Friday, November 4, 2011

Last Weekend's Much Anticipated Big Broyhill Brasilia Estate Sale. Status: Fail (well...sorta).

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There have been some REALLY good sales here in the St. Louis area lately for those of us into the vintage modern aesthetic!  This one was listed on the net a few weeks ago with only a few pics of the Broyhill Brasilia collection that was to be available.  Right away I shot a note to Illuminate to make plans to attend.


As the sale drew nearer the sellers put up many more pictures of most of the vintage

modern furnishing to be had at this sale.  Just a few days before the sale I started getting

e-mails and texts from people who know I have a particular weakness for Brasilia about

the sale.  It's nice that folks got my back!  Illuminate and I had already been planning it

out for a while.  I didn't really need anything (but if the prices were right...) but Illuminate

was hoping to score the china cabinet.

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She has a larger version of the same buffet that I have but unfortunately has a china top that

isn't Broyhill.  It looks fine and does the job but she wants the real thing.  I have a spare top

but it isn't wide enough at only 56".  This sale had a LARGE buffet and china cabinet.  We

were of the opinion that we Had To Have It!!!  Turns out the set wasn't being sold by the

piece but as a complete set - dining table, chairs, china cab. and server.  We worked the

math over and over after getting our line numbers and asking the sellers what the set was

priced at and just couldn't find a way that made any sense to buy it.

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I myself would have been happy to bring home the server, dining table and chairs but again...

the numbers just wouldn't work for us.  The sellers were just asking a bit too much for us.

  But apparently they weren't too much for somebody.  Notice the "Sold" markings on the

tags.

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I came really close to buying this bedroom set.  Real Close.  I had the tag in my hand for

probably 5 full minutes before I thought better of it.  This was priced pretty close to what I

would normally pay for a Broyhill Brasilia bedroom set...but this isn't Broyhill Brasilia.  It's

Broyhill Brasilia II.  Pardon me here for splitting hairs but look at it.  Take a Good Long look

at it.  The case pieces are sitting on Plinth bases instead of legs...like Normal Brasilia!  I

know...I know...it seems such a small thing...not really.  It totally changes the atmosphere of

the line.  It looks SO much heavier.  So much...less organic.  Less...(sadly) beautiful.  I just

couldn't pull the trigger on it.  Sorry, I find it lacking.  I'll probably end up eating these words

some day.  I mean...I do already have a server just like the one in this set.

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Ahhh...but I did snatch this set of tables up (as you already know if you looked at yesterday's

posting
)! Sweet set but it too was kinda pricey. I was happy to fork over the cash though since

I'll likely be keeping this for my very own. Perfect timing and all that, since we were having a

party later that evening. I needed a different coffee table in the living room lounge as that is

where a lot of the drinking and socializing goes down and I don't like leaving a wood coffee

table in there under such circumstances. Experience shows that even very responsible friends

will likely stop using coasters when plied with enough alcohol. Glass tops = No need for

Coasters!

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Other notable items available at the sale: couple of C. Jere (how is this pronounced? I always

say Jar-ay) metal sculptures. These were pretty reasonable but I wasn't after them. I had

bigger fish to fry...that didn't get fried...obviously. I've seen the brass wheat one before on

eBay and stuff but haven't ever seen the big tree thing. It was signed and stuff though! Neat

huh?!

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There was yet ANOTHER nice Vintage Modern bedroom set available at the sale! This is

of an American Of Martinsville line. What the line is called I cannot figure. Anybody know?

It's a cool set and was snatched up by the first person in line. Oh wait...right...Illuminate got

to the sale stupid early so as to be first in line for the Brasilia china cab. but not early enough.

Mere seconds earlier another buyer pulled into the street before her. Ouch. That had to

sting a little. Turns out I had...well, not really met the guy, but we were both at, and

disappointed by, the estate auction with the large C. Jere (there it is again...how do you say

it???) birds in flight
. So we talked about what each of us had come for and we were all good.

He was there for the American Of Martinsville...we, for the Brasilia. It was all good. I think

he also picked up the brass C. Jere Wheat sculpture.

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Other notable items at the sale?  Pink bathroom!  Turquoise Club cookware.  Burlwood

panelling.  Vintage danish style Lay-Z-Boy recliner. Pretty sweet sale.  Too bad the Garage

was so full.  I might have been more inclined to bring more home!  Next time.

7 comments:

  1. Like you, I've always heard it pronounced Ja-ray, but I'm no expert.

    Shame about the Brasilia, but it seems like there's been a lot of it around lately, so I'm sure Illuminate will be able to find something.

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  2. I found an article a while back about Artisan House. The author had interviewed Peter Fels, the son of Jerry Fels and nephew of Kurt Freiler...who changed the spelling to Curt after WWII because of anti-German sentiment. The article gave the pronunciation of the C. Jere' as "see jhair-AY. I guess they figured if they were going to combine their names and invent a designer, the end result might as well sound nice and French, since all things Parisian were in vogue at the time...as witnessed by the iconic if corny poodle skirt (and, yes, I had one) and all the poodle figurines from back then. :)

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  3. What a great sale! We don't have good ones like that around here very often. We have the American Of Martinsville dining table and sideboard in that pattern but like you, am not sure of the name. They were in pristine condition until the cats used them for landing strips. Another great reason for glass tops!

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  4. Are there any good sales this weekend? I'm comimg into town to visit friends and would like to get my estate sale fix if I can.
    KimberlyAnn

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  5. I need the china cabinet top for the 66 inch buffet.. This would have been beautiful if it had worked out. I would have totally bought the entire set if the numbers were right. Still upset about this one!

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  6. Wow, what a sale. I didn't even know there was a Brasilia II. You're right, the real deal is sooo much better.

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  7. Selling my parents Brasilia bedroom set.
    Headboard, 2dressers, 2 mirrors, 2 end tables.
    Looking to sell between jan. 13 and feb. 2012
    My name is Dave
    Gunksdave@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete