Description
SOLD in late-2021 in the first few weeks of being listed for SIGNIFICANTLY MORE than the reserve price. Keep following our NEWLY LISTED Category or follow us on Instagram!
Our price is offers over $1740 PER chair. We have constant enquiries from people wanting Tessa T21 furniture. Therefore, the ONLY fair way to give everyone a chance to see this listing is to put our VINTAGE T21 listings in an OFFERS OVER situation. This gives those following our website an opportunity to see the listing, discuss what’s on offer with their partner or interior designer/s and submit an offer without the item already being sold. Items in an OFFERS OVER listing won’t be sold for at least 5 days to give people a chance to see the listing and come forward.
These chairs are being sold under consignment by a regular iNVISeDGE seller in GEELONG, South of Melbourne.
Interstate freight can be arranged through one of our preferred furniture carriers for a reasonable additional fee (APPROX. $200 to Sydney) or you can use a furniture carrier of your choice.
Look at the frame here … specifically the steel sub-structure underneath. This suite was built to last GENERATIONS (… forever???). Proof in that comment is in the condition of this suite after years of 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!
Background Info and Provenance
(This section about Tessa T21 chairs was written in 2020 with some adaptions made for these pieces on offer.)
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 lock-down (March 2020 to early-2021) I had phone calls from people almost on a daily basis asking for T21 swivel chairs or suites. The popularity of these Tessa T21 swivel chairs is enduring- particularly after Tessa went out of business a few years back.
This leather-colour looks amazing on this design. (It’s hard to describe the colour; gun-metal grey comes to mind- there’s a slight-blue undertone to the colour as well.) The contrast with the warm tones of the timber creates a really striking look- it gives these iconic chairs a real architectural slant. I can picture these in an architecturally-designed space- they’d look amazing in a warehouse conversion. They’d even add a designer slant to a small fireplace area. This suite is upholstered in 100% FULL-GRAIN BOVINE LEATHER- the real deal. Be aware that Top-Grain leather is NOT TOP-GRADE leather- it’s the inferior modern-day leather that usually disintegrates within 10 – 20 years of use. These ones are NOT!
You’ll sometimes see second-hand Tessa suites where the leather has completely ripped at the seams or cracked all the way through after around 10 years of use- this is always MODERN Top-Grain Leather. This leather is quality FULL-GRAIN leather- NOT the cheaper leathers we see around today. The suite has various labels on the underside of the cushions to substantiate the quality on offer.
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
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 $4400 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 up.
This pair of chairs is in UNRESTORED CONDITION and look at them! Just mind-blowing really! No guessing the quality on offer here including the leather. 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. $4400 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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