Description

SOLD in 2023!

We sold this lounge suite through iNVISeDGE about 2.5 years ago. The buyers have re-imagined the use of their space at home and have just purchased a different vintage suite through iNVISeDGE- a Pacific Green suite (on it’s way from Brisbane to them as I write this). This suite is being sold from our vendor’s home in SUNDAY CREEK (near DAYLESFORD / KYNETON)- about 80 km NORTH of MELBOURNE. If you’re in Melbourne and interested in this suite, express your interest early because the suite will need to be moved after a couple of months. We will obviously sell it for less if we don’t have to move it and store it at one of our depots again. Rare opportunity because we normally are not negotiable in price with Tessa Delmont T21 furniture- we’ve sold a decent amount of carefully selected T21 Delmont pieces over the years and know what good examples fetch. This suite has had very little use since the current owners acquired it and is in exactly the same condition as it was in when they purchased it.

CURRENTLY OFFERS OVER $1,595 PER CHAIR. OFFERS OVER $3,200 FOR BOTH chairs will be considered more favourably. Offers over $3,900 for BOTH chairs and the footstool will also be considered favourably. (The footstools are VERY HARD TO GET and very sought-after.) Offers over $5,800 for the FULL 4-piece suite will be given precedence over any other offer. These prices are subject to go up if we need to move the suite out of Melbourne into our Brisbane depot.

RRP NEW of the full 4-piece suite in 2019 (when Tessa went out of business)- approx. $15,000! The sled-based sofas are not easy to get and MUCH nicer than the other ones. A separate listing for just the 2-seater sofa and footstool will appear in our NEWLY LISTED Category shortly.

This suite is extremely rare! Tessa Delmonts in soft upholstery (NOT leather) virtually never come up. I’ve not seen another Delmont lounge suite in soft fabric after almost 20 years in this business. The light-coloured WARWICK Macro-suede is very desirable in this design. Delmonts are very bold in dark leathers and dark timber frames, the lighter tones all-round pare back the boldness and soften the look. This suite is not visually imposing at all but still certainly noticed- this would look brilliant in heaps of spaces, even an apartment!

Warwick Macro-suede is a QUALITY covering that is often chosen by people with young children. Macrosuede is very hardy and easy to keep clean. (Warwick Fabrics is an Australian business that holds a crucial spot in our marketplace and has done since the 1970’s- Google “Warwick Fabrics” for further information.) Warwick Macrosuede is an intelligent choice when soft fabric is wanted because it will look great for the LONG-TERM. (This second-generation upholstery is now over 10 years old and look at it!)

This particular suite has the minimalist look of Scandinavian furniture with a touch of boldness to give it this intriguing slant.

The Delmont design is even more sought-after than the Tessa T21. The Delmont has more exposed timber giving it a designer look with a nice earthy slant. This design helps bring Mother Nature inside your home- the warmth of the timber gives this suite an inviting look, unlike a lot of designer furniture of today, the Delmont is NOT sterile and clinical-looking (the opposite really).

Tessa went out of business in 2019. I’m pretty sure the Delmont design was their most expensive when they closed. This is an authentic VINTAGE Delmont suite from the very early 1980’s. It was re-furbished by Tessa themselves about 10 years ago at a cost of around $2500. (That was 10 years ago- the value of $2500 today is considerably more.) Verification that this suite was refurbed by Tessa is shown in the WARWICK FABRICS label and the sun fading that has occurred on the timber armrests. In my opinion, the sun bleaching is desirable- it has lightened the timber over the whole suite and proves that this is a VINTAGE suite (and was later re-furbished … by Tessa). The original armrest protectors were obviously taken off when the suite was re-upholstered and weren’t replaced. (The customer must have asked Tessa to leave them off.) Many people (myself included) think this design looks better without the armrest protectors. The sun-bleaching on the armrests in this case is not jarring. I quite like the effect with this suite. The differing tones of the timber enhances the appeal in my eyes. It verifies this is a NATURAL product- it gives the suite a nice organic look. China have recently started making chairs out of plastic RESIN to mimic the look of timber (that’s right folks- now we have fake timber chairs- good Lawd!) It’s obvious this suite is REAL and VINTAGE. Watch the value of VINTAGE Tessa furniture rise in future years! Suites like this were made new by Tessa for around $15,000 in 2019 when they closed, therefore vintage Tessa Furniture has a long way to go up before values will start to peter out. And it’s the VINTAGE Tessa suites (just like this one) that will enjoy the strongest gains.

