoeba, boomerang on drinking glasses, chip & dips and storage jars but was dismayed to find they were usually the key element of some street facing window for the chic Mid-Century shops in the county. This usually meant expensive.

1950's Federal Glass Contemporary Apothecary Jar

But last night I found this lone apothecary jar sitting on the shelf of the the local school thrift and knew immediately it was going home with me. The thrift has been inching up prices over the last few months so I have not been finding much out of that shop but this one came for a cool $3.99 and though not a 'steal' by any stretch was still most agreeable.

This pattern, popularly called, amoeba or boomerang, was actually called Contemporary #4695. Marketed by the Federal Glass Company in the 50's and 60's it was distinctive for a couple of reasons:

• They had 22 Kt gold integrated into their amoeba, boomerang designs.
• They came in turquoise, pink, white, and black.

The white and pink are most difficult to find but this turquoise will match the washroom's still original 1962 color scheme perfectly

Links

Federal Glass History

1968 Silvertone Console

For the price of a replacement stylus we finally have an appropriate device to play those antique music disk things!!! We have been looking around for the last year, waiting for 'our' console to come and last weekend at a neighbors garage sale this 1968 silvertone was offered to us if we would get it out of the driveway !!!. Yeah, sure ya'betcha ! 

1968 Silvertone Console

Home - the electronics cleaned and tested, we found the tuner and amplifier worked great and the disk player needed a $4 stylus we ordered promptly... Very cool tunes now fill the music room and NO (in answer to my youngest sons query) it does not only play old radio stations !

Amplifier worked great, just needed a stylus and a clean up. 

When it Rains ... It Pours!

We have taken to eating casual meals on the stools at the kitchen counter and for those meals decided to lightened up the mood with #midcentury shakers that are fun!!!! My daughter Grace spied these at the local thrift ($.99 ea) and from somebodies relinquished collection she chose the #kissingsquirrels and the classic #mcm totems. Both sets have cork plugs and were made in Japan after the war continuing the S & P shaker tradition started by John Mason in 1858 that required another 50 yrs before becoming popular when the Morton salt company figured out a way to keep salt from clumping in the shaker. 

Remember 'when it rains, it pours' !!!!

Mid Century Salt and Pepper Shakers

Eric Hoglund Was Quite a Mystery ....

Erik Hoglund studied art and design in Sweden in the early 50's and through the next 3 decades is said to have revolutionized the art of Swedish glass. 

When I first picked up the well taped bundle of iron at the Goodwill I thought maybe this was one of those metal puzzles and tried to connect the hanging chain to the glass holders in some rational way ... NO! When I spotted the 'Sweden' imprint I heard the little voice say 'Buy It' thinking this must be #midcentury and not just old iron chains. 

For $4.98 I was on a google adventure that took a week to determine I had found an early #ErikHoglund iron candelabra ... Still keeping my eyes open for the original glass, for the time being it will hang in the alcove by the fireplace. 

1950's Eric Hoglund Candleabra

The Artisan Group

This week I sold the old Italianate Couch that was sitting in the family room and went to pick up a couple of Thonet Lounge chairs I found on craigslist. Pulling up to the house south of San Francisco I immediately was greeted by a team of pickers who for the next 2 hours shared with me stories of their adventures around the Bay Area hunting mid century furniture. During this time they shared with me the many object de'art they had procured and were looking to offload and nothing really caught my eye until I asked about a surfboard table - yep, a Basset was in the garage and I could have it with a matching side table. I did not know anything about the Bassett company but the tables were in reasonable shape and affirmed their Danish influence with delicate legs and inspired rolled edges. We quickly worked out the details which included a future Pinot Flight wine tasting up at the house.

