Snake CHAIRISH observer: with this past week’s light auction content, I’m taking a look at Chairish, the once incredible now pretty overpriced used furniture D2C site.
Chairish is interesting—when it came on the scene (maybe four years ago? I’m sure it’s older) deals were so good as to seem fake. Herman Miller chiclets ran for a few hundred; second-tier Italian lamps sold for nothing, great couches for $1,000. Eventually, during the pandemic really, stock cratered, and deals became more infrequent and now everything good on there is either listed exorbitantly or gets sold immediately. I remember my whole watch list just about got cleared out around April/May 2020. Sellers are often stores. While it’s cheaper than 1stDibs, which is targeted towards decorators (who are not spending their money), it’s more expensive than auction sites.
Is it messed up? Not sure. The prices went up since they were very low to begin with. Which is how it became sticky and memorable, and now that convenience is baked into the price. On Chairish you can buy a whole house in an hour, shipping is listed for each item (which is great), and there’s sometimes good stuff locally, especially in important cities like New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Brno, Czech Republic (seriously; lots there, not sure why). If you have a car (or strong mule), you can pick up these items for nothing.
All the below have cheap or negligible shipping. No steals, but everything’s either retail, hard to find or half underpriced.
Piretti umbrella stand: 4’ high perfect umbrella stand (Pluvium) by Giancarlo Piretti (Plia, Pona folding chairs) for Castelli; these things haven’t sold on LA for years and run at least $1,000 on 1stDibs, usually more. Becomes an umbrella stand when you push the discs out, this one seems nice enough to double function as a sculpture. Free shipping from Italy; seller also has a sick Perriand lamp. a really good Stilnovo lamp; other stuff is more expensive or has pricy shipping. $733, with a few in the same price range on Etsy and eBay.
Ferreri/Bellini Eddy Anywhere lamp for Castelli: Love this one, haven’t seen it before; one of the more fun Euro lamps from the era (80s, for he German lighting brand Luxo) this thing is apeshit, although not very big. Historically these haven’t sold on LA; a couple are on 1stDibs and similar sites for a couple grand. Seller also has some minimalist bookends (1980s school style); a very simple, nice black stool, a Memphis-style candleholder, a simple arc’d lightbulb lamp, each $210, a Sapper Alessi kettle for twice that. Eddy isn’t cheap—$1,667, but the legs stick on the wall and shipping (from Germany) isn’t bad.
Six Rosenthal by Bellini Cupola mugs: Sitting somewhere near Vignelli’s plastic dinnerware for Heller, but not plastic, these might be Mario Bellini’s best set of cups for Rosenthal, the German company, since they are so plain. (Lots of the other Cupolas from the ‘80s are cartoony, and less versatile.) Lots of colors and price variants abound, but they’re rarely around this price. Still, no coasters. Local to NY, free shipping; seller doesn’t have anything else worthwhile except this ceramic teapot. $110 for the set.
Charlotte Perriand Pivotante à Poser lamp: Three color options, never seen this bad little MF before. A number of Italian lamps from the 60s/70s put the lightbulb is the center of attention; this one by Perriand is from the 50s. Too good. The seller has these on their website (out of LA) for less, and they’re half the price on deplain.com; they all seem new. Still, cheap for a CP. Seller also has a couple of Magistretti Eclisses for $299, and a Mattioli Nesso lamp (OG mushroom shape) for a few dollars more. $421, $40 flat shipping, buy it on deplain if you need it.
Scarpa Tamburo for Flos lamps: The best Flos lamps? Or the most Flos Flos lamps? The company’s recent upswing is warranted (their shit good), and they are so palatable: their popular models (Chiara, Bellhop, Snoopy) share a French sort of restrained energy, but poppier. The Tamburo, by Tobia Scarpa (Soriana, many others) are an example of how it can be difficult to get something good for cheap if you want it right away: 1stDibs and Pamono have this lamp for around the seller’s price; there are a handful on other places, all with weird shipping or questions. $1,131, negligible shipping from Italy.
Brionvega Algol by Richard Sapper TV: These old televisions are amazing; you can rewire them and watch actual television. One on 1stDibs for the same price, a couple on eBay, this is about retail. $377 with $101 shipping.
Gucci armchair: What can be said about this chair? From perhaps the best era of luxury anything. Cheap, only $25,000; same price on Pamono and 1stDibs, though shipping on this is high; if it wasn’t, it would be the Snake Lock of the Week.
Piretti Plia for Castelli chairs: Classic plastic stacker, not cheap at $189, and shipping is $148, but maybe he cuts you a deal if you buy them all; they sell for about $300 in New York.
Odds and ends/cheap crap (all cheap/free shipping):
Veneta Lumi white lamp (70s) <$100
Czech wall sconce ibid
Ikea FEET lamp (classic dumb design) ibid.
Plain Italian 70s table lamp ^
Fontana Arte style poppy red/white ceiling lamp
Kenroy eyeball stage lamp (legit dope) $125
Stilnovo metal lamp $126 (very German expressionist)
Ikea Skojig Lebber lamp $130 (decent)
Artemide Falange 9 outdoor light $130
List goes on…
Thanks for reading — rest in peace KevOne. “Stay on your back, and look at the sky.”
Snake
Other work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-JLRt0Ec6gZBm50hATYCYmLctnF9GhVijoEbam50JSw/edit?overridemobile=true