Monday, April 15, 2013

Mid-Century Thonet NYC Dining Set

I was watching a video about design in America in the 1950s and one of the pictures that flashed up on the screen was this beauty, a 1958 Thonet Dining set in an ultra sleek Scandinavian style that was made in New York City. I found it on Craig's List last summer and didn't know if it was worth looking at because the one picture was really bad and I could only see the top half of one of the chairs. Another third of the picture was a black lab sitting in front of the chair, so I figured it was worth a look since the pooch looked so loveable. When I got to the Atomic Era split ranch dwelling, a man came out and opened the garage door for my partner and I have to have a looksy. He said it had been there since the house was built and it was time for a new owner. It was filthy, covered with black mold from being stored in the dampness, but I could find no rips or tears on the vinyl upholstery and the table top was a nice satin feeling formica with barely a scrape. A few hours of elbow grease later, we transformed this set back to its hey day. It's since been sold, but it still sits in my shop as the new owner is in no hurry to get it and I'm in no hurry to deliver it, either.

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