We loaded the 2 lounge chairs and the tables into the bed of Old Blue and as soon as I got home I looked up The Bassett Furniture Company and found they sold a wide range of furniture throughout the last century and the tables I had bought were from the Artisan Group, their take on the danish craze that was popular at the time. Designed by Leo Jiranek, a furniture and interior designer born in Grand Rapids, Mich.in 1900, and graduated from Princeton University. Jiranek had designed lines for the better part of the 20th century for most of the popular US furniture manufacturers at one time or another. Considered by some to be the "Dean of Furniture Designers," he was one of the Industry's first, and completely committed freelancers, who enjoyed a 67 year career working for such companies as Thomasville, Ethan Allen, Kroehler, Heywood-Wakefield Company, The Lane Co., Bassett, Broyhill and Garrison.

It was from ad's published in the early 1960's we find that the Artisan Group was finished with Oil Stained Walnut and Dupont Dulux Satin Sheen Varnish. 

LIFE magazine advertisement April 7, 1961

We are asked to consider the lines "oil walnut finish and unique rolled edges of solid wood" and then look at the price of $19.95 - $69.95". Unlike the similar Conant Ball table these rolled edges taper flat near the ends .. nice!

I'm particularly taken with the cat enjoying itself under the side table in the ad! The Artisan side table I found is exactly as is shown in the pictures, however, the coffee table is different. It has similar part numbers and the same Bassett Furniture Industries brand on the bottom even the same upturned 'rolled' edges but the table is longer, shorter and does not have the magazine rack under the table top. I have seen others like this at Etsy and 1stDibs and all attribute to the Bassett Artisan Group but I have not found any Ad's or references to the version without the magazine rack in Bassett literature. 

Artisan Ad 1964

My version of the coffee table

Tray, Tre Cool

Something in the wind is bringing me TRAYS - Stainless, Glass, and even another Couroc which I had to grab off the bottom shelf at the Goodwill and though faded and with a dull finish, was not scratched so I brought it home - does 2 make a collection? Hmmmm

The Couroc Company in Monterey California produced many different types and shapes of trays, boxes, ashtrays and glassware from 1948 until their closure in the early 1990s and this one is not a cheese tray but a little larger and without the wood cutting board. I loved the use of brass !?o!c!!?oo to indicate the parrots song - so creative!

The finish was dull and gray so I googled how others had cleaned these phenolic plastic works of art and learned that phenolic plastic was first manufactured under the trade name Bakelite after the inventor of the plastic Dr. Leo Hendrik Baekeland.

Seems there are several methods to shine up this early plastic, all of which involve some some combination of a fine rubbing compound (grit) to remove the oxidised layer exposing a new layer of unoxidised resin, and elbow grease!

Metal Polish / Brasso / Simichrome Polish can be used, but are relatively coarse abrasives, we chose the chrome polish method and it seems to work fine for the Couroc trays.

Couroc Makers Mark 

Couroc Cheese Board Tray

Couroc Parrot Tray

Links

Restoring Bakelite

Buying Couroc Trays

A Little Chartreuse

Auctions and Estate Sales are filling my sunday afternoons and my research into Russel Wright's American Modern is paying off as I found a few more pieces to add to the table this week.I will add these chartreuse pieces to the growing collection of Chutney Brown and Seafoam dinnerware that has been accumulating in the our new house.

Looking through the catalog for the Auction I saw a what seemed to be a strange description 'cupboard contents' and when I took a closer look I saw the now familiar shape of these american originals.I brought them home for $35.

American Modern in Chartreuse

Morgantown Ad

A short description at the Kovels website tells us "... Russel Wright designed dinnerwares in modern shapes for many companies. Iroquois China Company, Harker China Company, Steubenville Pottery, and Justin Tharaud and Sons made dishes marked Russel Wright". I have seen references to additional lines including commercial sets so even Kovels has some gaps in their information - take a look on the web, Mr. Wright was very prolific!

The Steubenville wares, first made in 1938, are the most common today. My new pieces above are from this collection.

Glassware designed by Russel Wright was also manufactured by different companies through the years including:

Imperial Ad

• Bartlett Collins (1957) "Eclipse" & "Sunburst" (I haven't seen ANY Sunburst but often see references to "Asterisk" are these the same?)
• Duncan Miller Imperial Flair (Flare)(1959) "Seed"
• Imperial Pinch(1951) designed to accompany "Iroquois Casual" 
• Old Morgantown/Modern (1951) was handmade glass. It included three sizes of tumblers, five stemmed items, a dessert dish, a pilsner, chilling bowl and a double old fashioned. It was made in colors to complement the American Modern line. The colors included Coral, Seafoam, Chartreuse, Smoke and Clear Crystal.

