In the store: HUGE sale

Now through May 2, we're having the biggest sale we've ever held. Almost all our vintage modern pieces are marked down, many 25-30%, quite a few 50-60% and some as much as 76% off.

If you've always wanted to shop with us but haven't yet, now is the time...even if you're not local. Call Joe and ask about shipping.

Pair of 1959 Lightolier pendants (new old stock) - $400

C. Jere Brass Lamp - $750

8 Moller Chairs - $3400

4 Salterini Chairs - $1200

Florence Knoll Sofa - $2200

Hans Wegner Sideboard -  $3400

In the store: Care for a Danish?

No, not a pastry. More Danish Modern. But this time it's a little exciting for us, because we have beautiful Hans Wegner pieces in the store, some of which aren't even pictured in this post...so if you're local, you need to get in to see them. (The store, usually closed on Sundays, will be open for the Deep Ellum Arts Festival.) Feast your eyes on these great additions:

Solid teak dining table by Johannes Andersen

Hans J. Wegner teak chairs with original leather seats for CM Madsens

Not Danish, but Scandinavian nonetheless, these chairs are by Norwegian designer Torbjørn Afdal.

Form chairs by Torbjørn Afdal, also with original leather seats

And on the American front, we have bowtie chairs attributed to Paul McCobb, as well as a spectacular 72" bench/coffee table by Kip Stewart and Stewart MacDougall and a pair of Lightolier pendant lamps. (The lamps are a story in themselves. They were found in new old stock condition...still in original packaging with hangtags. They had never been removed from the box and were marked 1959.)

Bowtie chairs attributed to Paul McCobb

72" bench/coffee table by Stewart and MacDougall for Drexel

Lightolier pendants in mint condition

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Mid2Mod Blog Giveaway

I'm giving away this pair of vintage candleholders, created in Italy for Rosenthal Netter. To enter, become a Google follower of this blog and leave a comment on this post saying you're a follower and want to be entered.

It's easy to be a site member. In the Google Followers box to the right of this post, click on Join this site. Once you have set up a Google account, click Follow publicly, and you're done.

The deadline for entering is midnight CDT (North America) on Friday, April 12. The winner will be announced on Saturday, April 13.

My SIL is also having an exciting giveaway right now. Check for details on our Facebook page, but act quickly on that one, because it ends today.

The lights fantastic

Yesterday was Live-Dangerously-on-a-Ladder Day at the store...and I'm very glad I wasn't there. The ceilings are perilously high, and my SIL scares me half to death with his impression of a high-wire performer when he hangs lighting. It's quite the challenge to avert my eyes from all that bending and balancing, shrieking "OMG...I can't look...Be careful, be careful," and retrieve his dropped tools at the same time. It's better for him to work alone.

His risking life and limb paid off handsomely though, because he got two beautiful chandeliers up and glowing. The first is a 12-light Lightolier in polished nickel and black. The second is a dramatic 12-light brutalist piece designed by Tom Greene for Feldman.

12-light Lightolier chandelier in polished nickel and black

Closer view of nickel and black arms

Close-up

Brutalist 12-light chandelier by Tom Greene for Feldman

Close-up of Tom Greene chandelier

Michael Lax

Michael Lax (1929-1999) was born in New York and graduated in 1947 from the New York School of Music and Art. In 1951 he graduated from Alfred University, where he had studied modern ceramics techniques.

In 1954 he won a Fullbright Fellowship to Finland, where he studied Scandinavian design just as it was becoming popular. In 1956 Russel Wright hired him to work on a series of dinnerware designs. After working for Wright, he freelanced until 1960, when he started working on a line of enameled cast-iron cookware for Copco, which was noted for bringing a Scandinavian flair to American design. His 1962 teak-handled teakettle is one of his most famous designs. He continued to work for Copco through the 1980s.

Also during the 1960s he created the Lytegem lamp for Lightolier, which is part of the permanent design collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He also designed for Dansk, Rosenthal, Salton and Dunbar Glass.

In 1977 Lax received a Rome Prize for studing art at the American Academy in Rome. He moved to Italy in 1984 to pursue a career in sculpture. He set up a studio in Pietrasanta to work in marble and cast bronze.

From nytimes.com

Raymor Capri by Hyalyn
moderntimes.1stdibs.com

Raymor Capri martini pitcher by Hyalyn
modish.net

Copco teakettle
papermichelle.com

Copco fondue set
etsy.com - kibster

Primaries casserole for Iroquois China
etsy.com - zetro

Vase by Hyalyn
modish.net

Lytegem high intensity lamps
lightolier.com

A Sputnik by any other name

Yesterday's post generated quite a few comments and email questions about the style of lights commonly known as Sputniks, so I decided a spin-off post about them might be appropriate. The generic term "Sputnik light" derives from the name of the Russian Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite ever to orbit the earth, which was launched on October 4, 1957.

Gino Sarfatti designed the Astral series for Lightolier in 1954. The collection included the Astral, the Skyrocket, the Sparkler and the Mobile. Interestingly, these lights predated the Russian launch of the Sputnik 1 by three years.

The most popular of the four were the Astral, a pendant which had 12 arms, a ball center and was 14" high, and the Skyrocket, a considerably larger flush-mounted model with a cone-shaped center and 16 arms, which measured 33" in diameter and was 9.5" high. By the time Lightolier ceased production of the Astral line in 1959, dozens of knockoffs were being sold, and copycats are still being manufactured today.

Astral by Gino Sarfatti for Lightolier
crisangsteninteriors.com

Skyrocket by Gino Sarfatti for Lightolier
1stdibs.com

I did considerable searching for images of the other two but had no success. I did, however find this photo, which was identified as a Lightolier Sputnik with 24 branches. The dimensions were listed as 39" diameter and 28" high. While similar to the smaller Astral, this model has a different ceiling mount. I have no way of knowing whether this is the Sparkler or the Mobile...or neither.

Unidentified Lightolier chandelier
shophoopers.ca

From 1000 Lights: 1878 to 1959 by Charlotte Fiell