$295.00

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Description

SOLD in the first day it was listed- 2026

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LOCATION- being sold from our storage area in GEELONG, near MELBOURNE. I travelled to Geelong to personally work with this suite and took the photos for this listing. Delivery Australia-wide is possible.   

Tessa T21 coffee table. Matches the timber tone of the majority of Tessa T21 furniture. T21 furniture was also done in a light-timber tone (Tasmanian Oak/ Maple tone). And it was also done in dark reddish tone, which I think is Jarrah. To knowledge, it was never done in anything different (but I might be wrong). I never worked at Tessa so I can only make educated guesses based on my time in this business (25 years).

Nice sculptural elegance and works perfectly with the Tessa T21 design. The Tessa T21 swivel chairs have wow-factor- you want the attention to be on the swivel chairs and the table to settle into the background. If the table with these suites attracts any attention, it is then competing with the chairs and could create a look of confusion and disarray. The table needs to be minimalist and this is. Nice sculptural look too. They’re good tables and very high in quality.

 

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.

2601

DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS LISTING. PLEASE ENQUIRE FOR THE CONDITION OF THIS ITEM. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DOES NOT APPLY! Every piece is in brilliant original condition for a suite that's nearing 50 years old. All Tessa T21 furniture is heavy and very solidly built- this design is particularly strong and durable. I've never seen anything structurally wrong with a T21 Tessa chair- all these items are no exception. The swivel mechanism on both chairs works perfectly. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This furniture has UV fading to the timber armrests but the leather is brilliant. The original, vintage leather has no damage that warrants a mention but very minor signs of use. The timber arms can be sanded back and refinished to achieve uniform timber tone. The original VINTAGE full-grain leather is excellent overall- the middle cushion on the sofa has minor wear to the colour of the seat cushion. The leather itself is in excellent condition- the surface colour has worn off slightly in areas you'd expect. I have included about 5 close-up photos from all angles to show this cushion- it looks the same in person as shown in my array of photos (it's not noticeable). Apart from this, the leather is brilliant overall- it has a few other very minor signs of use elsewhere but nothing that warrants a mention. Click on the Magnifying Tool, then click on each enlarged image to Supersize it. The colour of this suite is duller in lower light. Most of these photos are in strong light to clearly show the condition. Inside a house the colour is not as bright- there are some photos to show this. You may want to refinish the armrest timber if you want to remove the armrest protectors. This configuration is very hard to get- single chairs come up sometimes but matching suites like this are much harder to get which adds to the value- getting the matching footstools as well is even harder. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The cushioning is all in excellent condition. The cushioning is all plush, soft and comfortable plus very supportive as well. The angles of these chairs are obviously SPOT-ON for comfort! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tessa T21 swivels. Measurements. Width- cm. Depth- cm. Height- cm. 3-seater sofa- . Read my 1200+ ebay feedback comments (ALL for furniture and decorative arts SALES) to be assured that the lounges are described as accurately as possible and that I will not purchase items of inferior quality or with significant cosmetic flaws.
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