  

  Russel Wright Morgantown Glasses to 'Harmonize with dinnerware'

In the auction cupboard contents were also 4 Morgantown seafoam tumblers, 6 of the seafoam sherbert dishes and a chartreuse tumbler. A great addition to the now growing collection of our Mid-Century Dinnerware.

Morgantown Glassware

During the 1950s, American design was characterized by an organic modernist approach that rejected hard-edged forms in favor of curving forms inspired by the human body and the natural world. When I hold a Russel Wright (1904-1976) Morgantown glass it sits lightly in my hand, the texture almost sensual, the form pleasing and familiar. The response to his contributions in bringing his passion "Good design is for everyone." to Americans created the first recognizable ‘brand name’ in lifestyle marketing centered on an individual. Russel was the Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart of his day...deservedly so.

Chartreuse and Seafoam Glass

American Modern Dishware in Chartreuse and Seafoam

UPDATE:

Oh, Mr. Wright you continue to pull me into this organic #midcenturymodern vision of an environment void of hard edges and gratuitous excess - elegance in simplicity! Let nature dictate the form and thoughtful function follow ... Last week I found some American Modern dish ware in chartreuse and seafoam at an estate sale to complement the other pieces we have picked up. There were 5 place settings including a little black chutney thrown in for spice ... $45 and our table is a colorful splash from the #mcm palette ... 

Shaken Not Stirred ????

What is a Mid Century experience without libations of some sort? Isn't every gentleman required to know how to make at least the perfect Cosmo or Dry Martini? How can you make cocktails without a shaker? Besides being a useful tool to concoct a great cocktail, a shaker is also piece of décor that adds sophistication and elegance to your bar. Don't think a cocktail shaker should just be functionally effective, it also has to look and feel good.

With the seemingly unlimited supply of chrome, aluminium, glass and stainless steel accoutrements manufactured during the middle of the last century choosing the right shaker and glassware can be mind boggling. I want something that works with my chrome, black and gold tone decor in the dining room so when I saw this 1950's Aluminum Mirro 'The Finest Aluminum' I thought with a little cleaner and elbow grease it would fit in well with our new home.

Mirro Aluminium Shaker

At $1 (Sunday at an Estate Sale) this 40oz bad boy was going home with me! With my Danish Stainless tray and a couple of Russel Wright Asterisk highball glasses - I think this will look great on the X-Leg service table in the dining room.

Something Caught My Eye

I had a friend in the 1980's who loved modern art and as part of his consulting spiel on how to grow professional service businesses he always included a 15 minute section that encouraged business owners to 'go out and buy a few oil paintings, anything that caught their eye', and put it in the waiting room to show customers they had some kind of aesthetic sensibility. I use to love watching the accountants and lawyers all dutifully writing in their notebooks 'Buy Art'!

When we moved into the new house I put a California landscape done by Rod Newhall over the fireplace. Given to me by my mother in the late 1970's I liked the space being filled with SOMETHING even if it didn't exactly express the ideas I had for the room.

This weekend while walking through an estate sale in Terra Linda I found an impressionist piece from the 1960's that works a little better in our MCM living space. The piece called 'Fanciful Flowers' by the Marin Artist Ann Hardy was first sold at the Terra Linda Art Show back in the day. It is an multi-media impressionist piece that with orange/red flowers, gold accents and black netting background fits well with the dining room. The bill of sale and some notes from the show are taped to the back of the piece.

Fanciful Floral by Ann Hardy

Great Colors and Texture 196? 

Centerstage

A sunday Estate Sale with many mid century artifacts I think this just got overlooked as many, many beautiful pieces were sold that day. I took it home late in the afternoon for $20.

