Snake Auction Observer: good furniture, undervalued, or eternal, all selected off LiveAuctioneers.com, with an emphasis this week on Artifort (Dutch furniture company, poppy, 60s/70s) auctions, vases and a Canadian auction.
Housekeeping:
I wrote an essay about vintage, related to my book, for GQ. It’s about the evolution of vintage from an outsider/artist pre-VC thing to its much broader bigger situation now. Much has changed, read on for details.
Auctions:
Paulin F784 sofa for Artifort, Media PA: Big auction here selling items out of the Dust Shuttle, a traveling antiques bazaar I’ve never heard of. Many things stand out but it’s mostly a handful of items by Artifort, the Dutch brand, with several Pierre Paulin pieces as the keystone. This two-seater’s the best one. Interviewing Paulin’s kid a few months ago he said his dad designed slightly differently depending who for, which is why the Artifort items are poppier and more fun than the very regal seats and sofas for, I don’t know, Ligne Roset. This thing isn’t as loud as even Artifort’s ABCD, though. It is harsh. Reminds me of the Eames tandem sofa or the Miller airport stuff. No real pricing history on the F784—LA is mostly ABCD sofas—but this exact one sold a bit ago on 1stDibs for $5,800. Very high tier piece, deal to me if you get this under $3500; right now it’s at $650.
Geoffrey Harcourt lounger for Artifort, PA: Another standout from the auction above; Harcourt is British (from London) and did a lot of work for Artifort, including the Cleopatra sofa (a minimal marvel), and a bunch of chairs whose designs are quite close to this one. This exact model seems to be his least popular (can’t find a name for it) and hasn’t sold on LA before. At $125, it’s a good example of how price does not really exist among good marginal furniture items, and that someone with balls can take advantage of other people’s lack of time/literacy to get a complete diamond in the rough. What I mean is… what’s this chair worth if it has no history and name? Well, it’s literally worth whatever anyone who likes for it pays for it. So the seasoned bidder in me says reflexively this thing is worth maybe $700 all-in…. but… say I need a chair or say this chair speaks to me or say I lost an auction on a chair last week and I really need a chair. And say I am looking at whatever is coming down the pike and I am not sure if it is for me. I might bid much more for this thing. The question, the move, the graduation here is to compare these completely in the weed items (I’m the only person in the world writing about this stuff) to stuff in stores or other furniture somewhere else. Can you save a bit of cash? Or, better yet, can you get something that like, you want, that no one else has, or which someone else has but which you like? I don’t really go long and philosophical in my newsletter or stare at my bellybutton (did a lot of the former in my first 100 newsletters which are collected in a BOOK) but it’s worth breaking down the philosophy clearly. Use LiveAuctioneers to within an inch of its life and you will find what you want. There is no price. The price exists in the buyer’s emotions and pocketbook. This is, in many ways, how everything that’s bought and sold in the world works, really—the vintage clothing market has adopted this theory and cracked, which is why shirts are expensive now—but because furniture is still severely at the margins it’s a little more clear. This is one part of the Snake buying philosophy; much of it you probably already have teased out in your head, consider it if you want your place to look nicer.
Componibili (Ferrieri for Kartell), PA: Little needs to be said about these, they’re proof that in furniture visibility doesn’t diminish a truly great items, I could visit 20 apartments in 20 days (let’s say I was a mailman or maybe a guy from the hydro company) and if every single one of these had a Componibili, well that would be 20 little thrills. These are the old ones, of course, the new ones have a black base which are disgraceful. Stay away from those. Fair price at $125; the haram reproductions ones go for $165.
Hoffman chromed cabinet, Ohio: Ohio is wild and this auction is half deco, half pottery, with more good items than one would think this mix would surface. This Hoffman cabinet is the most muted and versatile of all the deco stuff there, some of which is very regal and luxurious (Deco is the best deal in furniture by a country mile), but some of which looks like set dressing from the Hudsucker Proxy. I like this one because it’s in dialog with Marcel Breuer’s Laccio coffee table, from the ‘20s. Both are minimal and sleek and entirely about texture. No real price history; $250
Japanese modern ceramic vases, Ohio: From the other half of this auction, many stand out (look through everything yourself) but these ones to me do so the most, what with their color and shape. Reminds me almost of Christo, or maybe just wind. As well as this Casati lamp that I have. (Christo was Bulgarian.) Describing design is subjective and can sometimes become vague and repetitive: these vases don’t look Japanese, but then plenty of designs from Japan from this era (this lamp is probably 70s, maybe 60s or 90s) are items that look like they might have been from somewhere else. But then if you look real long and think too hard where that somewhere else might be there are no real answers. Or you can convince yourself of any answer. Really, it’s just good furniture. Very cheap, beautiful, $35
Brueton Complements vase, Ohio: More from above; this thing’s running $120, which isn’t bad, and there are a few other chrome vases with similar aesthetics in case you’re looking for leeway. These plain vases litter the shelves of those lousy old upmarket vintage stores in the 20s in Manhattan but they’re not as good there. Brueton does steel and customs, this I think is the Complement and looks like Stanley J. Friedman’s Puzzle vase (also for Brueton) only less wavy. Free Max B? Not much price history, but they seem to run $3-500. If I had more table space I would snag one of these. Alas, too many books and fruit.
Giovanni Maur bookshelf, Montreal: Bruiser auction in Canada, some 60s-70s hits, best one might be this Maur bookshelf, which is adjacent to Kay Leroy Ruggles’ Umbo shelving system but not round, and much less popular, and Canadian (produced by Treco, who’ve done storage super similar to Raymond Loewy’s DF1/2000 series). No price history! House also has this but smaller in red, a Paolo Piva lamp for Cevoli, some Castelli canisters (red, Russian style), this lamp which kicks ass. $375 CAD (like 280 US)
Knoll Pfister armchair, Astoria: Local auction, I love this thing. It’s beyond under the radar and is something like suburban mall furniture but quietly designed and from good material. In a world where I switch out my chairs every year this is the next one. But really, it’s just a club chair in sofa material. Auction is straight up dogshit—impressive how bad it is—but has some OK mirrors and an Eames soft pad chair, plus this sofa sized; Pfister didn’t design much else outside this bad boy. A pair of these in leather went for $4,400; prices vary. $100
Thonet side chairs, Maine: All told, the best chairs ever made. They might look like grandma furniture at first, but they are not. I can’t really explain it. Just trust me on this. They rise above the era and are simple and strong enough to like, talk to any of the other items here on this list. But wildly different, obviously. Maybe I can explain it. Hard to say. Man, what a chair. In great shape, too; you can see the tag. Millions of these were made, their prices run all over the place. $150
Quick hits:
Hay Mags two-color sectional overstuffed sofa (very good), $550 PA
Eva Zeisel pottery: Serving set $4 | China grouping $4 both PA
Danish tambour credenza (with the thing to put stuff in), $550 PA
Mart Stam chairs, six, $475 Ohio (pictured)
Thanks for reading, and buy my book.
Snake