It's been a nice week here for us here at Oh My Mod. We recently wrapped up our living room project (photos of the finished product coming in the next couple of days), the sun has been shining and we've also been lucky enough to snag a few great pieces to add to our home. While some of those pieces will be made available to the rest of you Oklahomans/Tulsans with a passion for mid century furniture and decor, the piece above will be staying right here with us. For now anyway...
I encountered this beauty by chance on my way home from a recent appointment. While driving, I realized that I was just around the corner from a store that I had heard good things about but had never been to. Given that I was so close to the store, I figured I should at least stop in and test my luck. I've been hunting (unsuccesfully) for a large 50s-60s abstract or cityscape painting to center above our
extremely long mid century couch for quite some time and was hoping to find such a piece on this impromptu stop.
I entered the store, glanced around the room and though I saw no painting, I was suddenly captured by the warm glow of the chair's harvest gold color. I quickly navigated the items strung about the room to get closer to my target and give it a closer examination. Once I reached it I was stunned. The upholstery was in fantastic condition! In fact, it bordered on pristine for a piece of this age. The only blemish I found was a very, very subtle stain on on the cushion, which I figured could be removed without much trouble. I took a seat and was surprised at how comfortable the chair was. After sitting for a few minutes and enjoying the way the chair seemed to wrap around me, I began looking on and under the chair for an identification mark. There was nothing to be found under the chair, but there was a label sewn in under the cushion. The label read "Empire Contemporary Furniture - Tulsa" and was accompanied by a mono-colored, Bauhaus/De Stijl styled graphic . I wasn't sure if the label was meant to identify the manufacturer, the product line or simply the style of the chair. Nonetheless, I wasn't about to pass up this "golden opportunity".
I snapped a couple quick pics on the trusty iPhone and messaged them to K to get her thoughts. Like me, she was taken back by the condition of the chair, it's warm color and wonderfully modern build. We agreed via text that it should be ours and I went about the process of purchasing it. Though we don't have a ton of gold/yellow pieces in our house at the moment, we like this piece enough to find a way to make it work. The fact that it might have local ties to Tulsa is a bonus and I am excited to try and dig up more information on the history of this piece. So far I haven't been able to find anything specific to this chair, though there are a number of mid century chairs similar in style. Can any of you local, or not so local, mid century enthusiasts shed some light on the history of this piece?
In the end, the maker won't change our feelings towards the piece. I'm sure we'll be too busy basking in the glow of the sun while resting comfortably in our golden chair.
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