I am curious if anyone else knows of this artist as very little is on the web other than a few references to her work in the Art & Leisure section of the old Daily Independent Journal from San Rafael California on May 3, 1962 when she displayed some pieces at another show. Another article (September 25, 1963) describes her life with husband Barry and his passion for restoring old cars. Anyone seen her other works?

Living Room Clock

I had my dining room and Kitchen clocks and thought that I needed to keep my eyes open for something for the living room.  So many beautiful and interesting clocks were marketed during the mid-century. I spent about 3 weeks browsing the web and Ebay checking out the European and American clocks, as well as, looking at many of the recent Chinese knock-offs; reading the reviews and trying to decide between Electric, Battery, or Wind-up and Vintage, Licensed Reproduction or just plain copies.

Looking at Mid Century Clocks for the Living Room 

I loved many of the vintage starburst clocks (Lux, Elgin, Verichron, Welby, Seth Thomas and of course Howard Miller) but really didn't like the idea of an electrical wire hanging down the wall from my clock to a plug (or worse an extension cord!). I found that clockworks sold modern battery driven works to replace the electric motors on many of the vintage clocks and had fairly strongly decided on getting a big, old vintage Lux and putting a modern battery driven clockwork in it when I walked into the Consignment Store in Corte Madera and saw laying flat on a table what looked like a Howard Miller (Herman's son) / George Nelson Designed starburst.

I had looked at many, many of the various Nelson designed clocks and loved the playful colors and designs but the modern knockoffs were quality challenged (!!!) and the vintage one's I had seen on auction sites, Ebay and 1stDibs were going for over $1,000.

Howard Miller Model # 4755 Ball Clock Retail 1964: $30.00

Electric Nelson Ball Clock in Black and Gold Retail 2015: $1,200

Here was a modern re-production made under license by Vitra that wasn't $640. The design was one that I had seen but really hadn't considered for our living room as, like most people, was enamored by the colored ball model that really stood out but because of my budget constraints I had to take a closer look at this clock.

In his book "George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design" Stanley Abercrombie describes an evening at Nelson's where, as remembered by Nelson, he was joined by Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi and through an evening of drinking and playing with ideas for clocks on a roll of butcher paper, each trying to 'best' the other, when the men woke up the next day and looked at what they had drawn the now Iconic ball clock was in the mix. Nelson and Bucky both comment they think Isamu drew it first as "...[he] has a genius for doing two stupid things and making it extraordinary...out of the combination." A great story of the creative process and how synergy creates a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.

Looking through Nelson's catalog I found the model in the consignment store was Howard Miller Model # 2239 Spool/Spindle Clock Diameter: 22.5" with a Retail value 1957: UNKNOWN.

I made an offer on the clock and two days later the store owner called me back and said the clock was mine. It will look great on the living room wall. 

Vitra Nelson Spindle Clock 

Melting Clocks

Goodwill Novato today and found copy of a melting clock originally designed by George Nelson based on the well known painting by Salvador Dali "The Persistence of Memory". There is a little write-up on the various styles produced over on the InfoBarrel website, along with some pictures and how to find re-productions. At a whopping $2.49 I was ready to take the chance it still worked and took it home.

A new battery and it has kept great time ever since. I put it on the wood pillar between the kitchen and the dining room of the house, adding some iron dancers I found at the local hospice thrift ($15.00) and have been smiling every time I glance at it since.

 

Melted Clock by Verichron - George Nelson design

Something Old / Something New

Dinnerware picked up at goodwill over the years resulted in an eclectic mix of colors and patterns coming together is a colorful splash when laid out over Tuscan table cloths from Williams Sonoma. This worked well and was worry free with the kids in their younger years, however ...

Moving into our new home, the kids and I thought with them getting older, an 'Adult' house - a place to relax, unwind, get our homework (and work) done in a non-stressful environment was where we wanted to live.

We dispensed with all things 'Kid-Like' such as playrooms (we wanted a war room for our gaming and software development activities), sippy cups and plastic dishes (GONE! we want something 'intentional') and yes, we know how to use the dishwasher and clean up after ourselves. So, as we look at dinnerware options for our new home we knew we wanted something MCM and yet FUN!

