Today at 1st Dibs . . . Victorian Fruitwood Lay Figure

Available today at 1st Dibs and London's Guinevere Antiques, this Victorian fruitwood lay figure can be yours for the bargain price of $3900. Or, I have a very similar one (but newer and purchased at Blick) that I am willing to part with for a mere $1900. While it pains me to let it go at such a discounted rate, I think it's important to make you this very special offer.

Here is the relevant 1st Dibs data:

Late 19thC. figure 25 inches high- overall 28 inches.
Condition: Very good condition.
Measurements: height: 71.12 cm (2 ft. 4 in.)

Guinevere Antiques
578 Kings Road
SW6 2DY
Phone: +44 (0) 20-7736-2917

E-Mail: sales@guinevere.co.uk

Dealer Ref. : 43719
Ref. : U080122840138

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Product Spotlight . . . Z Gallerie's Rhino and Hippo

Z Gallerie small leather rhino and hippo - $16. Dork Alert - the hippo is seriously the cutest thing I've ever seen.

As I mentioned before, ever since I first stepped across Beth's threshold for our recent home tour, I've been trying like mad to incorporate a bit of her aesthetic into my interior (I'm a design vampire).


Beth's old apartment (she recently moved). Sniff . . .

My absolute favorite item in her apartment is a vintage leather rhino footstool. Made popular when Abercrombie & Fitch started distributing them in the 1950's and 60's, the footstools were manufactured in a variety of animal shapes. It's functional, masculine, a bit whimsical and in an ideal world, vintage. I've coveted them for years, but they're pretty rare and when I do stumble on one online, they seem to sell for about $2000, which is, unfortunately, not in my budget. (BTW, Beth found hers on Ebay as an "archery target" for under $100. I've tried but no luck so far).

If you share our enthusiasm and you have the means, 1st Dibs has a variety of vintage ones (including an elephant) or for a newly manufactured selection, North River Outfitter has a variety of animals (Labs, Elephants, Bulls and more) for $900 or less. One of my favorite stores, Mecox Gardens also carries a selection of new footstools.

And finally, Z Gallerie carries small leather rhinos and hippos more suitable as mantel accessories but still a cool way to bring the general look and feel into your home. At $16 each, Z Gallerie offered the best way to incorporate a bit of Beth's excellent style into my home design scheme.

What do you think of them?


Mecox Gardens - Online and in River North.


Bear footstool from North River Outfitter - $895


1st Dibs and Modern Designs - $2200


1st Dibs and Modern Designs - $1800


1st Dibs Paris - $1577


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Today at 1st Dibs Paris . . . Chandeliers

1940s Murano Glass Chandelier by Veronese for Andre Arbus - $22,912

If you each gave me just $1 . . . I still wouldn't be able to afford any of these fabulous chandeliers available at 1st Dibs. And there are so many more where these came from.

Aren't they stunning? Chandeliers are the ultimate accessory for a room - the bling, the va-va-voom, the pizazz. Yum, they're delicious. They're the ultimate mixed metaphor - tasty and shiny.

Any one of them would be a big improvement over recessed lights (going, going . . . ).


1970s Italian Chandelier - $4406 (they've calculated to the penny)


1960s Italian Chandelier - $2820


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Today at 1st Dibs . . . Can a lamp make you swoon?

My knees buckled when I saw this (and I'm sitting down). It's beauty has left me speechless, its cost ($2200) . . . incredulous.

Actually, if it looks half as good in real-life as it does online, I might be tempted to pony up the dough.

What do you think? Here's the relevant information:

Vintage Murano Table Lamp
Italy c. 1950

Striking vintage Murano table lamp with three globe motif. Re-wired for the U.S. and remounted on lucite. Shade was custom made in Paris.

$2,100

Condition
excellent

Measurements
height: 76.2 cm (2 ft. 6 in.)
diameter: 45.72 cm cm (1 ft. 6 in.)

Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: glass/silk
Creator: Murano

Photography
provided by Paris Underground

Location
Paris Underground
205 South Mill Street #231
Aspen
CO, 81611
Phone: 970-544-0137

E-Mail: parisaspen@aol.com

Ref. : U0805208303212

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Today at 1st Dibs . . . Assemblage Mirror

This 1980's gold leafed Jay Spectre mirror is a hair away from over-the-top opulence but the elegant lines save it from Dynasty decadence. This piece commanded my attention and stood out from everything on the page (if you've spent any time perusing the products on 1st Dibs, you know this is a real feat.).

