Greetings!
Thanks
again for sticking around for the past month. Now that we've spoiled
you, we've got to 'fess up about the high probability that this blog'll
lay fallow for the immediate future. For those of you who now realize
that we still keep plenty busy, despite our noticeable absence 'round these parts, you can
satisfy your frequent cravings by clicking here.
And remember: Otis sez Stay beautiful, haters! All the best in 2015 from GG&S!
Earlier this year, we helped the fine folks over at DanielClowes.com locate some elusive original artwork for the upcoming Complete Eightball two-volume book set and, as a reward, they were kind enough to pass along this handsome SPX tote & an original Mr. Jones button—two items that were noticeably absent from our personal Clowes archives. Anyway, we're excited to see the finished product when it's released in 2015, and we'd wholeheartedly recommend its purchase to any GG&S reader (unsolicited testimonial).
In case you haven't noticed, our collections are constantly expanding, and these vintage lamps produced by the Laurel Lamp Co have spread like a fungus. We picked a space age white specimen for our collection this year, rounding out our personal trio (brushed nickel example not pictured).
We've developed an addiction to vintage Ikebana planters over the past few years. We seem to find 'em locally, on road trips and online with alarming regularity. We also seem incapable of leaving 'em behind. We doubt this situation will be remedied anytime soon! Oof!
Patience pays off ...and it only took over a year for us to score a black Dedalo by Emma Gismondi Schweinberger for 1/3 of its original asking price. We'd spotted this space age plastic umbrella stand in a local shop last summer, and we're glad it worked out—given Atlanta's persistent sogginess, these certainly come in handy!
A few years ago, my older brother hipped us to the work of Paolo Soleri, the last of the Utopian architects, and a master who'd established himself early in our native Arizona. Since then, Valery and I have made our annual pilgrimage to the Cosanti Foundation to admire his multifaceted work.
We've also managed to bring some of these treasures home—including a tile that had somehow made its way to Atlanta!
We can't wait to make it back this coming year, and we're hopeful we can finally cross a visit to Arcosanti off our list, too!
2014 found us rounding up a few California Modern items locally, such as this Jack Boyd pendant that Valery turned up in Decatur. This discovery keeps us hopeful that we'll someday stumble upon one of Boyd's sculptures!
We also found this piece by Raul Coronel—complete with its original signature block—at the Scott Antique Market.
Lastly, we scored this Sun People sculpture by Stan Bitters that Valery spied in the preview photographs of an otherwise dismal estate sale. The woman running the sale was pretty unpleasant, so it was especially gratifying to snag this for $10 right under her nose.
Wishing you all the best throughout this holiday season!
GG&S
You see white Weltron 8-track players fairly regularly, but the yellow & orange ones tend to show up far less frequently. Consequently, many thanks are owed to our buddy Damo for picking up an orange example at the Alameda flea market earlier this year. Now we just need a (non-yellowed) white robot face model—anyone holding a realistically priced spare?
Wow, we didn't even score one record per month this year! However, despite this woeful average, two of the records snagged were longtime staples on our A list—one of 'em came gratis (as part of a deadstock trio) from a band member and the other was purchased for a rather hefty sum—so no real complaints here. As for the remaining eight, we're exceedingly happy to have 'em home, and thanks again to all our friends for the generous trades and hookups!
Over the past year, we've picked up some new art and switched things around in the great room. Here are a few shots, featuring the layout changes and recent additions—these photos were taken at different points in 2014, and they're already horribly outdated. Whoops!
Another weird trend that developed this year was our ability to round up space age plastic in one specific color only. Like when we followed up a friend's referral and were treated to vintage Componibili & an original Colombo Boby trolley, all in red.
Or when we stopped in at our favorite antique store and scored an original Roger Lecal lipstick mirror, a Kartell storage container by Franco Annoni and a Grillo phone by Marco Zanuso & Richard Sapper, all in white!
We're certainly not complaining! Thanks again, Justin, Grant & Peter!
Sometimes estate sale results can be both substantial and mixed. Like that time we arrived 5 hours early to a sale, after it had been (re)scheduled multiple times in a 3-4 month period, only to find that two of the items we wanted (a matching pair of Warren Platner chairs for Knoll) had been reclaimed by the family (as it turns out, a lie—they were sold to a friend) the night before (though they were still left out for us sorry bastards to see). Fortunately, we were able to score the matching coffee table and a fireplace set by Pilgrim (attributed to George Nelson) on the relative cheap, so it was far from a total loss.
Or the time we found an original Eero Saarinen ashtray for Knoll and bought it despite the fact that it was a little more than we wanted to spend (and the fact that neither of us smokes!).
2014 found us hitting up a lot of estate sales. Such as the one where we woke up at 6, sat in traffic for 90 minutes (to travel 20 miles) and arrived well after the sale started. Despite showing up late, Valery snagged this turned walnut weedpot by Rude Osolnik for a mere $2. We typically only attend these sales to stock up our booth, so it was nice to score this keeper under such grueling conditions.
Many thanks to our pal (& collector-supreme) Joey Myers for hooking us up with his extra set of these vintage Monster Valentines from Hallmark, likely from the 1960s/early 1970s. We wish we knew who provided the illustrations for these or, more importantly, where the original production art for the looker in the bottom right-hand corner ended up! Anyone!?
