Set of 4 Rosewood Safari Chairs

Sometimes I buy pieces and immediately know that I've knocked it out of the park. Other times I buy pieces and 10 minutes later I'm slapping my forehead saying "WHY did I BUY that??" Still other times, and this is probably my favorite, I buy something feeling a bit lukewarm towards it, and it slowly grows on me the longer I have it, until I am totally enamored of the piece. That's what happened with these rosewood safari chairs.

Despite the fact that they are obviously good looking chairs (and surprisingly comfortable), I was not sold immediately. The Safari chair is a fairly common form, and even at its best, has sort of a limited value and saleability. It's sort of an in-between chair - not quite substantial enough to be a lounge chair, but certainly too wide and low to be a dining chair. Also, these chairs were, strangely enough, made in Pakistan, which is not usually known as a destination for fine furniture.

However, the price was right, and I was talked into them. I'm sure glad that the guy I bought them from persevered, because they are now some of my favorite pieces that I've bought in a long time! Once I got them into the store, I started to notice the extremely high quality craftsmanship that went into the creation of these chairs. First off, each chair is comprised of solid rosewood, with nice thick black leather seats and finely made brass fittings. Then I looked closer at the brass fittings and realized...these are hand-hammered, not machine made!

Being that they are safari chairs, they of course break down into 10 sticks and 2 slings each. These chairs take it one step further, however. When I was buying them, the guy who had brought them to me said "you don't want these bags, do you"? "Which bags?", I asked. "These carrying bags. Each chair has it's own little carrying bag". "Are you kidding me??" I stammered. Of course I want them! That's maybe the coolest thing about the chairs!"


So here I am, ready for a day at the beach with my portable rosewood & leather safari chair, complete with carrying bag!

The maker's mark.

Oh boy, more great stuff!

Some great new pieces that have hit the shop in the last few days!

A very cool studio pottery vase, c. 1970s.

A pair of down-filled cube club chairs by Charles Pfister for Knoll.

A mystery desk lamp that is giving me hives with the effort of trying to identify it. I KNOW I've seen this thing somewhere before!

A beautiful walnut coffee table by T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb. Currently in the process of refinishing it.

A really gorgeous fused glass vase. This one might be coming home with me!

A California modern split-reed cane and iron table/bench.

AND...last, but not least, a lovely little teak & oak desk chair with rush seat by Aksel Bender Madsen & Eijnar Larsen.

A Chair or a Sculpture? Leather Hoop Chair by Borge Mogensen

This week I was fortunate enough to acquire the above piece of art, a bent beech and leather lounge chair by Borge Mogensen. This chair has incredible presence, almost like it's a throne for some primitive tribal leader. It demonstrates how the masters of Danish furniture design were able to synthesize different styles with the more traditional "Danish Modern" and create true works of art (see also Hans Wegner's "Chinese Chair" or Finn Juhl's "Chieftan Chair"). Chairs of this quality just exude a certain je ne sais quoi - it's almost as if you can feel the presence of the designer and his intentions for the chair when looking at, and especially sitting in, one of these pieces. Interestingly, while I find this chair to be one of Borge Mogensen's most striking designs, unlike his "Spanish Chair" or "Hunting Chair", it does not seem to have a name. The only instances I've found of the chair refer to it simply as a "lounge chair" or, slightly more helpfully, a "leather and beech hoop chair". There is only one other pair that I can find currently available for sale, priced at a heady $7500 for the pair, which makes this find all the more special.

A Tale of Two Cabinets

I have two cabinets in my shop. One of them is an overpriced, rusty, crusty, old metal cabinet. The other one is an industrial steel cabinet with great patina that has been carefully preserved (wet sanded and clear coated so it won't rust), and is half the price of what a similar piece might be in a bigger city.
OK, so the catch is (if you haven't figured it out yet) there's only one cabinet, and depending on their point of view and knowledge of the antiques market, people have had VERY different reactions to it. While in truth, no one has outright called it "an overpriced, rusty, crusty, old metal cabinet" (this IS Portland, after all - that would be a VERY un-Portland thing to do), there have definitely been a few incredulous looks from people when informed of the price (which is $550).
On the other hand, there have been others who have said "wow, that's a great price". One guy specifically said "I live in LA and dealers down there are selling cabinets not half as cool as that one for $1200". I guess it all just depends on your point of view.

A Fantastic Pair of Burl/Root Tables (with an Aside on Custom Glass Fabrication)

These tables were another great Craigslist score. I was sitting in my chair the other night thinking "gee, I haven't looked at Craigslist in a while, I wonder what's out there tonight...", and what was out there, apparently, was these tables (listed, in an incredibly descriptive fashion, as "coffee table set". Hmmm). Chalk up one more score for Craigs Toolbox (the little craigslist viewer that is my secret weapon, find it at www.craigstoolbox.com - I'm not sure if it's still free, but whatever they might be charging for it, IT'S WORTH IT).
As is usually the case with these sorts of things, it was kind of hard to tell how good they were from the pictures, which, naturally, were horrible. The problem with these root tables is that sometimes they are coated in a super thick layer of goopy varnish, which is nearly impossible to strip off given the extremely detailed nature of these beasts. So, dragging my trusty assistant Matt along for the ride, we drove to SW Portland to check these puppies out.
Seeing them in person quickly allayed any fears that I may have had about their condition - these are simply a great pair of tables! The coffee table is 100% killer, with an awesome biomorphic glass top that would cost an ungodly amount of money to have made new. It's a great size, too - definitely substantial, but not so huge as to overwhelm most rooms. The side table is a little odd, size-wise - it would almost be better used as a coffee table with a bigger piece of glass on it. As it is (30" square), it's a bit small for a coffee table and a bit large for an end table - but with a 36-40" round piece of glass, it'd be a great coffee table size.
However, I will leave that up to the new owner. I'm always skittish about having new glass made, especially when it's a sizeable piece that's going to cost a bit of money. Since I sell so much stuff online, there's always the question of whether it's going to be more expensive to ship the glass safely then it would be to have a new piece fabricated at its destination. Shipping glass is always a risky proposition, unless one goes to the extra expense of crating it. So, the end result is usually that I need to leave certain things up to people's imagination - such as the fabrication of expensive pieces of glass.

A curious little chair

I have to admit, I was kind of on the fence about this chair. It almost verges on '50s kitsch, which, let's just say I'm not very fond of. However, it also had a pretty cool Paul Laszlo/Streamline vibe. The fact that it was big and really comfortable (and kind of weird) sealed the deal, however, and I wrangled it back to the shop. I think it would look pretty amazing redone in mohair - or something totally retarded like fake fur. What do you think?

Paul McCobb Planner Group Dining Table

I just got this gorgeous Paul McCobb dining table back from my finisher, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with it. This table fell victim to what I'm going to refer to as the "Great Ebony Stain SNAFU of '09". I will explain this in more detail in an upcoming post, but for now let's just say that this table was stripped and sanded one time more than we would have preferred. However, once we finally got the stain right, it came out looking gorgeous. I'm particularly fond of the design of this table, in that it has both drop leaves and center extension leaves, which makes it exceptionally versatile. With all three center leaves in and drop leaves up, the table measures about 7 1/2' long. With center leaves removed and drop leaves down, it measures less than 2'.
Here's the same table (but with only one leaf instead of three), in New York, listed for $3800. I think I'll price mine at around $2300.