Mood Board Magic

Remember those mood boards I put together a while back?

At the time I'd already picked up a good number of the items pictured, but was seriously short of mid-century lighting (a situation since resolved).  So instead of uploading a snap of my single lonely Quartite lamp, I Googled "white mid-century lamp", selected the first appealing image I came across, and used it as a stand-in.

Now let's fast-forward to today.

Shazam!  How's that for serendipity?  This thing sat in my living room for over a month in the very spot I'd placed it on the mood boards before I even noticed the connection.

Though there's a tiny bit of crazing in the ceramic, Its a gorgeous fluted mid-century lamp of indeterminate make.  So this one is sticking around.  It's my new lucky lamp, after all,  and I sure could use a bit of luck.

I've got my eye on you

'Scuse the messy bed in the pictures below.  I got a little too excited about my latest find and couldn't wait to get a few snaps.

This "eyeball lamp" comes by way of St. Louis Craigslist and was somewhat of an impulse purchase.  "That's kinda cool," I thought, "looks sorta like a Sonneman Orbiter."  In the trunk it went.  Yes, they did look similar, but it was missing the trademark handle and they've pumped out knockoffs of Sonneman's by the thousands, so I thought nothing of it.

Then I get home and, in the process of giving it a once-over, noticed this tiny green sticker.

Yep, it's confirmed.  This is a "Kovacs", not a Sonneman.  Oh well.

Or is it...

I hadn't heard of the Kovacs name before, so I performed a little Google magic and guess what.

It's a gen-u-ine Sonneman!

From what I can gather, Robert Sonneman designed a series of lamps for Robert Kovacs' light fixture company.  This included the orbiter series, but also a number of other lamps that didn't include the adjustable Orbiter handle.

The details all match up (the hinge, the wire, the stand material, etc.), so unlike a lot of other ID attempts, I'm fairly certain about this one (though feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken).

So now this little guy is gonna direct his cyclopic gaze over my study.  No more Walmart junk-lamp here!

To buy or not to buy...

Quick question:

Should I purchase this fine set of lamps?

They're $30 and not EXACTLY what I'm looking for, but I've yet to find any MCM lamps (or lamp shades for that matter) in my extensive search of the St. Louis area.  The lack of retro lighting is definitely becoming frustrating.

I guess they're pretty cool, but... hmmmm... I'm just not sure.

I'm back!

What a week!  My muscles have atrophied and my eyes have grown sensitive to bright light but this Dragon-born is ready for his triumphant return to the real world.

Ok, I'll stop with the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim references (But seriously, go pick this game up right now!).

In order to get back into the swing of things, I've decided to take up yoga again.  I participated in a class several years ago and really enjoyed it, so we'll see how that goes.

In other news, my fellow blogger Kate over at Retro Ranch Revamp, posted this fantastic retro-modern lamp yesterday.  You can click the link to read more about it, but long-story-short, there's a small start-up, Caravan Pacific, that is collecting money over at Kickstarter so that they can begin production.  They call it the Alberta, but I'm going to refer to it as the Lamp of +10 Coolness (OK, that's the last one.  I promise.)

Source: Retro Ranch Revamp

When I saw it, I couldn't believe my eyes.  It looks almost exactly like the mid-century lamp that I've pursued for the last several months!

source: Christina @ PMV

This is the only picture that I could scrounge up online, but these things pop up all the time on Craigslist in St. Louis.  I'm just NEVER off of work early enough and they go practically as soon as they're posted.

In all honesty, I actually like the reproduction more, as the extra weight on the bottom makes it appear a bit more visually balanced.  However, the repro goes for $275, which is way, way out of my price range.

Can anyone ID this lamp? I can't find anything, but they must have been fairly popular if they're popping up so frequently.

By the Nine Divines, I must have one! (Help!  I can't stop myself)

Oh little Sputnik, flying high ...

I think that I'm developing a bit of an unhealthy obsession with Sputnik lamps.  If I could find enough of them, I think I'd end up with one in every room.

