Observer 100: A golden age for design consumers

Quick Hits ending Tuesday AM; 80s canon, purple chairs, perfect lighters, '30s canon

Howdy y’all, happy to have made it to 100 Observers. I began writing these auction newsletters a couple of years ago because I was finding too much good stuff to not… focus on it… in the 100 Observers since I have but hinted at the incredible value discrepancy that characterizes design these days. So many museum pieces… so many ass-beating items listed every day, which every week get delivered to honest American readers. Good… great furniture is accessible and cheap, or accessible and an investment. There are no real prices. Anything is out there if you want it.

A reminder if you are new to buying furniture on auction sites, read my guide:

For the how to.

I like the number 100, the first 100 Snake America letters, dispatches from the earlier era, beginning a decade ago, when Snake covered vintage clothing on eBay, were collected in a book last year:

shininglifepress

A post shared by @shininglifepress

And which remains available to buy through

Shining Life Press

’ website. It makes a good Christmas or Hanukkah gift for someone either fond of English usage or material things—or who is fond of both. Buy it here:

https://www.shininglifepress.com/product/slp-041-sheer-drift-the-snake-america-newsletters-1-100

https://www.shininglifepress.com/product/slp-041-sheer-drift-the-snake-america-newsletters-1-100

If you are in New York and have a book I can sign it. I will meet you anywhere off the F or G line (within limits). Long live design swag… long live credenzas… auctions… retail… smalls… long live Snake…

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Obs. 100

Omersa pig, Pa: Ends this morning… This is the

laura reilly

special, she got one (an Omersa elephant) for her house:

296: Heirloominati

She wrote:

When my mother told me she was clearing out her storage unit with things from our family homes, the first thing I asked her about was the Omersa & Co. leather donkey footstool I remembered from England (bought from Liberty’s)—did we still have it? Apparently it was too beat up and didn’t make it.

Nice to read that; Omersas… well, there is nothing like an Omersa. Perfect combination of luxury and kitsch… or maybe not kitsch but optimism… innocence… something like that. The footstools (all of them are good) have been around through so many crucial design movements…. 1920s… regal… Omersa… British brand, entered America in the 1960s through Abercrombie and Fitch (crazy), my ranking of their footrest animals is as follows:

1. Turtle

2. Giraffe (Giraffe 1 on a good day)

3. Rhino (more of a sculpture than an ottoman)

4. Hippo

5. Ram

6. Elephant and baby elephant

7. Lion (natty dread)

8. Bull

9. Equine (all)

10. Pig (cool since you don’t eat it)

11. Puppy/dog (very flat)

12. Kangaroo (counterintuitive)

13. Daschund (just OK)

14. Bootleg sitting rhino (rare)

Real ones have a badge. Pigs low key don’t go for much, a few in the sub-$500 range. I hope the elephant remains in the spiritual center of Laura’s place as it progresses.

• Part of an auction heavy on rugs and jewelry; includes a Revillon Frêres Saks fur coat—the former had a post in Quebec and covered shooting costs for “Nanook of the North.” I covered this in the chapter I wrote for A24’s Director Fits book, mentioned in this Vulture gift guide.

After the jump like 35 items, modular, deco, a bunch under $500, many in LA, many in New York, two very different pieces from my fav. upholsterer ever, stereo arbitrage, Kagan’s best piece… ass-beaters...