Classic Miid-century Furniture Reissues

Great news for fans of classic American furniture by designer and manufacturer Harvey Probber. Until now his furniture has been out of production since the 80s, the only way to find his modular sofa has been the occasional sighting on ebay or 1stdibs. This Fall, M2L, a New York distributor of authorized modern furnishings catering to the design trade, has been licensed to produce new editions, including the 1947 Sling Chair above and the iconic 1972 Deep Tuft sectional below. 

Prices for the Deep Tuft Sofa start at $15,000 in plush fabric for a 5 piece or $19,000 in leather. It may seem a lot but this furniture is so well made it will last a lifetime. 

Here at The Cool House we inherited a 1968 12-piece sectional sofa that's still as comfortable and sturdy as ever-although it was reupholstered four years ago. As Probber once said "the true test of great design is time".

Other pieces to be reintroduced include sleek, wood wrapped casegoods and seating from the Architectural Series that were originally produced inFalls River MA in the 1960s.

It's been 10 years since Probber's death when an retrospective of his work was held  at Baruch College in Manhattan. it's certainly time to give these gorgeous designs another, closer look.

Justifying Eames

It's a tale of love - let me justify it for you - I'm sure you'll get it...


I saw this original Eames Lounge and Ottoman in an antique store on my last trip to Brussels in November, a trip that coincided with the dollar's slide to an all-time low against the euro. The piece was in perfect condition, the chocolate brown leather worn-in just gently enough to be as soft as butter. I was smitten but the euro/dollar exchange rate was so bad it would have cost at least $3000 to have it delivered to me, with no guarantee it wouldn't be damaged in transit. Reluctantly, after briefly considering dreaming about buying a pied-à-terre in the city and placing this iconic furniture in it, I let go and walked away.


Then, in the bon chic bon genre Sablon district, we saw a brand new genuine Herman Miller licensed version in cherry and black leather for ::gulp:: 4900 euros, approximately $7000. Now, the same basic 670 and 671 models in the US were selling for $3899. If you subtract the price of the chair in the USA from one sold in Europe you save over $3000 or almost the price of the American Lounge Chair and Ottoman. It would be like BOGO - nearly free! Right? ...No?


Well, that's the justification I made when I gave in and ordered the limited edition Santos Palisander ( a sustainable alternative to the original rosewood veneer) Chair and Ottoman with black Dream Cow leather. It's an upgrade but I took advantage of free shipping and an extra 20% off promotion in December. It was a huge splurge, I know, and if I hadn't compared the prices in euros and dollars I would almost certainly never have taken the leap but if you remember I said back in 2004 I wanted one fine mid-century chair to complete the house; it's just that turned out not to be a Pierre Paulin Ribbon Chair but an American classic.

Dizzy

I am totally in love with this Sergio Rodrigues Diz chair from Vintage and Modern Brazilian dealer Mercado Modern. Designed in 2002, it pays homage to many 20th century styles and would fit perfectly into the unique architecture of The Cool House, perhaps near the Michel Arnoult game table. The asking price is actually something of a bargain - they retail for almost double. Dreaming....

Scarlet Seat

Around the middle of last week I got a call from the Awesome Designer to say she was on her way over with a couple of things she thought might fit in The Cool House. Full of eager anticipation I danced around in the driveway until she pulled in but nothing prepared me for the treasure she had stashed on the backseat of her car. Luckily The Guy was home to help because these two 1970s Steelcase chrome and wood armchairs probably each weigh more than she does. They are unbelievably solid and so comfortable that I've been sitting in one pretty much non-stop while Jefke the cat has taken over the other.


I've seen them before in black leather but the scarlet fabric seats and backs really add something special to the design and they fit in so well with the overall color scheme in the den that either the design gods were waiting for this moment to bestow a smack of style on the room or it demonstrates once again that you should always befriend a designer who has impeccable taste and knows how to persuade you to add another jolt of color to a room.

