Hi, all. I am in Paris for the weekend and am scouring my favorite place on earth, the Marche des Puces at Clingancourt. First, an observation, and then a question.
I have been here many, many times over the past two decades buying containers full of traditional antiques to ship back to America. This is the first time I have been here specifically hunting for mid-century stuff. Observation: there are lots more dealers in modern items than there were even five years ago. There are "rows" now of nothing but midcentury dealers, that were never there before. In years past, Welsh cupboards and Provencal armoires and farm tables were so thick on the ground you got sick of looking at them. Now, every other dealer is dealing in 20th century items. Just an observation.
Anyway, I don't own anything by Arne Jacobsen yet, but I love the shape of the Ant chairs. There's a dealer here at the market who has 4 of them. Three of them are signed (Fritz Hansen) and dated 1989 and the finish is a black stain. The grain of the bent ply clearly shows through. The fourth chair is newer (1992) but still signed and authentic. It has a shiny black lacquer finish.
So, this is a two part question. He wants 300 euros for the four (approx 115 USD per chair). That seem like a fair price to me, do you think this is a fair price? (These are not for resale, these are for me in my home). Second part of the question, if I strip down the black lacquer one and restain it black, will it look anything like the other ones?
Thanks, Riki
4 legged ants
I'd bet they have four legs as they are later production. Fritz Hansen only began to offer the ant chair with 4 legs after Jacobsen died in 1971 (he refused to even consider anything other than his original 3 legged design).
Regardless, if you like them and the meet your needs, the price sounds like a deal. I mean, can you even get a new chair of decent quality for under $150? Hell, just use the 3 around a small round table, keep the odd one tucked away unless you need it for company.
p.s. I am totally jealous of you shopping the market for good European modernist furniture at fair prices. Can I get you to ship some back here to me?
Yes, they
have four legs. Pegboard, we could split a container if you want. There is one dealer here who has stacks, (STACKS!), of Series 7 chairs with arms. She wants too much (220 euros) each but she would wheel and deal all day if we bought all of them. There are arc lamps and Poul Hennignsen lamps and Jielde lamps just everywhere. It's total overload. Gotta run, going to back this a.m. to get me some Ants!
There is no contradiction.
"how to interpret the profusion of Modernism at the fair?", just that Modernism stuff is becoming more popular.
They had the stuff so in front of their faces that they didn't pay them attention. Daily use. Now became more rare, more for collection, but more collection, more collection, made it more popular collection.
"but read somewhere that Europeans had an easier time accepting Modernism, thus more prolific..."
Provably that more prolific made it more accepted.
I don't know who I am to opinion, but perhaps the perspective..., Europeans have more sensitivity for modernism AS WELL AS DESIGN IN GENERAL, more as a way of life than an exceptional (or snobbish) experience. Common, ordinary users (not only design related) use design as natural thing.
Perhaps Riki/others may say something.
That "move" also recall me Riki's move from traditional antiques to mid-century-modern, surely felt "I was not wrong" or something like that, and wasn't indeed! 🙂
I enjoy a lot her trans-cultural experiences, this one as well as the the Hamburg hotel one. Riki, Please, keep us posting this "fresh perspective" that give you your new-arrived-perspective. I love all those thing that are there and the one that's living all his-her own life can't realize.
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