Esoteric Survey

  It's a great weekend when a new Jack Boyd is involved. Ceramics, including Amy Donaldson and Hal Fromhold Noguchi and another three legger. Robert Josten table Catalogs

  Dave and I will be hanging out at Mingei on Friday. I'm going to try to make him do all the talking. In this talk , San Diego-based collectors, Steve Aldana and Dave Hampton will discuss their interest in vintage books and ephemera, specifically mid-20th century craft and design periodicals and exhibition catalogs as important sources of inspiration, learning and practical identification, as well as thoroughly realized examples of modernist print culture. Known for his informative blog, Esoteric Survey, Steve Aldana shares his notes on unique design objects, latest finds, and the architecture sites he visits. Vintage books, magazines and catalogs are used to guide his documentary-style approach to travel and collecting. The results resonate with design professionals, collectors and dealers. Dave Hampton is a local collector and curator connected to the Museum through his work on exhibitions such as San Diego's Craft Revolution and The Erik Gronborg Experience, both of which ...

Evelyn Ackerman tapestry, Soleri bell, Don Shoemaker bookends and some other crafty things. I was told that this rug was from the Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman estate. I took their word for it.  Then I tracked down the estate sale photos online.  It was true. Also, I bought the tapestry from another place shortly after buying the rug. Do you believe in contact magic?  I also picked up a nice little pile of ephemera. A few I have never seen before.  Local boy Jack Boyd Vivika and Otto Heino

If you aren't already aware of this project, you should be.  TOAD (textiles, objects & documents) was created by Alexander Wendl in collaboration with Vince Bravo . They describe it as a privately curated, digital archive that explores historical textiles, objects, and documents from the mid-century period.  Their goal is to make to make private collections public. In addition to their own incredible collections, they include pieces from fellow collectors.  Their most recent post was on a personal favorite, Laverne International .  The ephemera stacks are deep at TOAD, with a major emphasis on Herman Miller. I'm super jealous of those boxes.   Vince has one of the (if not the) best Alexander Girard collections around.  The La Fonda del Sol post includes items from the collections of Alexander, Vince and Will-Wade Gray . I don't know what's more impressive, the fact that a single restaurant had that many matchbook designs or that Will has amassed so m...

Low rocker by Steve Rieman (as seen in California Design 76), Ben Sebel lamp and chair by Ray Komai. Lamps Joel Edwards and Barney Reid pottery Jens Risom Ephemera

As mentioned previously, I picked up a stack of photos last weekend. Ilyana was a dress shop located in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Paul R. Williams was working on a major renovation of the hotel at the time.  Seeing the Dan Johnson chair really piqued my interest.  The way the arms connect to the top of the seat is slightly different than the one pictured in the shop. The ad is a couple years later than the shop photo so Johnson must have decided on the connected top arms.  After some digging I discovered the entire shop was designed in 1947-1948, by a 29 year old Dan Johnson. That means all the furniture was most likely designed by Johnson as well. The textile on the wall is by Angelo Testa.  My friend John has the same table. He's had it for years and has never been able to figure it out, but Johnson was definitely on the list. It was painted orange when he acquired it. The time period was when Johnson was designing f...

Finn Juhl ice bucket, Roy McMakin table for Domestic, Martz planter and an Arne Norrel chair Greta Grossman table for Glenn. Yes, there are leaves for it.  Gerald Thurston for Lightolier "Cricket" lamp More books JB Blunk and Espenet ephemera

Landes Mfg. Company of California Smalls - Soleri bell and Robert Maxwell Ephemera stack Tony Hill  catalog 

La Gardo Tackett, lamp, iron, and Walter Lamb Three legged chair Ephemera