05/2007: The inimitable Mort Todd fills me in on the following during an interview:
There was quite the punk scene in Maine when I was in high school. Did
lots of club, band (DMZ comes to mind) and record store ads. Also met
Tim Warren there and when I did a Psycho Comics party flier (zombies
dancing around a Psycho Comics bonfire) he DJed at, it inspired the Back From The Grave covers.
Seven years spent waiting, mind reeling:
no problem, as it was totally worth it. Mr. Todd unearthed a time
capsule mailed back to the homestead in June of 1981, doubling my Psycho
Comics ephemera overnight. Incredible! Thanks again, Mort!
The longstanding Danish game mystery was finally cracked by our Swedish pal Stefan who revealed that these birds were crafted by a reasonably obscure designer named Jacob Hermann. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case in situations like these, it now seems as though every dealer is attributing similar, minimal wooden fowl to the enigmatic Mr. Hermann. On a positive note: we were able to add a few more authentic specimens to our flock this year, and we remain hopeful that we can continue to do so!
Punk ephemera from Arizona's early years is scarce enough, but the Browbeat fanzine created by David Wiley (of The Consumers) and Bart (son of Sandy) Bull was largely mythical, due mostly to the fact that it was issued in a measly edition of 1-200 copies in 1977! After a few dead ends, I'd about given up hope entirely—that is, until my buddy Ryan scored two of 'em from some anonymous benefactor. Blessed be them both cuz they certainly made this native son's year a whole lot better!
43/M/Atlanta. Sy Klopps is still looking for his Su. Can anyone help a brother out?
Valery's been studying the art of silversmithing for nearly two years now, and she's been hard at work creating designs and perfecting new techniques. We're hoping to set up a home studio in 2015, so she can offer her modernist jewelry to the public.
Stay tuned!
Valery's interest in the work of noted ceramist, LaGardo Tackett, continued unabated in 2014, with the arrival of several new additions to our school. Made in collaboration with Kenji Fujita, these plates were available in a variety of sizes, and we're still after a few more examples. If you happen to stumble across any, please let us know!
Nabbing those big items off our wantlist is always fun, but sometimes it's the little things that make collecting just as enjoyable—the little thing in question here being a container produced by Wartsila Finel in 1969, and a welcome addition to Valery's growing vintage enamelware collection!
2014's tax return allowed us to buy ourselves a li'l something special, so we opted to purchase this 12x16 plaque, designed by Bertil Vallien for Hal Fromhold Studio, circa 1961. Though better known for his studio glassware, we love this early example of Vallien's work, and we'd been after this feathered specimen for quite a while—thankfully, we had some extra pocket money when this'un finally materialized. Whew!
We're big fans of this 1960s op art line produced by Ceramica Franco Pozzi, so we were thrilled when we secured the elusive fatty in this trio. We wish we knew who was responsible for these—we've seen them attributed to a variety of designers. Anyone with additional info, or who has any other pieces for sale (we have a matching ashtray and decanter set already), is invited to let us know!
Anyone who's happened upon this blog should've realized by now that we devote an inordinate amount of attention to the works of Daniel G. Clowes—so why would 2014 have been any different? Sadly, no original art was procured, but our buddy Howie dug up the above item, which is no less precious. In 1986, Cracked magazine's editor in chief, Mort Todd, encouraged readers to send in a SASE for a free, unpublished and barely recognizable Uggly Family portrait. Howie threw his hat in the ring, received his free gift and promptly buried the 11x17 portrait in his limitless stacks, where it remained for the past 28 years ...until he found it and was kind enough to fork it over in a trade.
As for the rest, here's what Uggly Family co-creator Mort Todd himself had to say: that is indeed Dan's very first interpretation of the
Uggly's before we named 'em, even! I would do the writing and layouts
myself, and as you see this was plugging their second appearance which
tied in with some Wolverton reprints.
A weekend getaway trip to Asheville, NC shortly before Valery was scheduled to have major surgery provided just the reprieve we needed. We couldn't believe how much amazing stuff we found along the way—such as Umbo chairs by Directional, some vintage Cathrineholm cookware, a Stemlite lamp by Bill Curry for Design Line, a Richard Schultz side chair for Knoll (with its as-issued fabric!) and an original George Nelson/Bitossi Meridian clock for Howard Miller. How that clock ended up in an unassuming antique mall in Lavonia, GA, we'll never know!?!
Anyway, it certainly did help being so fully distracted before Valery went under the knife in March, and we're hopeful those days are now completely behind us!
It happens so infrequently, we're absolutely ecstatic over here at GG&S HQ when we somehow finish up a collection. Such was the case with these vintage booze decanters manufactured by Davar in 1961. We'd picked up four of 'em rather quickly, but that damn grenade took a few years!
One of the biggest items on Valery's personal wantlist was a Richard Schultz Petal side-table (Knoll,1960), so we jumped at the chance when one of our favorite local dealers offered us this vintage redwood example. We picked it up during a dismal, rainy streak here in Atlanta, and it certainly did brighten our day. Thanks again, Peter!
