I don't know much about this stuff, so I'm sure someone can tell me more. I just bought this today cos I liked the style, and thought it was fairly unique to my eyes ($40 for the table + 4 chairs, 'case you were wondering...). Talk about your "slum of legs", I count 20 (24, if you include the support brackets at the top of the legs). Woohoo! So is it unique, or fairly common, and typical of the period? (I assume the period is the 50's?) From the chairs at least, it reminds me of Danish mid-century furniture. Am I close, or could it also be American, etc.? I only know this: The veneer on top is not real wood, but wood-grain melamine?/arborite? they often used on tables in the 50's. (It may not exhibit the beauty of real wood, but I like the fact that it appears to be more damage-resistant and waterproof than real wood or wood veneer. For a kitchen table, this is not a bad idea). The legs are metal, and I'm quite certain someone later spray painted them a copper color, so I don't know the original color of the legs, other than its dark. There are no markings underneath anything that give me a clue as to its origins. Feel free to give me your opinions too, of course...
Good starter set
As your first set in the mid-century modern style, for $40.... not bad.
But more you learn about this era of design: about materials, construction, designers, manufacturers....well, as your knowledge grows, so will your craving for a new set.
I started with something similar to this, but fiberglass chairs instead of metal.
Indeed, this is my first set...
Indeed, this is my first set in the mid-century modern style, but then, I wasn't exactly trying to turn my place into an Eames-era bachelor pad... I'm generally going for more "modern" modern, but I don't mind mixing old with new, if it works well enough. In fact, it may be sacrilege to say this around here, but before I came across this set, I was seriously thinking of getting an IKEA kitchen set. Namely their modern/retro fusion called "Fusion". Even though there are probably a billion people and their brothers that have it, I have to say, I still prefer the looks (and functionality) of Ikea's Fusion kitchen table set over this one. So I'm not sure if I'll be keeping this. But in quality, this "original retro set" wins hands down. Ex. The little supports in the upper corner of each leg are, as I just discovered, solid brass. It appears the original color of the legs was chrome.
Since I don't know too much about this period of design.... any idea of the time period or country where the design might have originated?
The quite
seriously tapered legs and "space-age" feet are not at all common. I like this set quite a lot. Are the chairs comfortable ? Did you get extension leaves with the table ?
A great bargain. If you kept it, you could eventually replace the wood-grain laminate top with something a bit more sophisticated, such as solid-color laminate or even wood -- making sure to copy the designer's subtly-shaped original, of course. And the painted metalwork could be powder-coated, perhaps, in black, white, or any other color. . .
The design is copied, I think; perhaps someone will have a name. The leg-foot shape has a precedent. Anybody ?
Thanks for your input.
I also thought the "serious taper" of the legs couldn't be all that common. On the other hand, I just spotted another 50's? table with a similar leg design, in the same market:
http://montreal.craigslist.ca/fur/595847431.html
And yes, my table came with an extension, which might come in very handy. The chairs on my new find are reasonably comfortable, but I would prefer some more padding, and ideally, a lower backrest. I was thinking of reupholstering the padding, but using comfy memory foam. If I keep this set, I might later consider changing the color of the legs. Black might be nice, but since I was set on getting an Ikea "Fusion" table, which has chrome legs, I thought why not remove the copper paint and expose the chrome legs. Anyone know if using a strong gel stripper will also ruin the chrome finish underneath?
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