Would you hang this in your home?

Here's the dirt from 1st Dibs:

A part of Spectre's revival of art deco in the 1980s, this large mirror is beautifully detailed, and stunning in person.

Measurements
height: 117.47 cm (3 ft. 10.3 in.)
depth: 5.08 cm (2 in.)
width/length: 92.71 cm (3 ft. 0.5 in.)

Assemblage Ltd.
121 North Jefferson Street
Chicago
IL, 60661
Phone: 312.234.9200
E-Mail: info@assemblageltd.com

Dealer Ref. : Mwh4713

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Pair of Gilded Empire Armchairs

While normally not a fan of gilding or ornamated (not a word? That's never stopped me before) furniture, I'm suitably impressed with this pair of French Gilded Empire Armchairs (circa 1808).

The chairs, available at Malmasion, provide a prime example about how fabric impacts the feel of a piece. A very sleek, modern chair will begin to look dowdy in doily or something too fussy. Similarly, the black leather serves to modernize the chairs and will help them to blend in seamlessly with a more contemporary, chic aesthetic.

What do you think?

Measurements
height: 99.06 cm (3 ft. 3 in.)
second height: 46.99 cm (1 ft. 6.5 in.)
depth: 48.26 cm (1 ft. 7 in.)
diameter: 72.39 cm cm (2 ft. 4.5 in.)

Malmaison
**By appointment only**

343 East 74th Street, PH4
New York
New York, 10021
Phone: 212-288-7569

E-Mail: 343malmaison@verizon.net

Ref. : 0803087808494

Today at 1st Dibs . . . French Industrial Cabinet

It's metal; it's industrial; it's French, and it's love at first sight.*

My industrial strength love for pieces like this isn't about trends or glitz, glamor or sex, and it's not about pedal to the metal in some mad race with the Joneses.

It's about soul and authenticity. The cabinet is dirty, beat up; it's rough. If it were wood, it'd be shabby chic, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. But it's not wood; it's metal and that makes all the difference.

By the way, I'm still waiting on Shabby Chic's defenders to put up their dukes, but maybe there aren't any (or at least aren't any that admit it, which we all totally get, so don't feel bad). But if you do like it, I have an open mind (you won't change it, but it's open). Send me your favorite shabby chic photos, your impassioned pleas.

Oh, here's the relevant information from 1st Dibs:

French Steel Industrial Tall Cabinet
c. 1900
A turn of the century tall steel cabinet from France. Very cool industrial look. There is mesh detail on the top and bottom of the door of this locker. Note the three hand-wrought coat hooks below the interior shelf.Measurements

height: 172.72 cm (68 1/2)
depth: 50.8 cm (1 ft. 8 in.)
width/length: 50.8 cm (20 1/2)

Briggs House Antiques
566 E Boston Post Road
Mamaroneck
NY, 10543
Phone: 914-381-0650

E-Mail: shop@briggshouse.com

Dealer Ref. : 0108-175
Ref. : U08040879101117

*It's also looks a lot like locker vs. a "cabinet."

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Nesting Tables

Ah 1st Dibs; what would I do without you? How would I make it through business conference calls? These nesting tables would be amazing in the right space. Although a bit ornate for my taste, I could deal with them - they have simple, straight lines but with a bit of fancy; they'd definitely add a bit of wow to the right space.

I think what most attracts me to these is that they're quite unlike most of the merchandise being hawked by the major retailers.

What do you think?

Gilt-bronze Nesting Tables with Carrera Plateaux
France
c. 1940's
Attractive nesting tables in gilt-bronze with Carrera marble plateaux; the reeded legs with acorn finials on the larger table and at the center of the x-stretcher of the smaller table; toupie feet; measurement at the larger table

Condition
very good vintage condition; attractive patina to the finish

Measurements
height: 54.61 cm (1 ft. 9.5 in.)
depth: 33.02 cm (1 ft. 1 in.)
width/length: 58.42 cm (1 ft. 11 in.)

Jon Vaccari Design
4858 Magazine Street
New Orleans
LA, 70115
Phone: 504-899-7632

E-Mail: info@jonvaccaridesign.com

Dealer Ref. : 816

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Groseld House Blue Leather Desk

Today's 1st Dibs find is a Groseld House blue leather desk, offered by Todd Merrill antiques. Oddly, I both love it and hate it; context, as usual, will be key, (Greek in this case).

What do you think?

From 1st Dibs:
c. 1940
Turquoise blue leather clad desk by Grosfeld House. Desk with nine
drawers with solid brass ring pulls. Case in speckled silver grey
satin finish lacquer. Turquoise, gold tooled leather in a Greek key
motif. Signed with manufacturers tag, "Grosfeld House New York Chicago
Los Angeles"

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Love It or Hate It?

Top: Pieces from 1st Dibs and Antiques on Old Plank Road.

The use of plants and animals in design is moving beyond cowhide and leather coverings and increasingly toward a strikingly literal interpretation.

While I can appreciate this resurgent trend, I'm not sure it's for me (although I can tolerate the rare antique pieces from 1st Dibs much more than the mass-produced Z Gallerie items.)

What do you think? Do you love these pieces, hate them or even worse, are you utterly indifferent?




New pieces from Z Gallerie.

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Small Expatriate Stool

From 1st Dibs:

Small Expatriate Stool
Tianjin, China
19th century
From the port city of Tianjin, commissioned by a European expatriate in a Continental furniture style, this small stool has a carved floral apron with claw and ball feet and traces of original paint. Newly reupholstered.

Pagoda Red
1714 N. Damen Ave
Chicago
IL, 60647
Phone: 773-235-1188

E-Mail: info@pagodared.com

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Mid-Century Tables

Now we're talking. Whenever I see a mid-century piece I'm not familar with yet, my pulse quickens and it's like the first time all over again (seeing an Eames). Alexander Girard designed these tables in 1965 or Braniff Airways and were in production by for Herman Miller for one year. The marble and aluminum tables are offered by the Warehouse in New York and are currently on display at 1st Dibs.

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Mid-Century Desk Lamp

This is a lamp for the person who actually plans to get some work done. If you're just goofing off, buying itunes and looking at (design) porn (like me), do me, no, do yourself a favor, don't buy this.

But if you're the person who's up at 2 a.m. learning about the universe or finding a cure for something or trying to solve the unsolveable case or even just crafting the perfect sentence, then this is the lamp for you. This is a serious lamp, a sturdy lamp, a lamp for people who get things done; it likes a little cigarette smoke, and it loves the smell of coffee. If you're a the type to sip on a glass of chardonnay, please spare us; this is not the lamp for you; this lamp doesn't suffer fools gladly, so don't make it.

If there's one thing life has taught me lately, don't try to stick a square peg in a round hole. Yes, I learned it as a kid, but I must have forgotten at some point, but lately the universe has been reminding me.

Pegaso Gallery International

812 N. La Cienega BlvdCaliforniaLA, 90069

310-659-8159

E-Mail: pegasogi@yahoo.com

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Czech Mid-Century Chairs

These come to us from Prague Kolektiv in Brooklyn. After a recent intervention, I'm being urged to seek treatment for my chair compulsion? Family and friends have advised me to stop going on 1st Dibs and Ebay, that lurking on those sites is playing with fire, and I know they're right.

But I cannot stop.

And for every bad trip, for every time I buy yet another chair I don't need, there's times like this and chairs like these. Sometimes I just want to look and imagine. What's wrong with that?

For questions, call 718-260-8013 or e-Mail: praguekolektiv@mac.com.

Today at 1st Dibs . . . Mid-Century Pair of Lamps

They're just a pair of lamps, right? But they're so much more than that. Look at them? They're almost Siamese in their indifference. They don't care if you buy them or not, because they've never been down and out, never sat in somebody's basement or an ugly living room and they know they're not going to start now. Haughty.

I adore orange and black. Imagine these in a room with a big bold wallpaper pattern and a shag rug. Or in an elegant entrance hall with intricate moldings and a crystal chandelier; they belong anywhere. Their very presence elevates everything around them. When you buy them, you can choose either a cream or black shade, but if you choose cream, you don't deserve them.

Available at Pamela Lerner Antiques in Bellport, New York. 631-776-2183 or e-mail: pamelalernerantiques@msn.com