Description
SOLD! In the first day it was listed for MORE than the offers over price.
Get in contact with us if you’d like to buy a similar suite that iNVISeDGE has in the wings.
We ONLY take the best Tessa T21 suites that are available- best condition AND best configurations. 0412 757 348.
Follow us on Instagram ( www.instagram.com/invisedge ) or regularly click into our NEWLY LISTED Category.
LOCATION- being sold under consignment from a private seller in Highton Geelong, near MELBOURNE. I travelled to Geelong to personally work with this suite and took all the photos in this listing. Delivery Australia-wide is possible. Approximately $140 to get this full suite to Melbourne. Approximately $380 to get the full suite to Sydney.
Our listing price is OFFERS OVER $1,750 for ONE CHAIR ONLY. Offers over $2,700 will be considered for ONE CHAIR and ONE MATCHING footstool. Offers over $4,400 for BOTH CHAIRS and ONE FOOTSTOOL will be considered more favourably than other offers. Offers over $875 for just ONE FOOTSTOOL will also be considered in the event that the eventual buyer nominates to buy only one footstool … and not BOTH. (I’d be surprised if this happens- the right buyer will understand the rarity of the matching footstools and the solid investment appeal opportunity by getting TWO. THE FOOTSTOOLS ARE VERY HARD TO GET (since Tessa went out of business in 2019). Offers over $5,250 will be considered for BOTH swivel chairs and BOTH footstools. Offers over $7,900 for all the available pieces (2 swivel chairs, 2 footstools and the 3-seater sled-based sofa) will be considered most favourably. Offers for less than the 5 pieces will be entertained- prices will depend on what we’re left with and how saleable those pieces are. Obviously we prefer to keep the matching suite together. Full suites like this are very hard to get. The last time we had a full suite like this was back in 2022 but that suite was in very dark colours.
These colours are much harder to get and more sought-after. The lighter tones pare back the boldness of this design allowing it to work in a wider variety of homes. T21 furniture is physically not very big but visually it has impact- the lighter tones don’t really have any more visual impact than any other lounge suite- particularly this suite with the sled-based sofa. The T21 sofas with 4 legs are chunkier looking. This sofa is very minimalist with a Danish-furniture vibe. The sled-based sofa is very hard to get and very popular.
A full suite like this (and in these colours) comes up rarely, plus there are various configuration possibilities available so we’ve nominated to list the suite in an OFFERS OVER situation.
This is FULL-GRAIN vintage leather (from the 1970’s)- the real deal. Tessa often used the shitty TOP-GRAIN leather after the mid-1990’s until 2019 (when they closed- they closed because they couldn’t compete with China anymore unfortunately). Top-Grain leather is NOT TOP-GRADE leather- it’s the inferior THIN modern-day leather that usually deteriorates within 10-20 years- don’t be deceived. FULL-GRAIN leather is the best leather you can get (and the only leather you want).
The investment appeal of this suite is a NO-BRAINER. This FULL suite (PAIR of CHAIRS, BOTH FOOTSTOOLS and the 3-SEATER SLED-BASED SOFA) retailed new for about $20,000 in 2019 just before Tessa went out of business. This suite has been in the family of my vendor since the late-1970’s. Proof that this is a late-1970’s suite is with the tag shown in our photos. The tag states just LEATHER. The type of leather wasn’t specified because back then leather was leather- they didn’t cut corners. All leather at this time was made as well as it could be. Proof of that comment is shown in the condition of this suite after almost 50 years of use. The tags with just the word LEATHER on them were used in the late-1970’s and early-1980’s only. After the early-80’s, Tessa labels changed.
The thing that fascinates and excites me so much here is that my vendor (who paid for a small fortune for this) has got over 45 years of use out of their AUSTRALIAN-MADE furniture but now it’s ready to passed on to another loving home with no need for restoration! (That to me is close to a miracle in today’s world.) There’s not much to show for about 45 YEARS OF FAMILY USE! THIS LOUNGE SUITE IS IN FULL ”AS FOUND”” condition. I didn’t have time to tidy up the leather. This makes it even easier for buyers to invest in this suite. Look at it after about 45 years of constant use with absolutely NO RESTORATION! One of the cushions on the sofa shows some minor wear- to the surface colour only- this could be tidied up by a leather technician for about $160- this would then get the suite virtually new again.) And the frame … look at the steel sub-structure underneath in our other listings for Tessa T21 furniture. This furniture was built to last GENERATIONS (… forever???)- proof in that comment is in the condition. Marvel at the craftsmanship here. It’s no wonder Tessa T21’s have lasted the way they have- quite simply this furniture was built to last generations!
