Things are coming together for our annual Nightmare party. I found the decorations out in the Garage last night. The tree will go up soon and Jack and Sally are showing up in more pictures lately. Yup, it's almost time.
But this posting is not about the pending Nightmare Before Christmas party. It's actually
about a decorative item that I picked up at the Kenrick antique mall this last weekend. A
decorative item that I had no idea was so controversial. It's a real "Who Dunnit" of attributions.
This "Jack" is missing it's other. These are commonly bought and sold in pairs and are
suggested for use as bookends a lot of times. By themselves, they might be used as a
doorstop, paperweight or maybe just an irreverent decorative item. Many many sellers
list these as being connected to George Nelson. From the hour or so of research I did
on line, I've found that there is little evidence of this.
Then there is another camp of people who will attribute the design to Bill Curry. This seems to
stem from a table made by Design Line but again, other than people just "saying" that their
piece is by Bill Curry / Design Line, there doesn't seem to be any Proof.
I don't really care one way or the other. If people want to call it a George Nelson or a Bill Curry
and get $125 or so for a pair on eBay...more power to them. Without any kind of proof, who
can argue with them or the people who buy the Jax? Me? I paid $16 for it. The dealer wanted
$20...they were in their booth either rearranging items or adding stuff, not sure, so I asked if
they'd take $15...they respectfully declined stating that it was so hard to let it go even at $20...I
told them I understood (& I really DO!) and made my way around the corner to shoot pics
of that Heywood Wakefield desk. Then the dealer came around the corner and told me that the
entire booth was 20% off making the asking $16 and would I buy it for that? Of course I would!
Who quibbles over a dollar? I didn't know anything about the Jax at the time but immediately
started doing my due diligence. George Nelson! Well, maybe...maybe not. No one seems to
know.
Love the jax/Jack....we have the Nightmare Before Christmas jenga set. The box is shaped like a coffin; what fun!
ReplyDeleteC Helmers