Yes, No, Maybe So? Josef Hoffmann's Flatware

Often times I look at various designs and try to place myself back in time when these object were first created. I wonder if I would have found them too different or utterly fantastic. I also try to look at them today with fresh eyes and wonder if (of course with an enormous pretend disposable income) I would want them.

I find this set of flatware eye catching. However, being practical, I wonder if the proportions of the fork (the handles being as thick as the tines) might cause me to poke myself in the mouth. I have this thing about flatware -- being a Libra and all -- I have to have balance in my hand. I don’t like for the bowl of a spoon or the tines of a fork to be too heavy in relation to the handle. And vice versa.

So what do you all think? Yes, No, Maybe So -- would you like a set?

Hoffmann's sketch

Josef Hoffmann designed this set of flatware for the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903-1904. All three founding members -- Hoffman, Koloman Moser and Fritz Wämdorfer -- ordered a set for their own.

Hoffmann made available three versions: silver plate, sterling silver and gilded silver. It was first publicly displayed at an exhibition in Vienna in 1906. Critics felt the smooth geometric shapes and broad surfaces not very practical. They didn’t like how stark and austere the design was devoid of any ornamentation except for the row of beads at the end.

crab fork and butter knife

A German newspaper described the service as “uncomfortable” and the shape suggestive of doctors’ tools. Another newspaper stated that Hoffmann made “geometry, not art” and his flatware was doomed to catch on with the public.

This line called Flaches Modell (Flat Model) included thirty-three in the set, and had a limited production from 1904-1908. Hoffmann went on to create other versions similar in style.

(Top image from Hiesinger and Marcus, Landmarks of Twentieth-Century Design; last two available from Bel Etage, Vienna)

Yes No Maybe So? Maarten Baas' Ice Bucket from his Melting Collection

La Maison Ruinart, the oldest established Champagne house in the world, was founded in 1729. The first release of the Dom Ruinart prestige cuvée was in 1959. To celebrate the 50th anniversary last year, the house commissioned Dutch designer Maarten Baas to create something for the table to commemorate it. The result : The Melting Collection Ice Bucket.

Any of us in favor of this design?

It is offered in a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered pieces. And comes in a felt-lined leather and wood presentation box and a "display" Dom Ruinart bottle. The display as the bottle is filled with water, not champagne.

The price: $8,800.00. You can buy it HERE.

The glasses are not a limited edition run and available in a gift box which contain two glasses and a bottle of cuvée. click HERE for more images from designboom.

Does anyone remember in the 1980s those plastic kitchy pop art-ish items people would display in their homes such as a glass raised in the air spilling out plastic milk, or a Hershey bar melting? My friend's mom had a lot in her house.

That is what this ice bucket reminds me of.

While I'm a fan of Maarten Baas furniture creations, I'm not so crazy about this. It reminds me of the gag joke of plastic vomit. Sorry Maarten.

(vomit image from retrojunk.com)

Designer: Frank Ligthart - Obelisk

Inspiration comes from a variety and a surprisingly array of sources. We never know what will strike us. After all, E. L. Doctorow leaned back in his chair one day and stared at a patch of stain on the ceiling. From that single image, he created Ragtime.

Dutch-born designer Frank Ligthart was inspired by the ancient Neolithic standing stones of Carnac, France.

He created a set of furniture – four chairs and a table – with each piece on its own usable and interesting, yet harmonious when all fit together. It creates an 8'-0” tall sculptural structure by stacking four chairs and a table together in the form of an upright torpedo. He calls it Obelisk.

His Obelisk furniture is much more comfortable that the stones of France. While it may not last all those years, it is plenty durable. The fibers are woven by hand over lightweight and rustproof frames. It resists stains, ultraviolet light and bacteria.

It is also a space saver -- when stacked, the obelisk forms take up less than 4’-0” of floor space.

Yes? No? Maybe So? Would any of you place these furniture items on your patio in the back yard? Around a pool? Leave the obelisk structure in the corner of the yard when not in use?

Available in platinum as shown in the top images, but also in smoke. Janus et Cie carries this for Dedon for just a mere $7,870...

Yes? No? Maybe So?

Could it be? What is old is new again: antiques are coming back in favor? For about the last decade, modern furniture and interiors have reigned. Modern and contemporary furniture have fetched incredibly high prices at auction and asking prices at retail have been higher than a four-year private college education. Perhaps, people are seeing the warmth, beauty and historical importance of antiques once again?

After all, many “new” furniture pieces by designers have been inspired by old designs. But that is a post for a later time.

Antique furniture has had it rough lately, and especially in the last eighteen months. Although 2008 saw some high prices at the higher end of the market, the middle market tanked. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers, fewer homes sales and a plunging stock market, sales of antique items showed even larger decline. Items were barely moving at auction, and if they did some pieces reached a quarter of the hammer price from just a little over a year ago. Some retail dealers priced their stock significantly lower. By the fourth quarter of last year, the top end of the market has also bombed.

Personally, I was so pleased to read about designers beginning to incorporate antiques into their designs. Wendy Moonan wrote about this in the NY Times on the annual Kips Bay decorator show house. (You can read this here)

So, what do we think? With a little creativity and some cash in our pockets, would any of you incorporate the following items into your homes? What would you pair one of these items with? How would you recover some of these chairs for a cleaner, more stylish look?

1. A pair of Directoire Fauteuils? (Christie’s, Paris - April 7, 2009)

2. A Late George II Giltwood Overmantle Mirror. (Christie's, London - July 12, 2007). Would you use this? It is big – 66” x 66½ “.

3. A George III Satinwood, Mahogany and Amaranth Marquetry Demi-Lune Commode (Christie’s, London - March 18, 2009)

4. A Neoclassical white marble, green-painted, parcel-gilt and faux-marble decorated console table. Swedish? German? (Sotheby’s, NYC April 3, 2009.) Would you put a mirror over this? A painting? A series of etchings or old maps?

5. A Regency Mahogany Daybed (Christie’s, London - June 7, 2007)
Where would you put this? And what upholstery would you recover it in? (I think the lines on this is fab…)

6. A Pair of George III Black Japanned Armchairs (Sotheby’s, London - May 17, 2005)

7. Vargueno?

8. A Swedish Neoclassical ormolu, cut-glass and sea blue twelve-light chandelier, (Sotheby’s, NYC - April 3, 2009). I forgot to document the size, but I recall the diameter was not that big. I was searching for this stuff very late at night. Make up your own size? Would you use this in a saucy bathroom? Bedroom? Foyer? Modern retractable glassed-in room?

9. A Pair of George Mahogany Hall Chairs, (Sotheby’s, NYC - April 5, 2006). Oil the wood a bit and then place them against a wall in a wide hallway and marry it with a bright, bold graphic rug? Yes no? Intriguing or unsettling?

10. Papier-Mâché Table - (Stamford Auction, Norwalk, CT, February 11, 2007). In an all-white room?

11. An English Mahogany Gout Stool from the eighteenth century? (Canterbury Auction Galleries: West Canterbury, Kent, UK - September 16, 2008)

Recover it and push up against the window for a little dog or cat to recline and gaze out to watch the birds outside? Or the traffic? Or so they can watch for that particular mail man that they detest?

Just for fun:

12. Would anyone want this? Those who don't would you at least dare yourself to touch the bellies of these little frogs? (Desert West Auction Service: Mimbres, New Mexico, US - November 22, 2008). Cool or creepy?