Sunday, April 28, 2013

I don't mean to crow, but this was a pretty sweet deal.

Well, look what we have here.  It's another special delivery!




What's inside?  You probably already got the hint, but how about we take a peek?


Hey little guy!  You look awful snug in there.  Let's get you on out and clean off all of that nasty Styrofoam dust.


That's much better.  And do you know what beats having a new replica Eames House Bird?  Having a New Eames House Bird and paying a tiny, tiny fraction of the $230 Vitra asking price.

Yep, this is a "fake", but the funny part is that, other than the single original, they're all fakes.  Yep, even the Vitra repro.  The original bird was a souvenir brought back from the Eames' travels and was hand-carved from alder wood by an unknown Appalachian craftsman.  It became one of their most treasured pieces and featured prominently in their Case Study House #8 as well as in numerous Herman Miller advertisements and Eames portraits.

 Source: Inform Interiors

Source: Blouin Art Info

 Source: Inform Interiors

  Source: Wee Birdy

Can you tell the difference between the expensive Vitra and my cheapo copy?

 Source: Dwell


 Source: Dwell


 I can't either, but my wallet sure can.

8 comments:

  1. Looks great! And you're absolutely right about all of them being repros. I wouldn't have a Vitra one if I hadn't found a super, super good deal on eBay...one of those things where, in the spirit of full disclosure, the seller said it had a chip on the beak, which turned out to be a spot about the size of a newly sharpened pencil point in the top layer of the finish. I couldn't even find it at first when I got it, but I bet it ran off some buyers, because the seller made it sound about a million times worse than it was.

    No one will ever know...about either of our birds.

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  2. Where did you order him from? I've been trying to justify the vitra one for years.

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    Replies
    1. Well, my first step was buying a boatload of $20 for $10 Amazon gift cards when they did the annual Visa Rewards offer.

      Then I found this guy here:
      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ADQZ75Y/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

      With the credits, it came out to $33.50

      Delete
  3. Wonderful! you cheeky birds!

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  4. A deal and no difference. I simply cannot tell. Thanks for the shopping tip (again)!

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  5. Great score, and I agree, who cares if it's a repro?! It looks perfect.

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  6. Looks like they got wise and raised the price on that item. It's now $78. Still much, much lower than Vitra, but seems a bit of a stretch for a painted wooden bird.

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