Why do so many people assume that "I bought it from an estate sale that had X designer and Y designer and Z designer furniture, therefore, mine must be George Nelson?"
When I look around my home, I have such a large variety of really good stuff, semi-good stuff, really crappy stuff and stuff that I just like, that I wonder.
Someday, when I am dead and gone, are my children going to advertise my estate sale as "all authentic, mid-century modern pieces" and then some poor sap is going to wind up with my "made in Tokyo, look-alike Jens Quistgaard desk" and become convinced that he has the real deal?
Was there ever a period in time when people only had ALL-DESIGNER, ALL-THE-TIME stuff in their houses?
I assume you are talking abou...
I assume you are talking about my post. I failed to mention that the owner of the estate is a very nice old Danish woman. She said her father worked in a furniture factory that produced pieces for Hans Wegner and Ib Kofod-Larsen. She had an entire Kofod-Larsen bedroom set including a tallboy dresser a 12 drawer dresser and two bedside tables! I also purchased a papa bear chair and Wegner credenza both of which I have Identified. I was just curious about the chair because I have yet to ID it. Regardless of the designer it is a lovely piece that I am looking forward to restoring!
No, it's not just you
It seems every other item on Craigslist or Ebay says "from an estate full of MCM design" yadda, yadda. Like, because it was lounging NEXT TO a designer piece, it absorbed its' "authenticity" through osmosis or something.
Why do people have such a hard time liking something just because it looks good? Yes, it is great to have iconic pieces, but it's also nice to just have pieces that have a story or that you just like, or whatever.
"Was there ever a period in time"?
Sure, right now. I know who designed practically everything I own, and I KNOW there are others here who do, too.
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that a person's taste and buying preferences are consistent across all his possessions. Wouldn't you agree that -- statistically speaking, of course -- a piece of furniture is more likely to be "designer" if it comes from a house full of designer furniture?
I do agree with you, though, about the "value by association" item descriptions on Ebay and Craigslist. They're meaningless, since they can only be posted by:
a) people who aren't expert enough to identify the piece in question, in which case how can we trust their assessment of the rest of the furniture that the estate was "full of"?
b) unscrupulous dealers who know perfectly well that they're selling a no-name or knockoff piece, but who aren't quite slimy enough to tell an outright lie.
c) people who've fabricated the "found in an MCM estate" story altogether.
I'm with you, Riki
I must say, that to my mind, knowing who designed nearly everything I own is an odd way to approach life. Now, and this is only my opinion, everyone is free to spend their money/time/energy the way they want to but, wanting designer everything looks to me like the possessions are more important than the life you live with them.
I like well designed things and I try hard not to buy things that are poorly made and disposable. But, I'd feel like my life was less well enjoyed if I didn't have some things in my life of dubious provenance. I bought them cuz I liked them not cuz of who designed them!
When i started collecting ...
When i started collecting big time 6 years ago. i went for all designer furniture . I had been married twice before and had all Baker traditional furniture, in my other two homes, great stuff but time for a big change.
So every thing i have acquired is truly authentic and mid century modern, It has been fun collecting it, as i have see a steep increase in the prices last 6 years. I love the look and i love the collecting I hate the junky stuff. as it does nothing for ones real collectiona cause as soon as you find the great stuff you hate the Junk and can not wait to get rid of it.
I am in my 9th month of a major renovation on this house, It should be finished in 2 more months.
Yeah, but...
why is something that is not 'designed by a known designer' necessarily 'junk'?!? That's what I don't get. I have lots of stuff that has no known designer, but they are definitely well made and perform their function beautifully. Why are they to be lumped under the moniker of 'junk' if there is no designer???
I love your stuff LRF, and you have one heck of a collection, but really must an anonymous product be considered crap? Are you really saying that?
Olive,
I think you are missing the point here, if i were collecting baseball cards ANY baseball card would be interesting to me and as a collector each card tells a story. That being said, I do not find it a complete necessity to know whom designed each piece of furniture I own. I cherish all of my pieces! I can't speak for everyone, but I love finding a piece that I know nothing about and trying to discover whom designed it, what year it was designed, the history of the designer and why he/she chose the materials to construct it. Maybe there is a cool story behind the piece!! I am merely asking you nice design addicts if you could give me any background information on a chair that I have never seen before.
In my opinion
well designed furniture - usually by designers with an architecture background - is usually well made too.
When my dad died and some money started coming my way, I decided to assemble some nicely made, designer pieces, instead of the poor condition stuff found in junk stores and a few select nice pieces.
I spent the money to buy books on Herman Miller, Knoll, McCobb and other American designers, because that's where my interest lies.
I started assembling pieces I liked without any real overall decorating plan...and lo and behold, all of the stuff I've accumulated looks really good together. (I didn't want any of the top 5 iconic pieces....no Eames 670/671 longue chair or Noguchi coffee for me!)
Most of us are not really snobs mentioning the designers, but most of the best furniture made in the post-WW2 era were designed by good designers and manufacturered by the best furniture companies.
Go figure.
back to CL dealers...
I know a lot of dealers of all kinds of stuff and a lot of them don't bother to learn much about the stuff they sell. They pick up a few bits of info here and there and try to apply it to everything, hoping to score as much as possible. It's just lazyiness, ignorance, naivete, and maybe even lack of time to do the research. Or lack of interest. A lot of dealers aren't particularly interested in the things they sell, they are just in it to make a living. Or they might have a passionate interest in one or two areas but they have to sell a broader range of things just to get by.
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