Stag Furniture

Pair of vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers | H is for Home

We’ve just picked up a lovely pair of matching vintage wooden chests of drawers.

Pair of vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers | H is for Home

They were designed by husband & wife partnership, John & Sylvia Reid, for Stag Furniture in the 1950s.

Pair of vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers stacked one on top of the other | H is for Home

They have a strong mid century modern look with pared back, simple, clean lines.

Detail from vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers showing a leg | H is for Home

They appear to be made from a combination of light oak and teak – with two large drawers and a slightly smaller top drawer standing on short, tapered legs.

Open drawer on vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers showing the logo | H is for Home

We really like the subtle handles with their geometric influence. Having lived with the drawers for a couple of days, we noticed how nicely the light and shadow catches them. They’d look great with a background of a bold, mid century wallpaper picking up their geometric form – Minimodern’s Backgammon springs to mind.

Triangle highlights and shadows on a vintage Stag Furniture chest of drawers | H is for Home

They’re quite a useful, compact size; measuring 75cm wide, 70cm tall and 43cm deep.

Vintage Stag chest of drawers with drawers open | H is for Home

We’re going to keep them together as a pair – they’ve made it this long as a couple – we’d hate to split them up now. They’ll go into our antiques centre space – or perhaps our eBay shop, We’ll hang fire for a day or so in case any of our readers want first dibs. Drop us a line if they’re just the thing for you.

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Charity Vintage: Uniflex drawers

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Vintage Uniflex chest of drawers (ends 30 Sep, 2014 11:10:34 BST)

St Vincent Support Centre* is currently selling a couple of pieces of vintage Uniflex furniture but this chest of drawers is what caught our eye. Clean of line, easy on the eye and with beautifully contrasting teak and sycamore woods, it’s currently for sale on eBay for Charity with an opening price of £69.99.

We’ve seen the very same model currently for sale elsewhere online priced at over £350.

Uniflex was at the vanguard of British furniture design and manufacturing. Their furniture was exhibited at the Design Centre in 1962 and they had a show room in New Bond Street, London.

In 1965, as part of the British furniture industry’s Economic Review for 1964, Leslie Leyton of L. Lazarus & Sons Ltd (the makers of Uniflex) proclaimed:

Had the public not become much more discerning we would not be able to sell the sort of furniture we make in the quantities we do.

Leslie Adrian, in a 1965 edition of The Spectator made a bold statement that still holds true today:

British furniture can be clean-limbed and elegant without being second-class Scandinavian…

You can see the article in its entirity here. It makes for very insightful reading into the evolution of furniture manufacturing and retailing over the past 40 years.

*St Vincent Support Centre is part of the international charity, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and exists to promote self-sufficiency by building bridges of support and creating opportunities that enhance the quality of life for those deprived of income, employment, education, social networks and community support. They offer a wide range of services to people who need it most, including free debt advice, counselling, free adult learning, and volunteering/training placements for unemployed and adults with special needs.



Top Drawers!

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two sets of small rusty industrial vintage drawers

We picked up four sets of these metal drawers at auction recently. They were full of all kinds of screws, washers and bits of milking machines!

detail of small rusty industrial vintage drawers

They’d obviously been living in a barn or shed and developed a nice coat of rust, but we knew that there was a vintage industrial gem waiting to be uncovered.

detail of small rusty industrial vintage drawers with wire wool

Justin set about them with fine wire wool – a very laborious, fiddly task. Each set of drawers took about 4 hours.

detail of small rusty industrial vintage drawers with electric buffer tool and tin of Briwax

After the wire wool, waxing and buffing followed.

polished industrial vintage drawers

All the effort was worthwhile as they’ve come up a treat.

detail of drawer corner detail of drawer corner

As you can see from the detailing, they’re actually beautifully made with folded corners and metal drawer knobs.

detail of polished drawers

They’ve got a great look – and we love the finished patina & colour.

detail of polished drawers with red desk lamp

They’re very useful too, of course – perfect for all kinds of bits & pieces in a a craft room or workshop. Thinking a bit more laterally, they’ve got a very masculine look, so would be ideal for men’s jewellery or accessories – cufflinks or watches maybe.