Mid2Mod: reproductions

Showing posts with label reproductions. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Hold my place

Some of you may have noticed that Nick from Mid-Century Midwest and I were having some difficulty receiving items we had ordered from The Foundary.

A couple of weeks ago they offered reproduction George Nelson clocks by Verichron at prices so low I couldn't afford to pass one up. I ordered the spindle clock (which I think is what Nick ordered too).

The delivery date we had been given came and went...and went...and went. Nick and I were calling the company almost daily to find out when our clocks were going to arrive and griping back and forth about it on our blogs. We weren't as upset as we would have been if we'd paid for vintage Nelson clocks that had tragically been lost in the mail. But we did expect to get the repros we spent our hard-earned money on!

Mine finally arrived yesterday, and I have to say that it more than met my expectations. I've said in several posts that I don't find reproductions as déclassé as some people do. In fact, I think they are perfectly fine if you're not a collector and just want a "look." I also think they're satisfactory place holders for collectors who are still looking for an affordable vintage piece, which is why I bought the clock. I'll keep scouring eBay and CL and auctions for a steal on a real Nelson clock, but in the meantime I'm rid of the cheesy mirror that was hanging in my alcove.

Obviously, the Verichron spindle clocks aren't Nelson twins, but neither are the Vitra re-issues, which cost almost $500. The vintage Howard Miller Model #2239 Spool/Spindle clock was 22.5" in diameter and had a black hour hand and a white minute hand. The spindle clocks currently sold by Vitra are 22.75" in diameter and have white hour hands and orange minute hands.

The Verichron spindle clock is only 19" in diameter, and it has a white hour hand and orange minute hand like the Vitra clock does. The only really unfortunate thing is that they printed "George Nelson" on the face. (Ack!) While it's obviously not the real thing, for the price I paid, it will do just fine till a vintage Nelson drops out of the sky into my lap.

Here's hoping that Nick's finally arrived too.

Vintage George Nelson spindle clock for Howard Miller
georgenelson.org

Vitra George Nelson re-issue
vitra.com

My Verichron repro

So much better, in my opinion, than
the Hobby Lobby mirror I had there!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

According to a Manufacturer: Is it real?

Last week I posted about the first article in a three-part series on the Jet Set Modern website. The second contributor to the article "Is It Real?" is William F. Berg of Modern Wood Works in Kenner, Louisiana. His company manufactures a line of shelving based on the design of Eames shelving units. (First post: According to a Collector)

Berg clarifies the laws concerning inventions and designs, explaining two types patents:

Utility patents - Protect inventors for 20 years. Charles Eames received a utility patent in 1942 for "A Method of Laminating Articles," which included the curved plywood chair.
Design patents - Keeps a designer from being copied for 14 years. Eames received one of these in 1948 for the LCW (Lounge Chair Wood).

Once these patents expire, they can not be renewed. At that point, it is entirely legal for any manufacturer to use the design and put his own label on the resulting product.

Trademarks, which include words, names or logos that identify a product, can be renewed. For example, Knoll, Inc. has exclusive rights to the word Knoll when applied to furniture. Knoll also has the rights to the term Barcelona. Once the patent on a design expires and it enters the public domain, anyone can manufacture the item but cannot call it by its trademark name. Hence, all the inventive names given to Barcelona chair look-alikes, such as "The Pamplona," which is a regular in Craigslist ads.

Berg answers the accusation that manufacturing or buying a reproduction is unethical or immoral by pointing out that most Americans feel fine about buying generic drugs. Most have made copies on machines that were not made by Xerox, and most have talked on telephones not tied by pedigree to Alexander Graham Bell. Looking at it that way, maybe we are cherry-picking our causes about which to be righteously indignant.

Berg considers the terms knock-off, reproduction and re-issue (both "authorized" and "unauthorized") to be little more than sales ploys to discredit legitimate competitors who are operating completely within the scope of patent and trademark laws. He says that if a company is honest, makes a good product true to the original design that meets your needs and makes it at a fair price, buy it. He also reminds the reader that the original goal of the modern design movement was to make well-designed products affordable to the masses.

