09-032.

Found on November 06, 2009 in Champaign, IL.

Russel Wright

Casual China dinner plates & cereal bowl
Iroquois China Company
USA, 1946
10 x 10 x 1.25" (dinner plates)
5.25 x 5.25 x 2" (cereal bowl)
Glazed ceramic
Manufacturer's mark and facsimile signature

Estate sales are funny events. I often find myself going into one expecting one thing, and coming out with a completely different viewpoint.

The estate sale I visited today advertised itself as having Jens Risom chairs, so I knew I had to attend. As usual, my 8:00 arrival for the 9:00 opening was much too late, as there were about a dozen people already ahead of me in line. Two of those people, also as usual, were the owners of a great local midcentury modern store called Furniture Lounge. Although I obviously love to have first dibs on any goodies, I'm never terribly saddened if they get to something before me, since I know they are buying because they appreciate the design at least as much as their need to turn a profit for their business. I figured they'd get the Risom chairs, and I was OK with that.

When I got into the sale, I immediately found the Risom chairs, unclaimed. Unfortunately all needed to be re-webbed, which is an easy fix, but one pair was painted and the other had some moderate damage to the wood. In the end, I decided for the price that was being asked, they required too much TLC for me.

Somehow, however, I made it to this small stack of Russel Wright Casual China dinnerware first. I'll always buy up and Casual China that's reasonably priced ... and some day we're going to have to have a dinner party for 100 of our closest friends just to use it all. Bowls are especially nice to find, so I was pleased as I headed to the checkout.

As I left, I noticed the Risom chairs were still unclaimed. I can only assume that my MCM-loving counterparts had a similar reaction to mine. So now I wonder if I need to go back tomorrow afternoon for the half-off sale just to see if they're still there. A 50% discount might make some furniture refinishing worth my while.