Russel Wright Sterling Chinaware

Thriftscore this afternoon bringing home 5 plates from the dinnerware line produced by Sterling China Company in 1949 and continued through the 1950’s. Designed by Russel Wright and available in five sizes; this line was mostly used by restaurants and hotels and is quite hard to find - these are the first I've seen, kicking off spring with some fanciful floral for our casual counter meals. .
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Sterling China by Russel Wright

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 

50's Conant Ball Dresser and Nightstand - Pass It Forward

Last week as I walked through the furniture room at the Goodwill something under a varied array of faux decorator items caught my eye, in fact, what I saw made me stop in my tracks. I had never seen anything like it. It was a dresser and though feet spoke to a Mid-Century heritage, the drawers were offset and made the piece stand out from all the other 'brown wood' surrounding it on the floor. I pulled open the top drawer and immediately saw the familiar Conant Ball brand and thought 'Oh , My'.

ConantBall Brand

I do not like googling in the store (gauche), but I did a quick search to find out a little something about what was sitting in front of me. I quickly found a few samples after an images search and saw I had found a Conant Ball ModernMate set from the 1950's - I could not pass it by.

The 9 drawer maple dresser and matching Nightstand were unique and aesthetically gorgeous.

Conant Ball ModernMates 9 Drawer Dresser by Leslie Diamond NOT Russel Wright!! It has been postured that Russel Wrights' American Modern line built by CB in the 30's and 40's is definitely unique from the ModernMates lines built during the 50's and 60's. Advertisements and personal histories identify Leslie Diamond as the responsible designer for the ModernMates product line of Mid Century Modern Furniture.

Leslie Diamond ModernMates 9 Drawer Dresser by ConantBall 

After looking at the two pieces for a couple of days out in the garage, researching what I had found turned up some very interesting information. Touted on 1st dibs, Chairish and the like as "Russel Wright" designed with its 9 staggered drawers, the lowly redit had many threads supporting evidence provided by the granddaughter(?) of designer Leslie Diamond that indeed this piece was made in the 1950's and was part of Conant Ball's ModernMates line of furniture, that Mr. Wright had designed in the 30's and 40's for CB but not in the 50's as he had moved on to other engagements. I felt so cool knowing something the big boys had missed, what a weekend ....

Conant Ball Model 5308 D 9-Drawer Dresser. 

 

Kai Kristiansen Puts Us In Auction Heaven

Mom joined me at the local auction this weekend giving me her input on most everything that passed the bench - tons of fun hearing her talk about actually using some of the antiques we saw in daily life like Iceboxes with block ice in the bottom (cold air raises right?) and Japanese glass and stainless everything after the war.

I had been reading recently about Antique American ‘Brown Furniture’ and validating the article’s point, most of the day was spent watching as piece after piece of beautiful walnut, mahogany and whatever was passed or sold at unbelievable prices. The auctioneer was at times almost pleading with people to take the big armoire and china cabinets off the floor with tables and dressers finding a little traction. Very interesting to watch.

We had spied a couple of interesting pieces during the preview and after the dust had settled came home with some chairs that put me in Auction Heaven, notably 4 Kai Kristiansen No. 42 dining/side chairs.

Kai Kristiansen No. 42 Chairs

These iconic mid-century modern designed chairs are all teak, with the original wool upholstery in a soft rose color and a swivel back for comfort. Designed in 1956/57 there is no dispute the striking profile of these chairs fully capture Danish Modern Design.

Kai Kristiansen No. 42 Chairs

I must say that dragging Mom along brings pretty good luck - I wonder if she is available next month !!

LINKS

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

Mid-Century Modern Lamp

"... to unify the furnishings of a room, lamps should bring a thread of continuity to the look and feel of your space." ... So opens one description of how #mcm designers approached lighting and when I saw the gold and white geometric patterns on this#midcenturylamp I thought it would easily serve as the 'glue' that visually holds together our #midcenturydesign console and the #georgenelsonclock.

The auction was lightly attended and for what I would pay at the local thrift ($5) the tall, ceramic bowling pin found a new home after the obligatory cleaning and re-wiring.

Hand painted with media style texture in the large diamonds, the small diamonds are cutout holes giving the surface depth.

Mid-Century Modern Lamp, George Nelson Clock and Console Stereo

Gio Ponti Made Some Chairs

Walking through the back room of the Goodwill last weekend I spied the rope weave, delicate ball feet and stretched ladder back and passed thinking it was a #mcm knockoff, it was so light and the weave so perfect.I sat in the chair, it was solid.   

Back at home, while googling the usual keywords I found Gio Ponti, an Italian who designed mid century chairs meant to revolutionize the way the world viewed factory-produced furniture. He sought to reclaim the stylishness and artistic appeal of crafted furniture, while combining it with the ease of factory production. Interesting story, but since I had walked out without the chair I was pretty sure it would be snatched up pretty quick.  