So...can you tell these apart without looking a my sources? One is a vintage Eames CSU, one is by Matt Blatt, and one is by Vitra.

The "authorized" version, 2011
vitra.com

Replica by Matt Blatt
mattblatt.com.au

The vintage Eames piece
treadwaygallery.com

Update: 4-19-2014 - The article that was originally on the Jet Set Modern site has been deleted, so I have removed the dead links from this post.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

According to a Collector: Is it real?

I recently ran across an article entitled "Is It Real?" on the Jet Set Modern website. It is a three-part look at originals, knockoffs, reproductions and re-issues from the point of view of a collector, a manufacturer and an heir of a famous designer.

Collector Sandy McLendon contends that most people have a knee-jerk reaction to pieces other than an original for several reasons: respect for the designer's intent, the desire to protect an investment or plain ol' snobbery. McLendon also points out, and I think rightfully so, that most people don't understand design law and don't really have a clear understanding of the terms original, knock-off, reproduction or re-issue, even though they may think they do.

McLendon is quick to point out that there is much "gray area" surrounding these terms and warns against oversimplification but, with that caveat, gives a quick, general definition of each one:

Knock-off - An item usually of inferior quality that borrows liberally from a design without actually copying it
Reproduction - An exact copy of a item that is of equal quality (or sometimes even better) and sometimes even made by the company that made the original
Re-issue - An item that is put back into production after being discontinued, sometimes using original molds or dies and sometimes addressing design or production problems encountered when making the original, resulting in a better product

Authorized re-issues are usually produced because the original company no longer exists or no longer wants to make the product. In this case, the designer, his or her heirs or the old company gives permission to another company, as in the case of Vitra's George Nelson Coconut chair, which Herman Miller decided was too expensive to produce.

Unauthorized reproductions usually result when the original design patent expires, at which time it's anybody's game, but they can be the result of a company's having bought old molds and dies from a company going out of business.

And what does the law say about all this anyway? Interestingly enough, you can pretty much copy anything you want to as long as you make a few changes, even something as minor as a color change, don't call it by the designer's trademark name and don't apply a fake label.

But then you have to deal with the thorny issue of what exactly constitutes an "original." Is it the prototype of a product? Is it a production piece? And then is it the earliest production or the latest? Or if you've bought an "original" Eames lounge chair but it has been reupholstered or restuffed, is it really still "original"?

All these are things the collector must consider when buying mid-century pieces. McLendon suggested that there actually are some good reasons to buy reproductions or re-issues:

They're more affordable than very rare pieces.
They can be used as a "placeholder" in a collection till an original piece is found.
They can be substituted for pieces so valuable that actual use is impractical.

But does McLendon want repros or re-issues after somewhat making a case for them? No, not really.

Genuine Eames 670 Lounge Chair and 671 Ottoman ($7,250)
1stdibs.com

Genuine Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, 1956 ($9,800)
Made the first production year. Does this make it "more original"?
Price tag says "Yes!"

Unidentified Eames knock-off...Notice the extra leg on the ottoman?
jetsetrnv8r.wordpress.com

Selig "Eames" chair
oldschoolartifacts.com

Plycraft "Eames" lounge chair and ottoman ($549)
planetmodern.com

Vitra Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
vitra.com

When you line them all up, you begin to see why this is such a confusing and difficult issue. Everybody, it seems, makes a chair like this...and a few of them were actually designed by Charles Eames.

(This is the first of three posts on this topic. The second will run Thursday, February 24. The third will run on Thursday, March 3.)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Modern make-overs

Mid-century modern is enjoying a renewed popularity, and reproductions, reissues and current day interpretations of classic 1950s chairs, tables, and sofas are cropping up everywhere. While vintage furniture by famous mid-century designers and even reissues are prohibitively expensive for most of us, some of the new knock-offs are excitingly affordable.

You can find pieces reminiscent of Platner, Knoll, McCobb, Wormley and others that start in the $200 range and fit right into the MCM homes of even the most discerning collectors. While not exact replicas, the "inspired by" styles give more than a passing nod to their original designers. I have the CB2 Tornado and Ergo tables alongside vintage furniture in my home, and I love them both.