This wonderful functional piece from the late 1960′s consists of Teak and Steel  frame with original wool upholstery.

The beautiful original blue/black twill wool upholstery in great condition, with no rips, marks or tears.

The teak frame was given a sympathetic restoration, keeping the integrity of the woods age and wear.  The chair arms have a lovely accent detail of  steel ‘dovetails’ , a really nice detail. The quality and craftsmanship is very apparent, particularly with decorative chromed nut covers.

The webbing and foam has been replaced with new making it comfortable to sit on and a practical, everyday armchair.

A classic, rare, statement piece of furniture.

Measurements:

Depth= 740mm. Height= 620mm. Width= 630mm.

For sale = £170

In 1968 Arthur Bracegirdle (yes, really!) Created one of the greatest space age designs of all time, the Keracolor Television!

The Keracolor goggle box was made in England, it was the first perfectly spherical television made from fibreglass.

Along with the Eero Aarnio ball chair these are for me, the most definining products of  Space Age design. They featured in many period publications as well as ” L’Utopie Du Tout Plastique”, “The Sixties” Phaidon and “Collecting the Sixties” by Madeline Nash.

The small scale production was expensive and this was reflected in the staggering retail price, you could buy a standard family car for the same amount in 1968. It was sold only through a few exclusive outlets, Harrods of Knightsbridge being one of them.

The original television had a Decca Bradford chasis, which was state of the art for the day. After a few years of production Bracegirdle switched to Polycarbonate for the outer casing, as it was more cost effective and durable. This also made the Television a lot lighter – if you have ever tried moving the Fibre glass model you will know!

By 1970 the range grew to include a rectangular model – boring! also hanging number, wood effect!  Various screen sizes were available, including 20″, 24″ and 26″.

Also that year some groovy advertising came in to affect, with Lotus; another Great British company using Fibre Glass, branding the Keracolor name on three of their yellow Lotus Europas for promotional purposes! This model was the car recently purchased by the football star George Best, to give it even more kudos.

The company dispanded in the late 1970′s, with a brief reprise in 2007 when they started producing the old bodies in small quatities using the old casting machines to order using Thompson CRT chasis. At over £2500 they were expensive for something that contained 1990′s technology, but they were hand assembled and it did at least have a scart socket for a digi box! They also had a great official website which seems to have dissapeared along with the newly re-formed company…If anybody knows of there were-abouts, I would be keen to know?

This bring me on to my own “Project Keracolor”! I own a matt black 20″ set which I purchased about 4 years ago after much searching. The original valve chasis was complete but beyond repair…so I removed the chasis and replaced it with a curved mid nineties Sony Trinitron chasis. I realise this must be sacriledge to most Television purists!  Sorry. I currently  have a cheap LCD flat screen in it whilst I service the Sony Trinitron tube, this can be seen in the accompanying images.

The second part of the renovation is purely down to aeshetics. The Polycarbonate body is rather dull and scratched, so needs a re-spray by my local Carbody Paint shop, this is essentially like re-spraying a car bumper. Question is, do I spray it  its original black colour (a much sought after and rarer colour) or go for white, which is my preffered colour?  Hmmn, decisions decisions!

Here we have a fabulous 1958 E Gomme bedroom suite in incredible original condition. The set includes a tall boy, continental bed headboard with side  cabinets and mirrored dressing table.

E Gomme of High Wycombe, England, pioneered the concept of manufactured furniture in the UK post British Government utility legislation 1943-52.

Having attended the Festival of Britain in 1951, Donald Gomme took the dramatic step of moving away from  austere traditional furniture. By 1953 he introduced a selection of well constructed, mix and match furniture in light woods with bright accent colours that looked nothing like the dull furniture the UK had to offer at the time (this range would eventually be the start of G Plan). This; teamed with a dynamic marketing technique was a sure fire hit for decades to come of which many other manufacturers copied.

JULY 1958 Ideal Home Advert:

“Keynote to this lovely G Plan bedroom is the imaginative teaming of brass accented Chinese white laquer with the sunny tons of natural oak”

The suite also has adjustable ebonized black legs on each piece to create a “floating” appearance.  The twin bedside cabinets each feature a single drawer and “floating “ glass shelves.

The Dressing table has three fully adjustable mirrors for pampering, just what every girl needs!

The set is in fantastic condition and seldom seen this good, despite being 53 years old!

Measurements:

Headboard/Cabinets: D=480mm, H=1010, W= 2420mm ( 1460mm between cabinets fits kingsize bed and smaller)

Tallboy: D=410mm, H=1280mm, W=610mm.

Dressing Table: D=460mm, H=1350mm with mirror(740mm without), W=1250mm.

We have now sold this suite however please check out our Ebay shop for more :

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/timeboxvintage

Having aquired an original 1968  Peter Ghyczy designed Garden Egg chair a few years ago, in need of some TLC,  I needed to research the red plastic blob in order to give it a sympathetic restoration…and here I am passing on what I know to you!

Peter Ghyczy(1940) was an important designer in the grand scheme of swinging sixties funiture design, as he was a pioneer of polyurethane technology and had a ideal of creating modern mass produced furniture for the masses.

He first produced the Garden Egg Chair in 1968, so called due to its plastic structure being the perfect material for indoor and outdoor use. With its hinged lid, it kept out the ellements when shut!

As head of design department for Elastogran,they produced the chair in East Germany, where the production was cheaper than the West. However, at 430 Marks the chair was simply too expensive for the average East German. The chair was sold through Beylarian, Drabert and Fehlbaum GmbH(now Vitra)in the U.S.

The production of the chair in its original form only lasted 2-3 years due to the laquered finish proving problematic*.The company was later sold to BASF in the G.D.R  in1972.

He continues to pioneer and design in the Netherlands, where he remains to this day. Other stand out designs include the MW17 table lamp.

Despite the poor imitation copies currently flooding the market ( Eero Aarnio Ball chair too) which are produced in China, there was a official re-production in the 1998. However with technological advances and hindsight the later chairs are constructed from more durable materials by BV in the Netherlands.

On this point, the “fake” Chinese repro flooding the market are made from fibre glass, have larger hinges, weigh considerably more and the paint finish is often very thin around the unseen areas( under the seat pads and around the hinge area)- you have been warned!

Current places to view the chair in the UK  are the V and A Museum ( London) and Brighton and Hove Museum.

Original Garden Egg Chair

Another blog? I hear you say… Timebox is a blog about mid 20th century design, culture, music and anything that new that grabs my attention. All with a sly nod and wink from someone who spends far to much time obsessing about the sixties.

If there is something you would like me to include, remove or debate please feel free to contact me here.