Retail options for competent kitchens
And Obs 105
Shebat Salaam it’s a beautiful day in New York, they are discussing raw dairy in the New Yorker* (with friend of the newsletter
) and the Luka Doncic trade this past weekend was so wild a random hillbilly at the bar (wore Blundstones) interrupted our conversation to show us his phone with the news. There is an NFL football game this weekend (which is unfortunate) but otherwise life is very good. Lots of auctions let’s get into it, though some quick housekeeping, talked to me about my hobbies in his new newsletter, that’s here—thank you Will:
*Though barely, I want to see a Shteyngart personal history where he chugs a liter of raw A2 every day for a month as a gag and then no longer needs prescription lenses and has a hunger for push-ups, double sprints, begins wearing buckle back 501s, starts arm wrestling people in the street, gets tatted at Smith St. But it probably won’t happen for at least 7 years. Raw milk is legal in California and completely illegal in Eastern Ontario (oversight)
LAST WEEK’S AUCTION RESULTS
Below are the deals paying subscribers received in last week’s email:
Eames marble dining table $700, Knoll style chrome sofa $400, Bouroullec for Vitra Alcove sofas (pair), $350, Paulin-style modernist sofa $100, Lelli for Arreloduce floor lamp $600, Arco (Castiglioni) floor lamp $500, Burlwood veneer buffet $600, Graes-style satanic pedestal table $275, SIX Saarinen tulip chairs (Knoll) $1,000 flat, Cielo sofa $200, four Markaryd teak/leather dining chairs (Swe.), $275, Hard-shell fiberglas '70s sofa $350 (come on), Kagan Erica chair $1,300, Robois Grand Hotel diners (six) $1,200,, Wettstein demon white desk $250, Womb chair sold for way too much money (disgusting), Russell Wright bentwood lounge $1,300, Yrjo Easy chair $400 (WOW?), Lomazzi flap chair $1,100, Grierson bizarro Eames lounger $4,250 (worth every cent; pictured)
Retail world: Ssense sale, 1stDibs—Kitchen
Auctions are great, they are the widest and most consumer-friendly mode of design knowledge accumulation and actual design accumulation, and, more important than that, the life’s blood of this newsletter. See and bid on what’s on the block for long enough and you’ll find anything you need in most or all styles and at all spectrums of the cash layout scale. Occasionally, though, people want to buy things right now—with one click, unencumbered by a clock. That’s great for me and this newsletter because that leaves fewer bidders on the really good auctions, but it also works out well for the retail consumer because… well, there is very good stuff on retail (or instant buy—almost none of this stuff is “new”) for people. This week, the KITCHEN. Stuff for the kitchen. The kitchen is the most important part of the home; kitchens in New York are small so many of us live outside. I perused Ssense and 1stDibs to within an inch of their lives and here’s what I found
Umbertide S.A.C.R.U. orange ivory coffee carafe, $580, cheap shipping—rare to see a ‘40s Italian design, rarer still in this industrial capacity (sort of), rare as well to see Pynchon adjectives, most importantly this one fits between Deco and the simple expressive plastic shapes that would come out of the country a couple decades later. Statement piece, investment, I think… there’s a space and future in the world in which normal people have next-level kitchen design items but maybe a more accessible couch. If you put a shiv to my 16.725” neck I’ll admit this. Rometti is an Italian ceramicist; there’s also this liqueur set on 1D by them that’s about as good, minimal and expressive and can be handed down to generations.
Flavio table lighter for Murano, $390, cheap ship—something went wrong when we moved on from ripping cigs inside to whatever else we do now that we think is healthy (see my other newsletter), not that smoking is healthy. The greatest casualty of this is time—the dawdling and pause and commiseration (or maybe just thought) that cig ripping gives—the second is aesthetic. You don’t need a lot of good small stuff if you have a lot of nice lighters and trays. This is evident. This one’s shaped like a 12-sided die… and is glass… luxurious, with a 1990s Chanel color thing going on. Deep… and unlike a big item, it can be an unstated purchase…
Danish teak breakfast in bed tray, $300, cheap ship—the Danes along with nailing overhead lighting also execute their aesthetic (simple, wood, restrained, grain) best with campy items, like TV trays, salad bowls &c… stupid stuff for young families. This here is the best example. Of course, it’s not campy at all but some other third thing—meeting midcentury culture where it stands, perhaps. An honest facing of our modern predicament. Anyways, like a tambour credenza for your eggs. There’s also this fine/delicate Michael Bang (amazing name wish it was mine) for Holmegaard (gods of Glass) casserole that showed up in my search… quite small and cute, couple shades of orange (different from the SACRU above), almost a sculpture, a great gift, and a very decent shipping price (as is for all of the items I’ve highlighted). Bang for Holmegard casserole orange, $240
Sottsass ashtray from 2000 that looks like the building* in The Brutalist $318—let no one tell you 1D is an “expensive” website, one, all anyone does is work for a living and therefore it is good to sometimes blow money, but two, dialectically, you get a masterpiece of design here for the price of a dinner (with hooch) in Manhattan or for even less than a pair of one-wear Adidas running sneakers. Might be Ettore’s most beautiful sculpture if we’re being real, though I’m happy to be effusive about the most recent item of his that I have seen.
*No spoilers, but you know what I mean.
Arne Jacobsen ice bucket, tongs, $225, good ship—straight up an Albert Belle-sized deal here, this is qua post war bottle-size ice bucket.
Random ceramic plate, $26—quite good and lively, charming color pattern and as good as anything I’ve seen in a store in New York here or anywhere (tbh) not counting a couple of flea markets in Paris. Just a really good plate, made by some random person. The system works if you look. Local to NYC and made in Spain, too (so it’s not thin dogcrap).
Ssense is also a very low key (not really low key) clearinghouse for good, smaller design items. I found a glut this week, the best items are this architectural Michael Graves for Alessi salt shaker (really good, an optimistic and minimal design for him*; super strong), this Castiglioni for Alessi salad spoon/tong set (simple and perfect as usual from Achille), a Gio Ponti plate for Ginori (no-brainer at this price, bonkers) and a quite creative/classique salt jar from Georg Jensen (low profile, wood and stainless steel) that seems to me one of the best encapsulations of GJ’s aesthetic. But then—everything by GJ is so reined in and on brand. It’s a master class, really. All these items are under $100
*And not satanic at all. Tiny font, I bought an old Malevolent Creation (decent band) shirt on eBay (for nothing) and it’s too small for me (fits like a medium) because of the pleasant results of a workout block I’ve been on which I would describe as functional hypertrophy. Writing this in small font because it is unimportant and takes away from this newsletter’s profit matrix. But it needs to be said and it makes me wonder if this whole thing (chasing hypertrophy) is worth it… if we (as a society) can’t wear our XL Malevolent Creation (OK band) shirts, what do we work out for? Malevolent Creation game worn jeans….
Obs 105
Heavy weekend auction block here, with a number of items on the continent (shout out my Euro subscribers and their 6’1 genes), highlights this week include a spate of massive house-defining pieces on the West Coast, a number of fascinating French lamps (table mostly), a Pesce at under $350, a handful of canon/MoMA permanent collection loungers. Look at the price results above if you’re unsure. Instrux on how to use LiveAuctioneers are here, auctions below:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to SNAKE to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.