Part of me wants to shout out about all the interesting-looking kid stuff in Wright20's upcoming Mass Modern auction June 27, and part of me wants to shut my piehole, because there are lots of lots being sold no reserve, and I'm kind of thinking the fewer people bidding against me, the better it'd be. For me, anyway.
For example:
Lot 117, Puzzle Lounge Chair, c. 1955, est $300-500 [update: it sold for $250.]: OK, so it's not signed, and it's not actually a kid's chair, but this cool, old slot-together birch ply chair is just begging to be scaled down and knocked off, don't you think? And who'd sue? It's unsigned!
Lot 214: Creative Playthings, Inc., Hobby Horse, c. 1950, est. $300-500 [update: it sold for $188.]: You've gotta hand it to DWR and their $200 Rocking Beauty knockoff; whatever else it did, it sure kicked the chair out from under the market for actual vintage Creative Playthings hobby horses. Of course, if this were really from 1950, it'd be a priceless rarity, since Gloria Caranica didn't actually design it until 1965.
Lot 249: Charles and Ray Eames, child's stool, Evans Products, c. 1945, est. $2,000-3,000 [sold for $938.]: Prices for these original, first-run Eames kid stools, meanwhile, don't seem too affected by the reproductions, so much as condition. And unless it's already a beater, you wouldn't let your kid near it. Best to see it in person.
Lot 262: Eames's The Toy, c 1951, est $500-700 [update: it sold for $188.]: Always on the lookout for a copy of the awesome The Toy that has all its spindly sticks and fragile paper panels intact--so that I can squirrel it away for, uh, what purpose I know not. Again, check the condition.
Lot 299: After Alexander Girard, Herman Miller poster, c. 1958, est. $150-250 [update: it sold for $188.]: As for this incredible HM poster of a selection of Girard's folk art collection, please just pretend you never saw it. Keep scrolling. Nothing worth bidding on here, people, move along.
Lot 327: Michael and Frances Higgins mobile, c. 1965, est. $3-5,000 [sold for $1875]: Look, shiny object! Why even waste your time with old posters when you could decorate the kid's room with a beautiful mobile from the Chicago masters of mid-century fused glass? Hmm?
update: there were also several kid-size Harry Bertoia chairs; lot 167 was an early enamel chair with a wool seatpad, and sold for $313. Lot 168 was a set of six chrome chairs, and went for just $625. All sale prices include the 25% buyer's premium.
