Snake Q&A 017: Jamie Perez Herrera

Escada, Scarpa, Texaco and more from an elegant interior designer

Nov 10, 2023

Snake is a weekly newsletter covering severe deals and knowledge, mostly in furniture. For a representative sample, click here for the most recent auction rundown, and here for the most recent designer rundown.

Now at Snake: Every other Friday or so a free interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, collectibles and adjacent fields is worth celebrating and learning from. Sellers, buyers, set decorators, artists, adjacents, etc…

Here’s the 17th…

Jamie Perez Herrera | @jamieperezherrera | Brooklyn, New York | NY based Interior designer, obsessed with the story behind objects and connecting people with beautiful things that make their life and spaces better.

Jamie is a killer interior designer who knows her shit, has elevated and broad-ranging taste and is a curious person. Also happens to be from the same subcultural world as me, which is nice. What’s the Venn diagram on ZOUO/Soriana? Not that small, but not that big either. Her breadth of taste and execution is evinced below.

Q&A 017

Fav flea market?

Most recently Feira da Ladra in Lisbon.

I love browsing through everyday objects presented with little context or hierarchy. A hand cast dining utensil for the traditional local dish, itty bitty (perfectly scaled) door hardware, old home catalogs, boxes of buttons, anonymous oil paintings and the perfect table setting for 12 next to the man in all leather singing The Cars in broken English and selling a manically curated collection of records.

The impending flight home and logistics of the day generally prevent purchases, the joy is more about the history by way of everyday objects. The flea market offers a peek into the interior worlds of the people who may live in the buildings you will spend the next however many days walking by.

Best flea market day ever—what did you get?

Years ago, I was a junior designer working on a very special project and it was my first time at Paul Bert Serpette. I was tasked with creating the shopping agenda, gallery appointments and restaurant recommendations amid spotty internet and zero French skills. Somehow all the pieces serendipitously fell into place, the right restaurant, right table, all on schedule to accompany a fulfilling day of shopping, sourcing and discoveries. There were perfectly curated stalls crammed full of the icons; Perriand, Royere, Chapo, Jeanneret, Tynell, Ditzel and Pelletier. This was my first time viewing most of these pieces in person, admiring their scale, age and genius.

We purchased several pieces for the project, and I took home the thrill in realizing I had undoubtedly picked the right profession.

Best eBay purchase?

A Machine Age streamline desk by Walter Dorwin Teague, initially produced for a Texaco office space. It’s got a tubular steel frame with an incredible brown, red and white Art Deco design on the top and an accompanying deep burgundy file cab to boot.

Best Craigslist find?

A 28” round dining table that was once on the Boardwalk somewhere in Coney Island (supposedly). It was 2014, my first Craigslist purchase and an item for my fifth New York apartment. It’s wobbled since day one. Now in my eighth apartment, 15 years into my life here, it’s finally too small! I am actively on the hunt for a replacement, but thinking this one will find a comfy new home in my office.

Best LiveAuctioneers find?

I had a bit of an overuse issue with LiveAuctioneers throughout the pandemic. We took a break and are in a healthier place now.

My favorite piece is one I have yet to get up on the wall - A Matisse Dance Poster celebrating a triptych mural commissioned for the Barnes Foundation in 1932.

It looks like a rendered elevation drawing, perfectly imperfect.

IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?

I don’t shop a ton on IG but the below have been tempting and serve up plenty of pause-worthy pieces.

Thing you most regret passing on?

Most recently, a set of perfectly patinaed Petrol Blue Cab 413 dining chairs by Mario Bellini for a client’s home upstate.

Best thing you got for insanely cheap?

A Rene Magritte offset lithograph from a rare edition published in 1959. Xoxo LiveAuctioneers

Best thing you overpaid for?

A 6” x 4” vintage Tramp Art frame dated 1912. I’m a sucker for the notches.

Favorite piece of furniture you own?

Currently, an Afra and Tobia Scarpa Bastiano sofa from the 60s. It was initially purchased for a client, but sent in the wrong size. I couldn’t bear the thought of sending this one all the way back to Italy and got it for a steal. A fantastic addition to the new office.

What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?

The medley of Aynsley bone china teacups and saucers my Grandmother left me. She collected the sets one by one, saving and adding to it for years. I channel her when I am feeling anxious for change, or impatient with the realities of waiting and saving for the right piece.

Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?

My first sofa, an armless Ikea Soderham. A comically ubiquitous selection among former colleagues and friends in architecture and design over the years. It’s as if everyone got the memo, it’s okay!

I find myself often making the argument for investing in quality upholstery, but haven’t quite taken the leap myself. I do have some extra daybed cushions I am thinking of making into a sofa like situation, soon.

Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?

Blind confidence, Nelly Furtado.

Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)

I recently befriended a neighbor upstate who sells antiques out of her home. She is a former RL stylist with a killer eye and unwavering ability to make an arrangement of anything look remarkable. I always leave wishing I could move in or at least stay a bit longer.

Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?

An Escada silk button down from the 70’s with a cowboy hat motif, chestnut brown contrast sleeve and collar, gold buttons and shoulder pads. I wouldn't say never but certainly not enough.

Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)

The World of Interiors is a longstanding source of inspiration and healthy lust for me. I slip away into dreams about far off crumbling villas, country estates and the undeniable allure of clutter in a creative’s home. I often use it as a creative touchstone when all the industry content out there becomes overwhelming. The features never fail to deliver character and warmth.

Favorite Russian novelist?

Pass

Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)

I am frequently in upstate NY and often drive into PA to catch treats from my favorite bakery (shout out to Beach Lake) and then take the scenic route to the antique stores in the area. I generally find some well priced goodies and get to chat with nyc ex-pat creatives who now run shops and estate sales up north. These trips have yielded a small number of coveted mid-century American ceramic pieces and a new ebay alert for Van Briggle Pottery. Overall the glaze coloring tends to be a little off yet decidedly timeless, the muted pastels, mustards, browns and blues. A collection is building.

What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger? (you can sort by age in the app)

A yellow Boby cart by Joe Colombo.

Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?

Gosh, the internet has changed the landscape for interior design in immeasurable ways since I started 12 years ago. I have a love/hate relationship with it as things continue to evolve.

I am often blown away by the remoteness of new vendors and grateful to be working at a time when there are so many online resources. You can find just about anything, but also not find what you want.

Nothing beats the wild for me though. It’s been a joy to form relationships with sellers over the years who will admit that they leave their best stuff offline.

Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)

No*

*Not if recontextualization is considered a form of discovery :)

Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)

They don’t need my boosting but I will certainly offer my unwavering admiration for the first few favorites that come to mind.

Follow Jamie on IG.