Erno Goldfinger | owl's house london.

Yesterday’s Mid Century East show at Erno Goldfinger’s marvellous Haggerston school was the usual trove of fabulous modernist finds. Apart from the pieces, what I love about the show is how everyone who attends is passionate about design. Dealers love what they do and love to talk about their wares. And, of course, the pieces themselves always come with a fascinating provenance.

A brief walk-through below, featuring just a few favourite pieces and their dealers; some known, others new.

Mar-Den had the wonderful, on-end, angled brick wall as a backdrop in which to display, in the beautifully proportioned double-height space of the hall.

Pink Flamingoes specialise in American design, and showed Eames classics in fabulous colours.

Beton Brut specialise in architect-led design from post-War France, Italy, Netherlands and Scandinavia. I’m yet to visit their new showroom in East London but they have a very seductive website in the meantime.

Saunders Fine Art always tempt with their modern British and European art and also collectables.

My favourite of the show was a pair of lounge chairs from the ‘50s, with a wonderful back-story, having been languishing with their original owners in the south of France until now. From The Kula.

Lovely accessories at Fragile Design

1934, named for Gerrit Rietveld’s ‘crate furniture’ series in 1934, has a tightly curated collection of simple, functional pieces.

Gorgeous Vittorio Nobili Medea Chairs (and a few knock-out light fittings) at
Salone MCM

Dd you go? Any favourites? More mid-century show round-ups, here and here.

All images owl’s house london taken on my iPhone 5.

Midcentury Show East is a mid-century fair, featuring vintage furniture dealers and classics of British, American and Scandinavian twentieth-century design. I wrote about the midcentury show in St John’s Wood earlier this year, here.

This past Sunday was the east London event, held in Haggerston School, a building designed by major Modernist proponent, architect Erno Goldfinger in the mid 1960s, probably best known for his Brutalist-style Trellick Tower. Fifty dealers were represented, the hall and gym holding the majority with the rest meandering through corridors and secondary spaces. Stalwarts like Lovely & Co, Elliot and Tate, Saunders Fine Art, Vintage Unit, and new (to me, at least): Osi Modern (who style so beautifully), Pink Flamingos who specialise in Eames, and Bleu.

Sadly I’m not in the market for furniture until our house-hunting is over, and we have space with which to furnish… sigh. Maybe by the time the Dulwich fair comes around in December…