Description
Best tones for this design! Love this suite. It has a refined, Scandinavian vibe and is so comfortable! Perfect angles and high backs for full support but this is not at the expense of looks. The suite is stylish and understated- it doesn’t look bulky at all. And so timeless! Who’d think that this is a 50-year-old design? If it’s still sought-after today, it always will be but Tessa went out of business in 2019 so you can’t readily buy this Australian-made furniture anymore.
This Tessa Executive / Tessa T21 suite is being sold UNDER CONSIGNMENT from Ferntree Gully, 3156, MELBOURNE by private sellers who employed iNVISeDGE to handle all aspects of the sale on their behalf. I travelled to Ferntree Gully to take these photos and become very familiar with what’s on offer.
This suite consists a PAIR of ARMCHAIRS, 4 FOOTSTOOLS, PAIR of 2-SEATER SOFAS, A RECTANGULAR COFFEE TABLE and small SQUARE SIDE TABLE. This suite retailed new for about $21,000 in 2019 just before Tessa went out of business. iNVISeDGE price- $1,090 each for the pair of armchairs. $1,095 each for the 2-seater sofas, $440 each for the 4 footstools, $700 for the large coffee table, $450 for the smaller lamp table. $2,180 + $2,190 + $1,760 + $700 + $450 = $7,280 (LESS than what the vendor paid to get the full suite recovered by TESSA in Aspen Leather about 13 years ago.)
The footstools actually slide in under the lamp table- a very clever space-saver and something I’ve never come across before. Also (after 25 years in this business) I’ve never seen Tessa tables with timber tops. The timber is stunning- looks way better compared to the usual glass! Warm, earthy, stylish- the timber pieces gives these pieces a subtle focal point. The tops marry in brilliantly with these stylish, elegant frames. The tables are an amazing investment because they’re virtually impossible to find (… impossible ? My vendor’s mother had them made as a special order by Tessa.)
This suite was purchased new by the vendor’s parents in the 1970’s. In 2013, after my vendor had inherited the suite from his parents, he went to Tessa and got the full suite recovered in Full-Grain ASPEN leather and the timber fully restored at a cost of $8,045. (That amount did NOT include the footstools- the footstools were made by Tessa a few years before for additional.) With inflation $8,045 back in 2013 is now worth almost $11,000. Our price is LESS than the cost 13 YEARS AGO to get the suite professionally restored BY TESSA including all the timber. What I find fascinating about this suite is that after almost 50 YEARS of use it was restored, then looked like new again. This is what you’re investing in- furniture that was built to last forever and be passed from one generation to the next. If it’s been restored once- it could be restored again after another 50 years. See the paperwork including in this listing for verification of the restoration cost. Since the renovation by Tessa, this suite has barely been used AT ALL- some of has NOT been used since the renovation by Tessa. This suite holds a lot of sentimental appeal for my vendor- he grew up with this furniture, inherited it from his parents, paid a small fortune to restore it after it had been used for about 40 years. It has been extremely well looked after. You could say it is AS NEW, most of the pieces look brand-new, a couple are in proper SHOWROOM CONDITION. Priority will be given to those who’d like to purchase all of the pieces available with this suite. Prices may change if you want to break up this matching suite. It’s very hard to get a suite with this number of matching pieces to choose from (and in such incredible condition). I’ve never seen a suite of this age that looks like this before (after being 25 years in this business).
This is FULL-GRAIN ASPEN leather- the real deal. Tessa sometimes used shitty TOP-GRAIN leather after the mid-1990’s until around 2010 (they closed in 2019 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. This leather is light and neutral in colour (with an earthy slant)- this really suits the elegance of the design- it gives this furniture a Scandinavian aesthetic. This suite was upholstered by TESSA themselves (receipts provided) in quality ASPEN leather by Moore & Giles of Germany. ASPEN is the World’s first and only leather to receive a Declare Label. The Declare Label is a tool to show customers that the product is one that can be trusted from a sustainability, toxicity, pollution and environmental stand-point. Crafted from premium hides, Aspen is an award-winning leather containing no plastics. It is a semi-aniline FULL-GRAIN leather which means you’ll need to condition it regularly to keep it looking good for generations to come. (Just like all leather.)