The timber arms show some UV exposure when the armrest-covers are taken off. The arms could all be sanded back and re-finished. Each arm takes about 1.5 hours to do fully. Or put the armrest covers back on- the choice is yours. The armrest covers are also there and look great!
Sit in this after a hard day at work and you’ll probably fall asleep- the comfort here is PURE BLISS!
Background Info and Provenance
(This section about Tessa T21 chairs was written in 2020 with some adaptions later made. These chairs are technically called the Tessa Executive Chair (not the T21- the cushions here are more streamlined compared to the Tessa T21. These streamlined cushions are more desirable compared to the standard T21).
This is arguably the most sought-after chair design to ever come out of Australia. The Contour range by Grant Featherston is probably the most collectable in terms of dollar-value; this one, the T21 swivel chair, released by Tessa in the early 1970’s, is easily the most asked-for vintage chair through our website. When I experienced sitting in a Tessa T21 / Executive swivel chair for the first time, I instantly knew why so many people ask me to buy them. The quality just jumps out at you but it’s the comfort that everyone is after! … OMG … after sitting in a Tessa T21 for the first time I didn’t want to ever get up! During COVID lock-downs, I had phone calls from people almost on a daily basis asking for T21 swivel chairs or suites. Our Tessa T21 listings all attract record interest.
The footprint of these chairs is small for swivel chairs (because of the steel substructure- the timber is clad onto steel.) This suite is upholstered in VINTAGE FULL-GRAIN BOVINE LEATHER- the real deal. I wrote a blog describing the differences between Top-Grain and Full-Grain leather in 2021 (put “leather brochure” in the Search box to find it- be aware that Top-Grain leather is NOT TOP-GRADE leather- it’s the inferior modern-day leather that can disintegrate within 10 – 20 years of use. This leather is VINTAGE (from the late-1970’s)- NOT the cheaper leather we see around today. The labels on this suite were used by Tessa in the late 1970’s which verifies the age.
You’ll sometimes see second-hand Tessa suites where the leather has completely ripped at the seams or cracked all the way through after about 10 years of use- this is always MODERN Top-Grain Leather.
After a 50-year stint in the Australian Marketplace, making virtually ALL their furniture in AUSTRALIA, Tessa Furniture died in 2019. It’s a sad state of affairs when an Australian business can no longer do what they do so well because of cheap imports destined to end up as landfill. And this is the very reason why Tessa eventually died. Their designs are so well-made that vintage second-hand Tessa pieces ended up becoming more sought-after than new Tessa Furniture. And who can blame people going straight to the second-hand market for designs such as this? The QUALITY of this design is so exceptional that second-hand pieces (in quality upholstery / leather) often still look basically new after 10, 20, 30, 40 … and even 50 years of use. In this listing you’re getting chairs that present extremely well but there’s REAL investment appeal on offer here because these are VINTAGE with irrefutable proof of the age!
I believe this design- the T21 swivel chair by Tessa- is the best investment in the furniture marketplace. Everyone seems to want them, they are NO LONGER in production so more people will hang onto theirs for a lifetime of enjoyment. Therefore, less and less will be coming onto the secondary market. T21 chairs retailed NEW for about $4,400 EACH (in FULL-GRAIN leather) just before Tessa went under- at this RESERVE price (a bit more than ONE THIRD retail) it should be obvious to anybody that the only way the value of these chairs can go … is way up. Value is also tied up in this configuration- this suite is in one of the most sought-after configurations- all these matching pieces rarely come up together.
This suite is nearing 50 years old and look at it! Just mind-blowing really! No guessing the quality on offer here. After much of the world’s furniture ends up as landfill, this furniture will be passed onto another user and eventually a new generation. Now that Tessa Furniture is not made anymore, I can’t see any reason why this design (made in AUSTRALIA) won’t slowly increase to the value they were selling for new (ie. $4,400 EACH). There’s no better way I can think of to invest in your home, the future of our environment and local community.
2512
