house&home A Vintage Year by Beth Laitt of Smith and Stephenson I confess to buying an entire tea service of
iridescent pearl with gold edging from a charity shop in recent months.
BIZARRELY, this purchase leaves me suffering only marginal discomfort. Secretly I admire it in my cupboard, despite it verging on being vulgar. You note it’s in the cupboard not out on display or used for tea and cakes. If this was a 1960’s dress I’d be proud and call it ‘vintage’. Or a second-hand sideboard displayed as ‘mid century modern’. I am, like most of us, slightly more reluctant to rescue and reuse other people’s cast-off homewares. However, vintage does not necessarily mean pre-used. More accurately it defines something made between the 1920’s and 1980’s. Any older makes it a common or garden ‘antique’. Frequently now it’s vintage-style or vintage-inspired but newly-made offering us the choice of colour, scale and performance we are so used to. It also happens to offer the manufacturer an opportunity to reduce hand-finished
details or expensive
materials while retaining the flavour of the original product.
Awareness, demand and acceptance of vintage wares has been growing over the last 20 years but has recently dominated the kitchen. Fifties values and design ideals have been adopted for the 21st century kitchen with our retro appliances, vintage weighing scales and Dualit toasters.
Mid-century designers like Eames, Robin and Lucienne Day and Mary White have inspired a host of tea towel designers to decorate your Aga rail. Cake stands and dollies have emerged
in every high street store. Strangely not iridescent pearl tea sets though.
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May / June 2011
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