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 

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

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

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

Stainless Steel and Sidekicks

I seem to have found a lot of steel this week and this stainless 18-8 Cordova creamer set from 1969 reflects the well designed, timeless look of mid-century modern decor. Out of the local school districts thrift shop (yep - the parents foundation generates funding for classes, field trips, etc with a shop!) I found a wonderful example of midcentury stainless steel sugar, cream and plate set for $1 a piece. The spoons were a set of 6 for $.50 at goodwill and the black tray, well the black tray has its own story...

Cordova 18-8 Stainless Steel Sugar Bowl, Creamer and Tray

The super cool midcentury tray made in Monterey California by another husband/wife midcentury design team, Guthrie Courviosier and Moira Wallace who hired local artisans during the 50's and 60's to create unique designs from re-use/re-purposed items - brass bits, springs, screws, glitter all found their way into many Couroc Tray designs.

Couroc Cheese Tray

I found this one at the Marin goodwill - $2.48 and the image is made of flattened brass wire coil, a sliver of driftwood and brass letters!

David Douglas was a prolific designer of sleek, cool, mid-century styled kitchenware and dinnerware. Responsible for numerous carafes, bread trays, butter dishes, and even a “lighted beverage glass,” which he patented in 1975 there is very little known about the man other than his name appearing on the bottom of many kitchen products. Though his work in the 1960's is phenomenal it is his Genie server carafe that commands the most attention. Regardless, I was smitten by this glass with gold trim coffee carafe from the 1960's - one of the few I've seen with a cone shape.

David Douglas Carafe ca. 1962

When I saw this sitting on the shelf at Goodwill with top intact I picked it up without going through the usual 3 questions - Do I NEED this? What will it replace? Can I live without it? The $.99 price tag eliminated any thought of waiting until 50% tag color day!

Links
Museum of American Glass in West Virginia
Modernism From the Heartland

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 ...