What a crumby day to shoot blog pics. At least it wasn't actually raining...or even cold for that matter. But beautiful Sun light? Forget about it. Thankfully I was only shooting these Five white Bertoia side chairs, so the lack of brilliant color wasn't so much an issue. Five? Yup, the curse lives on.
Just as an aside, I want you loyal readers to know that I haven't accepted any payment, gift or
discounts for ever featuring any of the shops that you've seen on here, like An Orange Moon that you
might have checked out a couple days ago. That said, I do like to think I get a little something back
via Karma and the general happiness that I give both the shop keep and you (awwww, I know...it's a
very special episode), AND I wouldn't mind if someone out there wanted to commission a video of
their shop or home or whatever!
On the Karmic side of the coin I like to believe that picking up 5 early Bertoia chairs at a craigslist
bargain price, while in Chicago (Yes, CHICAGO!) over Thanksgiving weekend, was Mr. M getting
what he deserved. Now sure, they are a little rough around the edges, but it's all cosmetic. There isn't
a single broken weld in the set and they are as sturdy as the early Bertoias get. Which brings me to
my next topic: Bertoia Chairs and the variations in construction by year of manufacture. Don't ya just
wish there WAS such a resource?! I used to be under the impression that if the wires pointing
forward were welded to the TOP of the perimeter, that the chair was a knockoff. Seems not so. I did
a little digging because of the construction of these chairs and found there to be a myriad of
variations in the design over the years.
Apparently the earliest design had a PAIR of perimeter wires around the seat and backrest but
Herman Miller cried "foul" (because of a similar design found on the Eames wire frame chairs?) and
the design was changed to the familiar single wire construction we all know and love today. Now, I
KNOW I've seen some of those double wire variations before while out hunting and dismissed them
as bad copies. Kinda kicking myself now. Always learning, aren't we. But now, what to do with
these? I'm thinking about having them powder coated if I can do so for a reasonable price. I've been
itching to dip my feet into this for a while and maybe these 5 chairs are the guinea pigs I've been
waiting for! Otherwise, they's just gettin' flipped as is. Anybody interested either way?
They’re cool, MMT. If it were me, I’d have them sandblasted (pretty cheap to do) and then either power coat them if the cost isn’t too much, or spray them with a gloss enamel. Either way, I’d pick a classic retro aqua color. You could probably sell them for a major premium then; maybe along with a table using that chrome tulip base if you’ve still got it. Just a thought. -midmichigan
ReplyDeleteHi MidMichigan.
DeleteIf I end up having them powdercoated I'll have them done in white, then if the next owner wants, they can paint them any color they want. Doing them in any color that they didn't originally come in is a pretty big gamble if they are to be flipped. That said, they would look pretty rad in seafoam green or bright brilliant orange!