Snake Q&A 027: Sierra Tishgart/Great Jones
Prada, Fornasetti, Bottega and the Saint-Ouen flea. Plus: Classifieds and weekend auctions
Snake covers design and explains it. For a representative sample, read the best selections from this week’s auctions, and the most recent designer profile and explainer.
Today on Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture and adjacent is worth recording. Sellers, buyers, artists, adjacents, etc., but first:
Classifieds—two for sale, DM me
Rudi Stern lamp, one, NYC, asking $1,250 (Snake reader discount)
Two KR-9050 Kenwood receivers, knobs tough on one, flexible:
Sierra Tishgart | IG | NYC | Founder & CEO of Great Jones, a colorful kitchenware company! | Website | Kettle
Sierra’s a deep collector who is modest about her furniture depth and reach, and whose output (with GJ, which she founded) is colorful, fresh, reined in, direct—attributes missing from this space for too long before they showed up. They have an oven pan that’s the same colors as the old yellow cast irons that French companies used to make—what more do you need? I think the future of design is in smalls and accessories; easier to buy stuff for the kitchen than a coromandel screen or a sofa. There’s a real point of view to GJ; and, as we see below, to Sierra’s collecting.
Q&A 027
Fav. flea market?
Saint-Ouen in Paris is my favorite. Proud to say I am friendly with several of the resident dogs:
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
Best day was finding a floor lamp shaped like a tulip! It looks very 80s but was in a stuffy French antique store on Rue des Rosiers in Saint Ouen. Shipping it was going to cost as much as the lamp itself, so I constructed a box as tall as me, checked it, and prayed. Success! My husband says it looks like it belongs in Super Mario, which is rude but true. I like what I like.
Best eBay purchase?
I recently had a baby named Leander and we call him Lee. I discovered a treasure trove of vintage Lee-brand baby overalls with fun prints (one has sneakers all over!) that are heavily branded with his name.
A few years ago, I also scooped up a big, pink, swirled Murano by Dino Martens for Aureliano Toso glass lamp. I paid $264 and I spotted its identical twin in End of History (great local store), with another zero tacked on the end.
Best Craigslist find?
A tie between my dining-room table—bought off Craigslist for about $75, ‘80s, unbranded, simple, just a solid oval shape—and a wacky fiberglass lamp adorned with butterflies from an old dude who said he bought it himself at a flea in the ‘70s. Additionally: I once bought a bookcase off Craigslist and ended up dating the stranger who sold it to me. A good find!
Best LiveAuctioneers find?
A club chair and Ottoman upholstered in blue toile-printed fabric (specifically, it says, Manuel Canovas "La Musardiere".) The auction was in Connecticut. I felt inspired to go after this design after seeing how Saved NY (another great local store) used chintz in its upholstery pieces (I really want this bed).
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most? (or local store)
Eva Joan Repair! It’s on Jane Street. They can restore, tailor, and embroider truly anything old or new. They inspired me to collect vintage patches—ex: old NASA telescope patches in honor of my dog Hubble—that they embroidered on my, I’m sorry about this, stroller. If I’m going to look at an object every day, it has to make me smile.
Thing you most regret passing on?
This old Bottega bag via the RealReal that we’ve been using as a reference for an upcoming Great Jones print. Oh gosh, I love primary colors (very Great Jones), but really it's the size and layout of the stripes — how the pattern is almost gingham but not too preppy. I foolishly thought I could wait for it to go 20 percent off (with code REAL IYKYK), and I was wrong!
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
This fish-shaped letter holder on Chairish; I love anything literally fishy as my late dad was in the aquarium business. It sits on my desk and has turned my pile of bills into something joyful. At $22, it wasn't insanely cheap, but for the daily happiness it brings me, well worth it! Another notable fish object I have is a Murano glass aquarium.
Best thing you overpaid for? (if possible)
I am a big fan of Fornasetti — the maximalist Milanese design company that's still family-run. I’ve got pillows, candles, plates, and a side table from the Barney’s going-out-of-business sale (still: overpaid). I see Fornasetti and go weak; I purchase mostly the older stuff on resale sites (I just found an umbrella!) and collect pieces from the different "worlds" (ex: the butterflies on newspaper, the lips, the clouds, the city of cards). Probably my favorite piece is a pillow with the face of Lina Cavalieri — an Italian opera singer Piero Fornasetti obsessed over — crying on one side and smoking on the other. I flip it based on my mood.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
I’m not sure if this counts, but my dear friend Morgane Richer La Flèche hand-painted a mural in our new apartment’s dining area, sneaking in personal nods (ex: a Great Jones Dutch oven, the flowers on my wedding dress). I got so excited that I actually went into early labor while she was painting. It’s a chaotic choice that we did this in a rental—now I can never move.
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
Eny Lee Parker’s rope column lamp—she sold me her sample at an extremely generous discount when she was moving studios.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
Picture frames — tabletop ones, specifically. Mine are ugly and boring. I’m on the hunt for nice ones, but I’m not even sure what constitutes a nice picture frame.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
I’ll say Oscar winners Three 6 Mafia, as you can’t underestimate the power of “Slob on My Knob.”
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)
A vintage clothing store tucked into Saint-Ouen with a prestigious designer selection favored by fancy costume designers (think old Chanel couture, niche Hermès prints, an entire vintage swimsuit rack). They make you use gloves to touch the clothes and have a giant Bernese Mountain dog guarding the door.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
I can’t think of anything—if I love it, I wear it! But I’d say the most canon vintage thing I own is a pair of Prada flame sandals. I do have two 1972 Bill Stephens for Knoll lounge chairs in storage; I can never get rid of them because their color inspired our Great Jones blue.
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 bathtub at Flamingo Estate. Richard (Christiansen) is a genius and I go nuts for stained glass (why don't more homes have stained glass?). I love the palette of blues — and the way the light hits is even more gorgeous in person.
Favorite Russian novelist?
I don’t know what to tell you; I read the Daily Mail dot co dot UK.
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)
Oh god, jewelry. Dangerous! The rising price of gold, or something! I’m looking for a locket right now, but I can't find one I like that isn't Sherman Field (Danielle Sherman, another genius!). The problem is my taste is too expensive.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
Mies van der Rohe Cantilever chairs, with the lace-up backs.
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
In the wild, for the thrill of it.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
No!
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
@laurachautin (we made Dutch ovens together — see here!)
And my guy: www.lampsurgeon.com
Follow Sierra on IG | Follow Great Jones | Buy a kettle | Read earlier Q&As for free
Auctions ending this weekend:
1950-1980 Repertory book on Italian design, NY state, IHS, $120 (absolutely crucial book for those interested in Ital. design of that era)
Gio Ponti brass shopping bag baskets, NY state, Sat., $1,000 (inspired; pictured)
Artemide Logico suspended ceiling light, NY state, Sat., $200 (seller has two of the same, they are so great, very loose for Italian)
Post-Cardin chairs, six, Sunday, Yonkers, $200 (pretty regal, and cheap.)
Eames lounger, NYC, $2,500 (this shit big on TikTok I hear)
Borsani chaise lounge, NYC, $1,400 (statement piece; leather is perfect as well)
Harald Jegodzienski sculpture shown with imperial measurement, Beacon, $30 (pictured below; nothing is better than an auction set next to a can of red Coke for scale.)
Reverse housekeeping:
To anyone from eBay reading this: Why is there a limit on the number of items on the watch list?
The Joan Jonas face paintings at her thing at MoMA are very Athens 25 BC. There’s also a chick wearing Nike Presto Cages in one of her videos (taken at a scrapyard in 2002 or so). Good show
Is anyone actually avoiding raw milk what with the H5N1 “scare”? I’m off it for macronutrient reasons, and am curious.
Post Q&A god-tier aesthetic video of the week:
Thanks for reading.
Snake
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