Pierre Paulin Dies

Iconic French designer Pierre Paulin died June 13 in Montpellier, France at the age of 81. Although he began his career designing for Thonet-France, he is most famous for his abstract and sculptural fabric covered foam on metal frame furniture that was produced by Dutch firm Artifort in the 1960s:


Ribbon Chair


Mushroom Chair


Little Tulip


Orange Slice


Tongue Chair



In the 1970s and 80s, two French Presidents, Georges Pompidou and Francois Mitterrand, invited him to furnish rooms in the Élysée Palace, and President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to Paulin declaring "he made design into an art form". Last year a retrospective of his work "Pierre Paulin, le design au pouvoir" was held at the at La Manufacture des Gobelins - Le mobilier national in Paris. His designs are in the permanent collections of museums worldwide including MoMA in NY and were used in the futuristic Elrod House setting of the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds are Forever”.


His last design, the Flower Chair for Magis debuted at the ICFF May 2009.

Ooh! Aah! Yum!

Today's etsy pick: the stunningly gorgeous Windowpane Chair from sprucehome. Classic, modern, chic and cheerful; it'll fit in almost any decor. And how about that photo styling? Pairing it with a mid-century table and wellies? Genius.
Update 30 secs after I posted this IT WAS SOLD. They have other beautiful items, though, get 'em while you can.

1970s Chairs: Simple to Ornate

Mario Bellini’s Cab chair is one of the seven design pieces The Financial Times picked to represent Design decade: 1970s. A seemingly simple design, the chair's steel frame is encased in leather, an idea that has been copied often since, which gives it clean, modern lines and a timeless quality that belies its seventies origin.
I love this design but I found the original Cab chairs hard on the backside over the course of a dinner party. When it came to choosing chairs to go with the Le Corbusier LC6 table for our dining room I wanted a more forgiving version. I found one, unfortunately without the iconic front leg zipper but still Italian and in black leather but more importantly with a much more forgiving seat.


At the opposite end of the 70s design spectrum, Alessandro Mendini's Proust Chair is a colorful and ornate homage to the French: Louis XV style, impressionist Signac-inspired fabric and of course Marcel Proust himself. At one time I wouldn't have understood this design, now I covet its overblown glory.

Read the Financial Times Design Decade:1970s article here, but take note that the FT managed to place the photo of the 1976 Cab Chair on the subsequent 1978 paragraph on the Proust armchair. Any easy cut and paste mistake to make but a pretty obvious one I would have thought.

Window shopping on the web

I'm currently lusting after a couple of items I've seen on auction sites on the internets.
First this modelicious 1970s Pucci Rocker available on 1st dibs. I'm totally in love with it but I think it's just too much for this house, although it might go here.


On the other hand these classy Lithic Floor Lamps, also from the 70s at Vintage and Modern are totally modern and in keeping with the style of this house. They are still produced today by the original manufacturer, J. Robert Scott so I can keep them on my wish list for now.

Orange Slice Chair update

Update to the post on the Pierre Paulin Orange Slice chair. The auction was Sunday and the chair and ottoman fetched $3000. It went to a floor bidder so I guess no one bid on it as a gift for me. Sob.

Anyone know where I can bag an Impala?

Yesterday I wrote that this had been a frustrating week. Here's the second thing I could have done without. The table and chairs above came from our previous kitchen, a tiny space but very efficient. We chose the table because it was small - we could sit four at a pinch but it's better when there are just two people eating there. The Impala chairs we fell in love with at the Modernica store in Soho, NY. We each chose our favorite colour (mine's red - that's a surprise, no?) and custom ordered them. The intention was that if we moved to a bigger space we'd buy a larger table and two extra chairs. Well that's not to be. Modernica has closed it's Soho store and are no longer producing the Impala chairs. This is a classic design but I have no idea who has the license to produce them and although I've spent two days looking on the internets there don't seem to be any floating about out there. And I'm not having much luck yet finding a buffet/sideboard/credenza either.