Future Lighting Projects

We have two more lighting projects in the queue, an iconic sputnik chandelier and a vintage orb tension lamp. The sputnik chandelier has been in storage since we bought it off Craigslist I think probably two years ago and the tension lamp we bought at an estate sale last weekend. We'll keep you updated as we make progress.

Gerald Thurston's Swing-Arm Light

I know you were wondering why I posted a history lesson on Thurston's lamps. The answer is simple, we recently restored a Thurston lamp we bought at an estate sale late last year. We had no idea of the lamp's lineage when we bought it, we just really liked the design and we were able to negotiate the price down citing the significant crack in the swingarm, slight damage to the shade, and the veneer accents separating from the shade. It has taken some trial-and-error but it's finished and we're ecstatic with the final result. 

I started with cleaning the shade and fixing the walnut veneer accents. Several of the accents had separated from the shade, to reattach them I applied a small amount of Gorilla Glue to a toothpick which I then ran down the length of the accents. With the accents settled I was able to "pop-out" the small damaged section on the shade by pushing the damaged section out from the inside of the shade using a tennis ball. The reason for the tennis ball is it dispersed the damage section evenly so I could push it through so when I pulled the ball back the damaged section fit back together (best analogy would be resetting a broken bone). I then removed the numerous white paint specks and applied a little teak oil to the veneer. I let the oil soak in before wiping the shade down with paste wax. 

The left side shows the "before"...

...and "after"

I repaired the long crack in the walnut swingarm using Gorilla Glue and clamps. I let it set for a few days before sanding it down and staining with Minwax Walnut stain. I then finished the arm with a couple coats of Tung oil. The brass tube in the swingarm and the shade cap look amazing after cleaning them with Brasso (I'll post a couple close up pics this weekend). The brass tube can retract or extend to adjust how far the lamp projects into the room, there is a red section marked on the tube warn you not to over-extend the lamp. 

Before

After

Rewiring the light was a slightly aggravating process. To begin we heated the old soldered connections to the porcelain sockets so we could easily remove the old wiring. 

Kari deciphered the wiring, but in the process the 2-circuit rotary switch was broken and one of the soldered connections in the switch broke off as well. I was able to solder the wire to its strike plate and reinsert in the rotary switch. Then I super glued the switch back together. Kari finished the wiring, we soldered new connections, and then reassembled the lamp.

We opted for a new brown cloth covered cord and a new plug-in. Once everything was assembled we ran the cord through the original weight so we can adjust the height of the lamp and wired the plug. Then we measured out the perfect place on the living room wall. 

F2F on Etsy - Forgotten 2 Fabulous

The F2F is on Etsy, we're calling our shop Forgotten 2 Fabulous. 

We will be listing original, restored and recycled vintage MCM and industrial pieces. There are a few items listed now, with more to come in the near future.

A series of Lane Acclaim tables waiting to be refinished

Vintage Samsonite Traveler Bag and Train Case w/keys and original tags

MCM Lighting by Gerald Thurston for Lightolier

Gerald Thurston was a contemporary designer for Lightolier in the 50-60's where he perfected modern and streamlined lighting designs. Thurston's designs were inspired by Lightolier's affiliation with Arteluce, an Italian company founded by aeronautical engineer and modern lighting pioneer Gino Sarfatti. Arteluce gained renown in the 1950s as an international reference point for the modern architecture movement in lighting. Thurston adopted Sarfatti's utilitarianism and sophisticated lighting effects. As a result, Thurston focused on developing directional beams that could be moved wherever the user wished and on designing lamps with multiple levels of lighting.

A Gerald Thurston tripod table lamp, brass and walnut legs with enameled metal shades

This desk lamp is affectionately referred to as the "cricket lamp."

I've seen a few variations of Thurston's swing-arm wall lamp.
The ads above show two variations (spoiler alert - we will show you another version in an upcoming post)

The Lytespan Floor Lamp was fully customizable, allowing you to click any combination of lights on the lamp pole (there were 17 different styles and colors).

 

A recent auction estimated the value of this Gino Sarfatti "Triennale" Floor Lamp at $7,000 - 10,000

You can definitely see the similarities when looking at Thurston's "Triennale" Floor Lamp

Too Much of a Bad Thing

This couch is definitely an instance where a picture speaks a 1,000 words. When we walked into the room and saw this monstrosity we were dumbstruck. The entire couch is covered in zebra print, the arms are overly extended with these odd minarets sitting on top, which turned out to be lamps.  

And if the zebra print and minarets weren't enough, each side had a lion head door knocker