What is original vintage?
It seems silly that we need to explain this but in the last few years more and more fakes and copies are appearing on the market either in disguise or under the banner ‘vintage style’. Our customers buy original vintage for many reasons, sustainability, the joy of the the hunt for a unique piece, the inherent character that comes from surviving perhaps a hundred years, the list goes on. Sadly, this booming love of vintage has brought out a raft of mass produced copies, some sold legitimately as ‘vintage style copies’ and some that are just blatant fakes, beware. If in doubt ask; ask when and where was it was made? and who was the maker? We are also happy to help if you need it.
As a team we work incredibly hard to source original vintage from all over Europe, we do thousands of miles each year and are passionate about researching the history of the iconic makers that produced these incredible pieces.
We find stuff in barns, houses, warehouses dusty corners wherever we travel. Everything we sell is the real deal. We do our best to tell you the important stuff, when it was made, who made it and as much of the history as we know, it matters to us.
History: Every piece of vintage we sell has it’s own incredible unique history. Whether it be a 1920’s Thonet chair that has not only survived for a hundred years, but lives to tell the tale complete with the knocks and bumps of a hundred years of daily use. Each piece of vintage tells the story of the socio economic conditions of the time, a haberdashery cabinet from the fifties tells us so much about retailing at that time, a large hand made farmhouse table tells the story of the rural life in France before mass production, and a Czech sideboard by Jiří Jiroutek shines a light on the wave of creativity that flourished in post war Europe.
Provenance: We are ‘Champions of the Forgotten Maker’ and we are passionate about researching the iconic industrial producers of the twentieth century and documenting their own unique stories. We are building a huge collection of old catalogues, advertisements and root source information so we can tell these stories better.
Originality: Over the years we have seen and touched tens of thousands of pieces of furniture, lighting and accessories. This gives us an incredible knowledge base of what to look for when we buy, the condition, the materials and construction but most of all just the touch and feel tells us all we need to know.
Restoration Versus Rejuvenation
When our workshop team assess a recently bought piece and decide how much ‘work’ it needs our thought process is simply ‘what does it need to lead a second practical life. Our first consideration is to make a piece practical and safe to use. For chairs that means checking the legs and frame for strength, for tables it means the ‘wobble’ test, no one wants a table that is not stable. The team will then carry out any necessary repairs to make a piece practical for use, then it is simply cleaned and in most cases waxed with our own special wax that brings out the original colour. We are not fans of the word restoration, we do not want to take a piece back to the condition that it was in when it left the original showroom or workshop. We believe the bumps, scars and marks are an intrinsic part of the character of a piece and tell their own unique story.
Vintage furniture and lighting just oozes character
Every piece has a unique incredible character and each bump and mark tells it’s own incredible story.
History
Every piece of vintage we sell has it’s own incredible unique history.
Provenance
We are champions of the Forgotten Maker
Authenticity
All of our vintage pieces are incredible authentic survivors many over a hundred years old