A few years ago, I had visited an estate sale in Marin and was looking for some oversize bowls to eat pasta out of (we had chipped/broken most of our existing large bowls) and picked up 3 Russel Wright American Modern dual lugged serving bowls thinking they were the same size as the now chipped or broken Italian knock-offs we had been using during the kids younger years. It was (of course!) Sunday, the prices were discounted and there was a table covered in Chartreuse and Black Chutney Brown dishes with weird shaped handles and shapes. I thought it would be FUN to have these around though they fit in with absolutely nothing we owned or I could even imagine ever owning since we were living in the country house and going for the Rustic, Shabby Chic look throughout.

I picked up the serving bowls and then selected about 20 pieces of mixed American Modern and Iroquois serving dishes, cereal bowls and a pitcher for the total price of $22.

I had no idea what I was buying but liked the colors and the shapes and thought we could use these for casual meals outside on the deck as we often dined Alfresco during the California summer months.

Now enlightened to the history of the uniquely shaped dinnerware, the kids and I decided we wanted to use American Modern dishes in our new house even if it meant washing them by hand because they aligned well with our value of 'FUN!'

Collectors Weekly starts out describing Wright's work by saying he produced the dinnerware with Steubenville Pottery Company of Ohio, was introduced in 1939 and had sold some 250 million pieces by the end of the 1950s. The original colors were Seafoam Blue, Coral, Chartreuse, Grey, White, and Bean Brown. A second set of colors included Cedar Green, Cantaloupe, Glacier Blue, and Black Chutney. Today the line is produced by Bauer Pottery of Los Angeles, for whom Wright designed after World War II.

We had a small mix of Black Chutney and Chartreuse bowls and serving dishes and started watching Ebay and Etsy for necessary additions so we could set a dinner table. During this time I also saw his Morgantown glasses that were color coordinated with his dinnerware ... if possible, I would try to get 8 of these as well though at the asking price of $23 a glass at replacements.com I had to find some via another avenue.

Today, I found a Seafoam dinner plate, salad plate and a cereal bowl for $12 on Etsy. The seller was fairly local so shipping was $5 and 1 day later I received our first lovely blueish/green place setting for our new home. At about $5 a piece (delivered) I thought I had gotten a pretty good deal on dinnerware that typical goes for $7-12 for the small pieces and $10-18 for the dinner plate (PLUS Shipping) on EBay or Etsy. I have not seen many Russel Wright pieces on Craigslist and when I do they are usually at the premium Etsy / 1stDibs pricing levels. 

Interpur Flatware and Russel Wright American Modern Seafoam Place setting 

I'm liking what is happening and will continue my search for American Modern dinnerware, thinking a mix of the Chartreuse and Seafoam would look great with our table cloth!

 

Let's do this ...

The last 2 weeks were spent moving our 17 rooms of country house furniture and living tools into the Mid-Century Modern house on the hill.  I had taken over 10 truck loads (in 'Ole Blue' the 66 longbed pickup - still working hard!) of various 'stuffs' to Goodwill and was planning on using the existing bedroom furniture in the new house so this left the living room, music room, library, den, office and dining room to be consolidated into three rooms of the new house all the while maintaining the commitment to the minimalist vision.

It took 2 trips in the 26' foot truck over 5 days to get everything OUT of the old house (and an additional 10 trips in 'Ole Blue' ), turning the keys over 1 day late but still 7 days before the owners daughter was to move in - whewwww.

We staged everything in the double carports and dining room of the new house planning to be very selective about what went into the house, selling or donating the remainder. The Grand Piano (Steinway 1923 Model A) had been moved over the first day and was sitting in the living room against a backdrop of white vertical blinds and the view to the heritage oaks and Sonoma hills outside.

I could have stopped right there and just lived with the piano as the only item in that room it was such a beautiful sight to walk in the front door and see the piano (lid lifted) creating a black curved form against the white shades, yielding to the trees and hillsides beyond.

The ONE antique we will not relinquish in our pursuit of the MCM aesthetic ...