The thing that fascinates and excites me so much here is that my vendor (who paid for a small fortune for this) has got virtually 50 years of use out of their AUSTRALIAN-MADE furniture- now it’s ready to passed on to another loving home! (That to me is close to a miracle in today’s world.) Since the renovation there’s NOTHING to show after about 50 YEARS OF USE! It looks very close to NEW.
THE FOOTSTOOLS ARE VERY RARE AND VERY SOUGHT-AFTER (particularly since Tessa went out of business in 2019). This furniture was very expensive in its day so many people didn’t take on the additional cost of buying footstools as well.
These can be called the Tessa Executive chair or the Tessa T21- both are correct.
ABOUT Tessa T21 Furniture
(This section about Tessa T21 was written in 2020 with some adaptions made for these pieces on offer. The desirability of Tessa T21’s in 2026 is at least the same as what’s stated below).
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 / Executive chair, released by Tessa in the early 1970’s, is easily the most asked-for vintage design on the iNVISeDGE website. When I experienced sitting in a Tessa T21 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 (March 2020 and through to 2022) I had phone calls from people almost on a daily basis asking for T21 chairs or suites. In 2021, my listings for Tessa T21 furniture got record interest and various offers well above my reserve prices. Prices have started to plateau now but the interest remains the same. Today, in 2026, my Tessa T21 listings get more hits than any of my website listings. (I will only the stock the best Tessa furniture that’s out there- with regards to the most sought-after configurations, the best leather and best condition.)
I think this RARE beige / camel-coloured leather here looks amazing on this design. This is a stylish design (but with heights that are about average- this lighter coloured leather helps pare it back. This suite is nowhere near as imposing as black or dark-brown T21’s. I can even picture this suite in a small nook (even in a modern apartment). The footprint of these chairs is not big and this lighter-coloured suite has a more “Scandinavian” feel. Plus, the seats are a good height off the floor. This suite is upholstered in 100% FULL-GRAIN BOVINE LEATHER- the real deal. I wrote a blog in 2021 describing the differences between Top-Grain and Full-Grain leather- use our SEARCH box. Type in “Howe Leather Brochure” to find this blog /information.
You’ll sometimes see second-hand Tessa suites where the leather has completely ripped at the seams or cracked all the way through within 10 or 20 years of use- this is always MODERN Top-Grain Leather. The leather here is ASPEN leather with labels to verify this- it’s NOT the cheaper leather we see around today. The suite has various labels on the underside of the cushions to substantiate this. (The footstools have FULL-GRAIN leather labels on them but it looks the same as the leather on the chairs.)
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 20, 30, 40 … and even 50 years of use. In this listing you’re getting furniture that presents extremely well but there’s REAL investment appeal on offer because the furniture is VINTAGE (with paper-work to substantiate this).
Today in 2026, I believe this design- the T21 chair by Tessa- is the best investment in the furniture marketplace. People are always asking for the best T21 pieces, they are NO LONGER in production so more people will hang onto theirs for a lifetime of enjoyment. Less and less will be coming onto the secondary market. Tessa T21 chairs retailed NEW for about $3,000 EACH (in FULL-GRAIN leather) just before Tessa went under in 2019- at this RESERVE price (about ONE THIRD retail) it should be obvious to anybody that the only way the value of this furniture can go … is way up.
This furniture is about 40 years old and look at it! Just mind-blowing really. No guessing the quality on offer. 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 these chairs (made in AUSTRALIA) won’t slowly increase to the value they were selling for new (ie. $3,000 EACH). There’s no better way I can think of to invest in your home, the future of our environment and local community.
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