Description

The 3-piece Artica lounge suite SOLD to Richard for $3,250 (including interstate freight to Canberra).

This listing is for the 2-seater sofa only. We have a full suite consisting of the 2-seater sofa, a generous 3-seater sofa and single armchair. The other items are priced separately. If you have interest in the full suite, express your interest quickly because we will sell individual pieces within a week or so.

iNVISeDGE now has 2 regular sellers in Adelaide. This suite is being sold under consignment from one of our regular sellers. I travelled to Adelaide to specifically work with this seller and I photographed this suite personally. I think it was my most challenging photo-shoot ever (in nearly 20 years). But I am satisfied with the result. There will be more items being sold from Adelaide in upcoming months and years. This suite can be transported Australia-wide for a reasonable additional fee.

Background Info and Provenance

(Description written in 2021.)

A 2-seater lounge sofa by South Australian furniture maker, ARTICA. (The matching pieces are priced separately.) This is a stand-out suite- probably one of the best I’ve had in several months or years (especially when you weigh up the investment appeal on offer here). There’s absolutely NO way ANY furniture company in the world could produce this suite for anywhere close to our asking price. This leather is the real-deal. Proper FULL-GRAIN VINTAGE leather produced by renown Australian company, HOWE leather. (The suite also has Howe Leather tags on it). Vintage Howe leather sits at the pinnacle on a WORLDWIDE platform- you won’t find leather anywhere that’s better in quality. It’s buttery soft but THICK as well. It is not heavily processed and protected by a quality pigment finish. This leather is already about 30 years old- (just look at it)! If you give it a little attention every couple of months, this upholstery will serve you and your family for a lifetime or more.

But it’s not just the quality of the leather that comes up trumps here. The frame is just as impressive (if that’s even possible)! The frame is a stunning thing to behold but the quality is quite honestly out-of-this-world. They just DON’T make furniture like this anymore (… well Artica still do but only to order). Australia’s, Tessa Furniture, is renowned for being some of the best in the world. My next comment is a bold call to make, but I think this frame is easily better than similar Tessa suites. There are plenty of flowing curves in the frame but crafted from THICK slabs of SOLID TIMBER. I doubt you’ll come across anything like it again. Virtually all Tessa furniture frames are created from compressed bentwood (thin laminated pieces of timber glued together). That is a complicated process but creating curves from SOLID timber is even more challenging and the resulting frame is much stronger. I can’t see anything ever happening to this frame … EVER! (providing you move the suite with a little sense).

Artica has been on my radar for years. This is the first Artica suite I’ve ever experienced in the flesh and I was seriously impressed! The only reason not many people have heard of Artica is because there’s not much of it around. When furniture is CUSTOM made this way (using the techniques of yesteryear), it can’t (and never could be) mass-produced. It was impossible for Artica to make these suites en-masse. The hours of craftsmanship involved preclude this.

I will clarify here though that the timber slats in the back are bentwood (but still thick and brilliant in quality); the structural frames are all solid timber and this timber is stunning! I have no idea what the timber is, I don’t think I’ve come across it before (it’s probably some type of oak). I LOVE the colour- it’s a blonde oak tone and the timber grain is just something else.

I’ve also come to really like the leather choice. I probably would have personally chosen cream-coloured leather for this suite myself but this colour really works on this design. It offers a nice contrast to the frame so the frame is what takes focus PLUS the subtle pop of colour adds some personality. The colour is not “in-your-face”- it’s quite neutral. There are greyish undertones and a subtle green-colour prevails. This colour would be easy to adapt into many spaces. If you’ve got greenery outside your windows it will help bring your view inside but at the same time, this suite will anchor your eye in your interior as well. I also love the detailing of the leather. The workmanship of the upholsterer is quite impressive. There is subtle interest in the leather segmenting but again not too much- the whole suite is beautifully balanced and proportioned.

Now for the negatives … ummm … well, I can’t see any! The suite obviously has beautiful COMFORT as well- just sublime to sink into- soft, but also great angles for proper seating support. You’ll also notice that the cushions have air-vents, to let out just enough air when you sit down for a floating comfort you’ll just love! These vents are expensive to install and yet another indicator that this suite has been crafted to the absolute highest standard. The investment appeal is the biggest attraction here. You’d be flat buying mass-produced rubbish that will end up as landfill for this price … BUT is there any real comparison??? This has been built to last a lifetime (forever???) and the condition of this suite after 30 years is testament to this. A comment like that can very rarely be put on furniture these days. After the majority of lounge suites have ended up as landfill, this suite will be passed onto another appreciating custodian. Look after this one and I can’t see it losing any value in the future. It’s a win for you, a win for our environment, a win for recycling and a win for LOCAL small business.

This description is already way too long but I need to add in one last paragraph. Artica is a South Australian furniture making firm based in Brompton, Adelaide. Artica MAKE FURNITURE TO ORDER and have done so for 51 years (as at 2021). I can’t find an Artica website but found a weird business card scan-thingy online … (very blurry) it says … Specialising in Custom-Made Furniture  EST 1970. There was a website at some stage but I can’t seem to access it at the moment.

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