As we walked through the house we decided we HAD to sell or donate everything and start from scratch if we wanted to change our lifestyle. The furniture and design artifacts that we had acquired were never placed in our new house - we just took them out of the packing boxes to photograph for Craigslist, EBay, etc. or took them over to Goodwill. Kitchen goods stayed for the most part as we would NOT embrace the 'Easy Living' aspect of convenience via processed food but Pictures, Art, Glassware, Furniture, Lighting that all spoke to the perfection of the 18th Century drawing rooms and parlours had to go.

Flatware - Interpur INTP2 (AKA INR2)

I looked at a bunch of different flatware for our new house and since our old stuff was classic patterns I gave the whole lot to Goodwill and went about procurring something to go with our new table cloths and ideas in my head for a future table set with Russel Wright Dinnerware.

I decided on the Interpur INTP2/INR2 Stainless Steel with the composite handles though it was a difficult choice between Stanley Roberts Astro and the Interpur. I thought about cleaning, handle chipping vrs. the cool sleek design of the Astro but in the end it all came down to a set of the Interpur I found at an auction in Sacramento one Sunday morning, available for simply raising my hand at the budget conscience price of $19.50 for 152 pieces.

Stanley Roberts ASTRO

I had been looking at Ebay for a few weeks and most large sets (I needed at least 7 place sittings) of mid century steel was going for $175 or more. This set was beautiful and even had a couple of serving pieces in it, soooo -- these are going home with me!

Interpur place setting

I love the way the flowers on the handles form little hearts! 

Links:

Apartment Therapy Identifying Astro 

Ancient Point discourse on Stanley Roberts Astro

Stanley Roberts History

Interpur at Apartment Therapy

Interpur at Replacements.com

NO CLUTTER (but a little Atomic Table, Please)

My friend says to always remember and never forget the guiding principle of 'Minimalism' as I move into the new house. I think this means no 'Stuffs' as she likes to call the nik-naks, pictures and assorted things placed strategically around our last house; done to cover the ancient green wall to wall carpet and redwood paneling in every room of the house as much as to further a design idea. I have to agree that this house will follow the modern ideals as close as I can do it. To this end, I am either donating or storing EVERYTHING from the past, and only moving furniture and living accouterments into the space as desired.

I have 2 black leather club chairs  that will temporarily fill the need (and act as placeholders) for some kind of matching modern sitting objects in the future. And am thinking to place my iconic Gold and Black lamp and a little 2-shelf glass and metal table I found today between them.

After walking through the Salvation Army and finding nothing of interest I was on my way out the door when I spied a small bundle of metal and 2 glass disks taped up in a corner. I went over to take a look and as I picked up the bundle the store manager walked by and said 'Tell them $5 at the register'. Without checking for completeness or condition I walked over to the register, paid and took my booty home to see what I had bought.

It took a few minutes to sort out the pieces and the puzzle of re-assembly but it turns out the two round glass disks are shelves with gold rimmed atomic looking metal runs around each, sitting on 3 black metal legs. I cleaned the parts, found I was missing only a single brass cap head nut (which I picked up at the local hardware store for $.79), and after polishing the table and glass looks to be something out of a Mid-Century Regency type setup, but will work for us until something better comes along.

It is definitely old-school construction with metal glass holders and brass capped nuts holding the black lacquer painted legs to the gold rings. I think it will look good with the black chairs and gold/black lamp in the sitting area of the dining room.

Atomic Side Table 

The local Goodwill and Salvation Army Stores

Since I am getting ready to move, I have been making a couple of trips a week to Goodwill to get rid of 'Stuff' we have collected over the past 4 years and will never use again. I am also dumping old chairs. side tables, rugs and 'clutter' I picked up that worked great in our 'County Rustic, Americana' design motif but will never fly in our new MCM home. At the Goodwill, after dropping off my load of donations I have taken to walking through the store identifying anything that looks Mid-Century Modern. It has been an education unto itself and today I found a lamp that has a very mid-century feel to it. No markings that I can find but quality walnut and brass indicates it was built with purpose and so I took it home !! Before I left I grabbed a large tan colored drum shade and together spent $7.49
out the door

Walnut and Brass Floor Lamp

.

