Description
SOLD in the first 4 HOURS these were listed.
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LOCATION- being sold under consignment from Bacchus Marsh, near MELBOURNE. Delivery Australia-wide is possible. Approximately $260 to get this full suite to Sydney.
NOTE- a few display photos have been included in this listing of a suite we sold in the past. The suite with (overall) lighter timber in a uniform tone has SOLD. The suite shown in the SOLD display photos had the timber re-finished- those photos have been included to show that the timber of a SOLD Tessa T21 suite shows how well T21 furniture responds well to being re-finished. (It takes a few hours to do and is not difficult.)
PRICE for this suite is as follows. Swivel chair in brilliant vintage condition – $1,700 if purchased with a full set (UV fading to the timber armrests, the original, VINTAGE leather is brilliant. The timber arms can be sanded back and refinished to achieve a uniform timber tone). Swivel chair in excellent vintage condition – $1,500 if purchased as a full set (UV fading to timber armrests- as above – some wear to the finish on the timber. The original VINTAGE full-grain leather is excellent overall- a few small shallow cracks in the seat cushion but the leather is all still in tact and good. The rest of the leather is brilliant overall- may have some minor signs of use elsewhere but there’s nothing else that warrants a mention. The leather colour has been professionally revived. The full suite looks excellent- you may want to refinish the armrest timber if you don’t want to use the armrest protectors. This leather is 50 years old and still fully usable. After 50 years the leather on the second chair is still very good- I see no reason why the seat leather won’t keep on going for another 20 years or so. The rest of the leather should last for 50 years or more. The matching footstool is $900. Excellent condition. There’s some minor wear to the leather but nothing that warrants a mention. $4,100 for the full set. The condition has been taken into consideration and a large deduction in price has been applied- there are no condition issues of any concern. Minor cosmetic issues only. The timber armrests could be re-finished. THE FOOTSTOOLS ARE VERY RARE AND SOUGHT-AFTER (ever since Tessa went out of business in 2019). This configuration is very hard to get- single chairs come up but matching pairs are infinitely harder to get which adds to the value and getting the matching footstool is even harder to get.
Sit in this after a hard day at work and you’ll probably fall asleep- the comfort here is PURE BLISS!
The investment appeal of this suite is a NO-BRAINER. This FULL suite (PAIR of CHAIRS and matching footstool) retailed new for about $11,000 in 2019 just before Tessa went out of business. This Tessa suite was purchased new by my vendors in Melbourne back in the late-1970’s. This is an authentic VINTAGE Tessa suite (Australian-made obviously)- fully original VINTAGE leather and in excellent condition!
This suite was built to last GENERATIONS (… forever???). Proof in that comment is in the condition of this suite after almost 50 YEARS of family use. Marvel at the craftsmanship. It’s no wonder Tessa T21’s have held up so well to use over the years- quite simply these pieces were built to last generations!
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. I sold my last Tessa T21 chairs a few months back now- T21 listings all attract record interest.
This leather is a classic tone (very dark chocolate- looks black but is actually very dark brown). This is a bold design- these chairs look amazing in front of a fireplace or in a vintage home. The footprint of these chairs is small- they are visually bold but pretty 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!
Today in 2020, 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 (not much 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 but all 3 matching pieces rarely come up.
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, these chairs 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.
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