Description
ONLY $330 FOR THE 3-SEATER SOFA. This price applies for the next week only. In a week I have to move the sofa, then the price will go up to $450. The matching pair of fixed chairs are also available and priced separately. I can do a deal for the full suite for the next week.
Best coloured leather for this design! This suite 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 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.
LOCATION- Geelong, MELBOURNE.
This suite consists a PAIR of ARMCHAIRS, 3-SEATER SOFA, SWIVEL CHAIR and PEDESTAL FOOTSTOOL. This suite retailed new for about $18,000 in 2019 just before Tessa went out of business. We prefer to sell the pair of chairs and 3-seater sofa together. Preference will be given to those buyers who want those 3 matching pieces.
The leather on the seats is on its last legs. The rest of the leather is excellent overall. You could retain the leather upholstered to the sofa frame itself and have all the loose covers re-done in a textile weave fabric in a similar tone to the leather. This would be a cheap and easy way to renovate the chairs. People prefer sitting on fabric but the main part of the cost with renovating these is the upholstered chair frame- not the loose cushions sitting on the frames.
Priced to sell!
This suite could be used as is and the seat leather only replaced. That would also be cheap. (About $250 to re-upholster each of the seat cushions.) The back cushions are in excellent condition- you could correct the minor colour loss to the back cushions with leather paint (it’s not noticeable though so not really needed). The leather itself is all good.
This is TOP-GRAIN leather- this is why it’s wearing badly on the seat cushion but it shows that despite a lot of use, the rest of the leather will stand up to continued use- it’s only the seat cushion that wears heavily.
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 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 (2020 – 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 think this RARE off-white leather 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.
The condition of the seat leather here verifies why TOP-GRAIN should never be made again. It wears much faster than proper FULL-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 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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