Esoteric Survey

 Back to my trip to New York. It was a short one, so I was only able to go to two shops.  Being a longtime fan of Weinberg Modern , I'm so glad I was able to visit the showroom in Tribeca. Larry has been in the business since the early 1990's, He's been dedicated to an academic approach that involves the rediscovery of some of the more obscure designers from the late late 1940s and 1950s. In addition to many rare examples by designers such as Henry P Glass, Bill Lam and Greta Grossman, the collection of books and catalogs is just incredible.   Ralph Rapson rocker and Fran Hosken table Some of the great titles at Weinberg Modern Books A Bill Lam lamp on a cabinet by Elaine Lustig Cohen, and a rare stool by elite east coast iron guy Darrell Landrum. Speaking of Bill Lam, I've never seen another one of these.  This is truly a unicorn. A lamp by Jo Mead Designs. Here is another look at the Henry P Glass lounge, a prototype. Eames designs always holds their...

  Shepard's at the  Clairemont Square and Quad Clairemont Square and Quad was the major shopping center in the San Diego community of Clairemont. It's actually still around and is a typical big-box corporate mess ( Clairemont Town Square ). The center opened in 1954 and had 44 stores, including a Walker Scott department store (1967/1973). Clairemont was the first large post-war suburb in San Diego. The two developers, Lou Burgener and Carlos Tavares called the development Clairemont after Tavares' wife, Claire. It was coined "A Village Within a City", but it was really just the start of large-scale suburban sprawl in San Diego.  The Journal of San Diego History :   Its design represented a new concept in community living because the developers were unwilling to impose the traditional grid system of uniform blocks and streets, but, rather, hired engineers to create a plan of gently winding streets and scenic view lots to take advantage of the deep...

Gleen of California y Muchas Mas Source: La Opinion, 1959

1951 Hawk House hurricane lamp advertisement from Joel in Spokane, Washington Spokane Daily Chronicle, 1951 Joel E. Ferris, the owner at Joel  Source: Spokane Mid Century Mary Jean and Joel E. Ferris house, 1954 Bruce Walker was the a rchitect and Lawrence Halpirn was the the landscape architect. Source:  Spokane Mid Century Source:  Spokane Mid Century   has done some great research on various aspects of the Ferris house.  

Meguro Dori in  Meguro-ku  is the street where most of the vintage shops in Tokyo are, including Case Study . Amongst a large collection of good stuff piled in there was this Heifetz lamp by Zahara Schatz.    There were also some good Nelson clocks and Eames pieces. Tetsumasa Suda is the owner of Case Study.  I tried hard to find some vintage mid-century Japanese designs. The thing that I kept hearing was that it's impossible to find. It turned out to be true for me.  He's friends with Riki Watanabe so if he doesn't have any vintage examples, prospects were looking bleak.  He did have a newer production Watanabe iron and wood stool signed by Riki  himself. He showed me the Ray Eames business card from his private stash. I think he said Sori Yanagi gave it to him. Meister is just down the street from Case Study. The upstairs has a nice mix of things for sale and a personal collection tha...

Carrol Sagar & Associates, Los Angeles Carrol Sagar & Associates, Los Angeles Breuner's, San Francisco Bay Area Hubbuch, Kentucky Modern

Maurice Martine Lemurian Crafts wood, La Gardo Tackett, James Parker jewelry,  Barney Reid textiles, John Dirks wood and Ellamarie and Jackson Woolley enamels James Parker, Segal, Mueller, Bertoia