Spaces: Entryway

Once you get past our still-unpainted front doors (long story, soon to be rectified), you'll be greeted by more of our favorite things. The sideboard has sentimental value for my daughter. She found it at an estate sale years ago, and it was the first piece she ever restored. The vintage Von Nessen lamp came out of our store before it closed, and the brass figurals are part of my daughter's collection, while the Howard Miller Museum Clock is mine. The woven wall hanging and stainless steel coat rack are my daughter's, and the mirror is mine...new modern pieces that I think work well with the vintage. The picture on the wall is embroidered folk art, an Etsy find that I gave my daughter one Christmas.

1964 Herman Miller lighting catalog

A couple of years ago, the Modernica blog featured a complete 1964 Howard Miller catalog, which includes all the George Nelson bubble lamps and all the 1964 prices. What a great piece of history!

I'm showing you just enough of the pages to pique your curiosity. There are many more styles, some of which you've probably never seen. To see the entire catalog, follow the link to the Modernica site.

From blog.modernica.net, with attribution to Atomic Pear on flickr.com

Hold my place

Some of you may have noticed that Nick from Mid-Century Midwest and I were having some difficulty receiving items we had ordered from The Foundary.

A couple of weeks ago they offered reproduction George Nelson clocks by Verichron at prices so low I couldn't afford to pass one up. I ordered the spindle clock (which I think is what Nick ordered too).

The delivery date we had been given came and went...and went...and went. Nick and I were calling the company almost daily to find out when our clocks were going to arrive and griping back and forth about it on our blogs. We weren't as upset as we would have been if we'd paid for vintage Nelson clocks that had tragically been lost in the mail. But we did expect to get the repros we spent our hard-earned money on!

Mine finally arrived yesterday, and I have to say that it more than met my expectations. I've said in several posts that I don't find reproductions as déclassé as some people do. In fact, I think they are perfectly fine if you're not a collector and just want a "look." I also think they're satisfactory place holders for collectors who are still looking for an affordable vintage piece, which is why I bought the clock. I'll keep scouring eBay and CL and auctions for a steal on a real Nelson clock, but in the meantime I'm rid of the cheesy mirror that was hanging in my alcove.

Obviously, the Verichron spindle clocks aren't Nelson twins, but neither are the Vitra re-issues, which cost almost $500. The vintage Howard Miller Model #2239 Spool/Spindle clock was 22.5" in diameter and had a black hour hand and a white minute hand. The spindle clocks currently sold by Vitra are 22.75" in diameter and have white hour hands and orange minute hands.

The Verichron spindle clock is only 19" in diameter, and it has a white hour hand and orange minute hand like the Vitra clock does. The only really unfortunate thing is that they printed "George Nelson" on the face. (Ack!) While it's obviously not the real thing, for the price I paid, it will do just fine till a vintage Nelson drops out of the sky into my lap.

Here's hoping that Nick's finally arrived too.

Vintage George Nelson spindle clock for Howard Miller
georgenelson.org

Vitra George Nelson re-issue
vitra.com

My Verichron repro

So much better, in my opinion, than
the Hobby Lobby mirror I had there!

On the way to the store: George Nelson for Howard Miller

My SIL has been participating in some major auctions around the country lately, and a few days ago he won a clock by George Nelson for Howard Miller. I'm not talking about a small Nelson desk clock or even one of his larger wall clocks, but a floor model that's almost five feet tall.  It is in transit now from New York to Texas and should be in the store soon.

The clock is a sleek chrome and smoked Lucite grandfather style designed by Nelson in the 1960s. It stands 56" tall by 13" wide and will be a real eye-catcher in someone's modern home. I love the iconic George Nelson hands on the clock, and I've read that it has melodic chimes which ring on the hour and half hour. This is going to be so much fun to have in the store! (I can say this because it won't be waking me up all night on the hour and half hour. That might color my definition of fun just a bit. And, yes, my daughter, SIL and the boys are still living behind the store while they debate the merits of a house versus a high-rise apartment.) All that aside, I think the clock is destined to become one of those pieces we get attached to and don't want to give up.

1960s Howard Miller grandfather style clock by George Nelson