Just before Tessa closed, many of the newer Tessa suites were actually made in China. This suite is vintage- therefore it was made in AUSTRALIA … 100% guaranteed! Look at the sub-structure. The workmanship here is not only impressive but inspiring.

You won’t find another suite like this for some time again (if ever). You snooze, you lose! Express your interest early!

Background Info and Provenance

(This description was written in March 2021 by Sarah, an iNVISeDGE regular- in conjunction with Michael Grealy)

This suite is absolutely gorgeous, it has an intriguing contrast with these lighter tones- the blonde timber creates a beautiful flow and frames the chair-design nicely. The timber is as Mother Nature intended- no two pieces are the same, this creates such a soulful, organic feel- you will never find another suite exactly the same as this one!

This suite is pretty-much irreplaceable and we have treated it as such. We have been working with it for over 2 months and have been painstakingly slow with every decision we’ve made along the way. We wanted to take our time with our decisions (with regards to how we’d restore this suite and how to photograph it). No modern-day “fast-food mentality” here! Slow-fashion is THE catch-phrase of the moment- this is slow furniture in EVERY sense of the word.

The fabric is macro-suede by Warwick and is known for its easy to clean properties, we had one cushion professionally steam cleaned due to an oily mark- this mark came off completely (and the dry-cleaners charged us only $6 to fully clean that cushion-cover!) All the other covers were lovingly steam-cleaned by my vendor in her workshop. ALL of the fabric here is in excellent condition overall.

The Delmont design is arguably the most sought-after chair to ever come out of Australia. The Contour range by Grant Featherston is probably the most collectable in terms of dollar-value, but this design, the T21 Delmont swivel chair, released by Tessa in the early 1970’s is, in my experience, the most asked-for chair (written- 2021). The value of T21 (and Delmont) furniture has sky-rocketed during COVID-19 lockdowns- the popularity increased VERY quickly (and NOTICEABLY) since the first Delmont suite I ever sold (which was back in March 2020 just before the first lockdown). This design is technically not the T21 design but the Delmont. The Delmont design is less known only because there are very few around. After 20-years in this business, this is the third time I’ve had Tessa Delmont furniture. I completely understand why so many people want them! The quality just jumps out at you and the comfort … OMG … after sitting in one of these chairs I didn’t want to get up! But alas I had to get to work photographing these chairs (and cleaning and conditioning the timber) for our customer.

The only real difference I can see between the Tessa Delmont and the T21 is a refinement on the T21. The exposed timber runs up the entire side of the chair creating a classier look, the cushions have been streamlined and the armrest protectors have been markedly improved (in this case they were later taken off). I don’t like the armrest protectors on the T21 or Delmont design and in fact, I take them off whenever I can.

After a 50-year stint in the Australian Marketplace, making virtually ALL their furniture in AUSTRALIA, Tessa Furniture died late 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 the second-hand market for 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 these? The QUALITY of these chairs is so exceptional that second-hand pieces often still look basically new after 10, 20, 30, 40 … even 50 years of use. In this listing you’re getting chairs that looks close to new but they’re about one third the price of new ones.

Today in 2021, I believe this chair- the T21 Delmont swivel chair- by Tessa, is THE best investment in the furniture marketplace. T21 chairs retailed NEW in FULL-GRAIN leather for about $4400 EACH just before Tessa went under- at my price (much less than half retail) it should be obvious to anybody that the only way the value of these vintage chairs can go, is up.

This suite is about 40 years old and just look at it! No guessing the quality here. After much of the world’s furniture ends up as landfill, this suite will be passed onto another user and eventually a whole 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 support local small business.

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