However, I could not stop thinking about the fluid flow of the chairs design and returned on Wednesday morning to find the chair still in the back room and turning it over and looking at the front support saw the 'Made in Italy Mod.31' stamp I had seen on similar Ponti chairs on the web - $4.98 and it was in the back of Ole Blue ready to come home !!!

Gio Ponti Chair

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

Go Dog Go

Bookshelf 'stuffs' include the classic #MidCentury offerings of one Theodor Suess Geisel or as we all came to know him, Dr. Suess! What was YOUR favorite?? I was partial to Go Dog Go ... 'It's a dog party...'

Publishing his first children's book 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street' in 1937, during World War II, Theodor #Geisel worked in an animation department of the United States Army where he produced several short films, including "Design for Death". After the war, ‘Dr. Suess’ cranked out over 60 children's books, writing such #midcentury classics as 'If I Ran the Zoo' (1950), 'Horton Hears a Who!' (1955), 'If I Ran the Circus' (1956), 'The Cat in the Hat' (1957), 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas!' (1957), and 'Green Eggs and Ham' (1960).

A few of our favorites

Cocktails Anyone?

Wood and chrome bar caddy easily compliments the cross legged #campaigntable sitting in the corner. Out of the #goodwill for a cool $2.48 and married with #midcentury hand painted gold trim glassware ($.99 ea), a set of abalone shell coasters ($.99) and a hammered stainless ice bucket completes the necessary accoutrements of a #midcenturymodern setup ... Cocktails anyone?

MCM Must Haves! 

Something Special

Found the perfect place to sit the #GeorgesBriard dish!! At an estate sale in #sanfrancisco over the weekend, amongst sooooo much turn of the century (19th!) heavy wood objects, down in the basement, was this delicate little #midcenturymodern walnut and glass top table!

Amongst a few other treasures, I took it home and it was quick work to refinish the wood and clean the glass ... I think it will work well in the sitting room and the Russel Wright Asterisk Glasses look great sitting on the Zebra skin coasters !!!

As I was reading a little about Georges Briard I learned this was NOT an actual person but a signature Jakob Brojdo (the artist) used to mark commercial glassware he designed which were 'wildly popular and numerous'. So popular were his designs that Jessica from the blog,There’s No Accounting for Good Taste, states: “Briard designs were so numerous and were produced for so many years that it’s difficult to get through an entire flea market without seeing something he designed, which makes them great entry-level collectibles.”

Catcher

Wanted a lamp for the piano when I found this #mcm beauty on the shelf at the local thrift ... Half off at $3.50, the vintage mid-century "Style House #56" desk lamp features adjustable flexible joints for different positions. The black base, gold stem and hood will look great against the ebony finish of the piano. The hood and stem are made of plastic and the base is made of metal. 

The copy of 'Catcher' laying around is my hope one of the kids will get inspired and read this 1951 classic 

Butterfly's and Eyeballs

Took a few months, but I finally found a cover at#algomanetcompany for my vintage #midcentury 2-wire butterfly chairs ($25 for frame & $22 for oversized cover). 

I placed them beneath silver prints of the kids from #artrogersphotography with a #midcenturydesign chrome plant stand and #midcentury pottery planter I picked up at auction ($10). 

The eyeball lamp is from my #SanFrancisco days on Haight Street and after rewiring and replacing the bulb fixtures works great. #zgallerie provides the faux fur throw with super fine and comfy fleece backing ...

Designed in 1938 by Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy, also known as the BKF and the Hardoy chair, this design was first mass-produced in the US by Alvar Aalto's company Artek (the name a contraction of "art" and "technology"), Knoll bought the US rights to the chair in 1947, but stopped production in 1951 because they could not sue other manufacturers for making unauthorized reproductions of the Butterfly chair.


LINKS

Apartment Therapy Review

#vintage#midcenturydecor#love#me#instagood#tbt#follow#cute#like#followme#cute#tagsforlikes#happy#beautiful#fun#smile#igers#fashion#design#style#bestoftheday

Nambe Score

This weeks #thriftscorethursday has gotta include the sleek, elegant Nambe candy/fruit bowl pulled from the "steel" bin at the goodwill in Marin County. She was looking pretty sad when I found her but with a bit of polish and lots of hope she soon joined the Nambe candlestick and my favorite #katespade coffee cup. 

Designed by Richard K. Thomas in 1951 the graceful swoop of the bowl embodies the #midcentury ethic with a fluid, asymmetrical flow. Both the bowl and the Nambe candlestick came home for $4.98 - thrift score !



#thriftstore #midcenturydecor #nambe#midcenturystyle #midcenturydesign#mynambe#katespadeny