Alice in Wonderland is a good descriptive. I don't care for the proportions.

Even at $150 a chair, if you're not sure you really like them -- and the fact that you use the word "like" and not "love" -- should tell you that they're probably just not right for you.

Hold out for whatever makes you shout "I LOVE THIS!"

(and not "Well, I could always resell it...")

Obviously a great deal, but I do not care for the style.

I saw those last week and they caught my eye! I agree with everyone else - if you do not LOVE them, do not get them. Deal or not.

Have you been to Urban Suburban in Crestwood? Chris owns it too. They have more retro/modern stuff than Hoover Antiques. Haven't been to his Pelham store yet - have you? I bet so, since it's closer to you.

You would have loved four chairs they had at Urban two weeks ago. My friend loved them but they really didn't go with her house/breakfast room table. Comfortable too. Don't ask me to describe - I'm terrible at that.

Man, I love those, but they'd have to be in a context that supported them, iykwim. For you, I'd probably keep looking, hearing how you're writing about them.

allison -

I don't get to B'ham much, so I don't get to hit Urban much. But their modern stuff gets gone fast. I haven't heard about the one in Pelham. Which one is his in Pelham?

I've been to the Crestwood store and he does sell more modern and retro furniture rather than antiques.

I'm trying to envision some really fabulous fabric . . .

Wow, I love them! Of course that means nothing if you don't.

You say they would be in "professional" office? A professional what?

They're a little too fun-house-mirror for any kind of serious professional office.

Unless you run an art-gallery, maybe.

As others have said, I wouldn't get them if I didn't love them. But, if I could turn a profit in buying and reupholstering them, I would be tempted. I'm not familiar with this style of chair, but maybe with some new fabric, they could be transformed, especially if the chairs are in good to excellent condition. Lately I've been interested in painting old furniture and reselling it for profit. Around here, I can pick up some really nice pieces for $50 or less, really.

The chairs are really unique. Thanks for sharing.

Edward Wormley, imo, sometimes walked a tightrope between awesome and hideous, and usually pretty successfully too. So, some of his stuff is awesome and hideous at the same time.

I don't think these are hideous but they are very specific, and all of them have the wrong fabric on them. These need to sit where the sculpural quality of them can be appreciated, and that, to me, would be a somewhat under furnished room.

Urban Suburban Pelham (formally Consigning Interiors)

This is probably Wormley's most famous piece, "Talk to Me"

The legs are held together under tension by the turnbuckle.

These routinely sell for $30,000 +

Lol I'd buy them and sell them on Ebay.

Lol I'd buy them and sell them on Ebay.

There ya go.

These two are currently on ebay for $3800:

But when I check "Completed Listings", I don't see ANY completed auctions.

So...

Here is a link that might be useful: Ebay listing

I think the chairs are fabulous....and would definitely be wonderful in a professional office, provided the rest of the office wasn't furnished in heavy Victorian or Germanic stuff.
I am surprised you recognized them under that awful patchwork stuff.
Buy them and redo in an awesome flame stitch. They are beautiful classic good design.
Linda c

mclarke said:

"You say they would be in "professional" office? A professional what? "

A law office. But a law office with repro Barcelona chairs in the reception area. I'm not a nailheads and hunting prints kind of gal. So I'm pushing the envelope a bit, anyway.

_______________________

palimpsest said:

"Edward Wormley, imo, sometimes walked a tightrope between awesome and hideous, and usually pretty successfully too. So, some of his stuff is awesome and hideous at the same time.

I don't think these are hideous but they are very specific, and all of them have the wrong fabric on them. These need to sit where the sculpural quality of them can be appreciated, and that, to me, would be a somewhat under furnished room."

Points well taken. I don't plan on having a lot of "stuff" in the office. But I think I'd have to have just the right desk to make this work. I haven't settled on a new desk, and will probably use one of two existing ones in the mean time -- a simple frosted glass with chrome legs, or a 1920s English oak refectory-type table/desk.

There is also a small sitting/work area at the end of the office. It's about 7.5' x 9'. I could perhaps use these chairs down there with an interesting table and put something more subdued as the guest chairs at the desk.

What type of upholstery do you envision on these?

________________________

allison:

I'll definitely hit the Pelham store. Hitting all the usual suspect stores is on my agenda for this afteroon as I try to tie up some loose ends.

In researching further I find there is some dispute as to whether these are Wormley. A Treadway auction listed them as Drexel, and others say Scandinavian fruitwood. Who knows? Some other ways they have been finished:

I like the cowhide best.

I know I said skip them above, but that was when I thought you were buying them for your house. Office, I might say yes... desk might end up being an issue, like you said, but I think they'd be great in an office sitting area.

I would probably do a textural tweed from someplace like Knoll or Design-Tex, or a flamestitch/bargello like Lindac suggested, but in a more intense colorway than the one pictured on 1st dibs.

They look comfy.

WHY don't I ever come across such stuff? I'd buy 'em in a heartbeat...and then I'd have them reupholstered. But I like sculptural stuff. Sounds like they appeal to you. If so, buy them!

That stuff on 1st Dibs isn't flame stitch....it's more like wavy lines.

I love 'em. That's probably enough to discourage you. Just kidding. But I always dig the Alice-in-Wonderland stuff. I'd probably bond with my attorney over them.