Turns out these mid century modern floor lamps have built in tables and designers made them of all kinds of different materials. This one has a base of solid wood covered with a curved brass plate and a thin veneer topped side table. Great for small spaces and accents, these floor lamps have a cool look and dual function and after a little 'Mothers Chrome Polish' and Restore-a-Finish it is ready to go next to the entry landing in our new home.

Many designers created this style of lamp including Gordon & Jane Martz and I think with this design the intent was to provide light and a chic place to set a cocktail, a small picture, or more likely a place to set your ashtray. Gordon and Jane Martz were another married team of designers from the mid-century. Modernism from the Heartland explains when they graduated from university in 1951, they began their married life by moving to Jane's home, Veedersburg, Indiana and took over Marshall Studios, a lamp company founded in 1922 by Jane's grandmother.

Brass Plated Bottom

Estate Sale in San Rafael (or Welcome to Living by Design)

I saw an ad on Craigslist for an estate sale that would include Mid-Century Modern furniture and lighting so I stopped by on Saturday for a look around. I fully expected the prices to be way out of my league and so, I was not surprised when I saw the set of Marcel Breuer chairs and little danish table marked at $500. Not knowing what I was looking at I took a few pictures and moved along taking in the Saarinen tulip table and chairs ($800) and various other iconic pieces of design that would lead me to much research over dinner that night. Though I didn't buy anything, I thought my time had been well spent as I actually saw and touched the works of art these designers had created and started to get a feel for the simplistic, no frills items they produced.

The sale was also open on Sunday and with prices discounted 50% to move the merchandise out the door I decided to return and see what I could pick up ... 

I had seen a lamp the previous day that embodied the 1950's modernism for me and when I walked in I went straight over to the corner it had been sitting in and YES it was still there. The tagged marked $150 was hanging from one of the lamp shades and though I was not able to find any references to the maker or the designer I knew I wanted this piece for our new house ... sort of an anchor for whatever was yet to come, something to build the decor of a room around. I took another look at the now $250 Breuer dining set and thought ... nope ,,, too soon, but I did grab a small sunburst kitchen clock and a couple of wavy looking aluminium candle holders and walked up to the counter knowing I could get a better price than the $104.50 asking price. I had been going to Estate Sales in the area for a few years, furnishing our old Farmhouse with a mix of European and Arts & Crafts style furniture and accouterments, and knew that Sunday at these types of sales was always negotiation day.  

I had 6 items in my arms (including the three shaded lamp!) and when it was my turn at the counter I asked about the Sunday discount and and quickly followed with an offer of $70 for the lot in my hands. The lady at the desk, looked at each item, nodded and wrote up the ticket SOLD! 

I had to re-wire and polish the lamp, polish both sets of candle holders, clean the clock from years of kitchen dust and oils, wash the Briard plate but had found a few little items that with a little research turned into a nice exposure to the MCM designers.

The lamp is still unknown but the clock turned out to be a well known and readily available (Ebay, Etsy, etc.) Spartus Starburst, the little Georges Briard Plate also lead me to MCM glasses and Ice Buckets, the candle holders were danish and suddenly all the influences on the American designers from the Europeans became apparent, the little Japanese candle holders showed me how Asia contributed to the 'Look' and finally, the Simtex Table Cloth designed by Russel Wright and coordinated with his Steubenville American Modern dinnerware lead me to his work and that of his wife, Mary, who so eloquently defined 'Easy Living' which in turn introduced me to the husband/wife team of Charles and Ray Eames.

The defining item

I still do not know anything about this lamp - if anyone knows manufacturer or date of production please let me know!  

Spartus Sunburst Kitchen Clock 

Wavy Stainless Steel Candle Holders

Georges Briard Dish

Simtex Russel Wright Table Cloth

Russel Wright designed tablecloth, made by SIMTEX in the 1950's

The tablecloth was a gorgeous piece of cotton woven unlike anything I see in the shops today. The colors match the American Modern tableware I have seen and the plaid is bold and symmetrical.