Here are a few snaps of the one I procured from a local estate sale last weekend.  Structurally, it's in pretty decent shape.  There aren't any bends, loose joints, or missing pieces.  Cosmetically, it's a different story.  The whole chandelier needs a thorough cleaning and new bulbs.  It originally had an almost-full set of star bulbs, but an overzealous estate sale shopper managed to break quite a few of them against a piano when she tried to carry it out AFTER I'd taken the tag off and paid.

My initial inclination was to polish with Brasso, but I have a feeling that to do so might be a big mistake.  Anyone have experience restoring and removing tarnish from one of these things (or I guess brass lamps in general)?  I'm not sure if it is solid brass or just brass plating.

Back On Topic

While last week may have been a disaster, I did manage to snag some of the big-ticket items on my checklist.

I'd been fretting all week about which sale I'd attend: the one with the Sputnik chandelier or the one with the another of my most-wanted pieces.  Both began at the same time and they were at opposite ends of the city, so one would have to be sacrificed.  How could I choose?  In the end, I decided to go for the Sputnik.  It's easier to transport and I was considering constructing my own wall unit anyway.  

Surprisingly, nobody showed up until 7, two hours before opening.  There I'd waited, sitting in the cold since 3 AM, all for naught (Admittedly, I did have a lawn chair, blankets, and free wifi).  It was well worth it though.  I got that coveted first spot in line and easily snagged the lamp.  Good thing I did, numbers 2 - 10 all went for the exact same thing. 

There isn't much available on the history of the Sputnik chandelier, but they were (I believe) originally designed by Gino Sarfatti for the Italian lamp-maker Arteluce.  I can't find an exact date, but I would assume that it was produced shortly after its design inspiration, the Sputnik-1 satellite, launched in 1957.  I'm pretty sure that mine isn't an Arteluce, but it may be a Lightolier, a firm that mass produced Sputniks in America during this time period.  I'll have to check if there are any identifying marks (and update with an actual picture of my Sputnik rather than a stock photo).

After checking out, I headed up to the second sale, just to check out what was left.  I figured there wouldn't be much.  After all, I was an hour late and when I pulled up, there was a woman carting out a load of bubble lamps and shell chairs.  And that's where we'll pick up next time.

A side note - They call it a "tag" sale for a reason.  You take the tags off the items you wish to purchase.  If the item does not have a tag, someone has already taken it.  I had 3 different individuals try to walk off with my dear Sputnik this Saturday, one of whom managed to break several of the star bulbs.

Nothing to see here

This weekend, I managed to comb over 16 antique malls/thrift stores as well as 2 estate sales. Despite all of the legwork, I ended up coming home empty-handed. It was a bit disappointing, but I did come across a few treasures, including a Selig sofa, Brasilia headboard, and Sputnik lamp. All were more than I was willing to pay, so I left them for someone else to enjoy. However, my luck may have turned, as I'm (hopefully) bringing home two new additions this afternoon.

In other news, I need a new camera to document my finds.  Borrowing the office camera just isn't cutting it.

Let there be light

Well, the trip to Springfield was a bust, but I did manage to score a sweet Mid-Century Modern sofa. I'll start covering a few of my more recent finds once I have a camera again, but to hold you over here's a great set of ceramic lamps.

I'd been watching them on Craigslist for a few days and finally decided to pull the trigger. It's pretty surprising that they were still around as this type of thing usually gets snatched up pretty quickly and the price was definitely right.

After getting the address, I ended up at a rather nondescript antique mall in Valley Park. Given the style of the lamps, I assumed that there might be a few more MCM pieces inside, but was disappointed to find the usual antique store fare: piles and piles of country cottage "grandma stuff".

One thing that the seller failed to disclose was that these babies are HUGE (about 3 feet tall)! They do go nicely with the colors and the scale of the furniture in the dining room though. The "popcorn finish" also adds a really nice textural detail. I think I might hold onto them for a while.