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UGLY OR PRETTY? VINTAGE FIND RAISES THE QUESTION!

March 26, 2009
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Photos by Coco of CococozyVintage nine drawer cabinet with turned wood feet, copper nail heads and brass sheets over wood from Lawson Fenning
Lawson Fenning – Brass Sarreid Cabinet- $4400 (Made in Spain in the 1970s. Vintage nine drawer cabinet or chest of drawers with turned wood feet, copper nail heads and brass sheets over wood) (above)

NN and I were furniture hunting a few weeks ago on Beverly…well errrr…I was furniture hunting and NN was forced into it only because I was the one who drove (he suggested I pick him up…just so you understand that the events that ensued were not premeditated…no design malice intended).

That weekend, NN became my latest victim – one in a group of friends who I agree to go to lunch, dinner, or a movie with but who I trap (in a way) when I ask them to briefly stop by a store or two for a casual “look”. Much to their chagrin, however, these friends unwittingly end up on the sidelines (the sidelines of my world) for hours in furniture shops while I obsessively peruse and photograph everything there is in site. Is that a form of kidnapping? Torture? Hmmm…?

Poor NN. It was Saturday and all he wanted to do was have lunch and to go see Watchmen. (Thankfully, by the time we got to the Arclight on the opening weekend of Watchmen, and much to my relief, the movie was sold out. To pretend I was just as into the movie as NN (to indulge his interest in this movie rendition of a graphic novel and only because he had been so indulgent with my interior design aside), I begged every single person at the ticket counter to release the four seats that are held aside and never sold for every movie “just in case a seat breaks or something”. My begging was useless. The group of ticket sellers was resolute…they thought and said as I pretend begged, “No tickets for you.”! “Fabulous”, I secretly thought…but put on a very sad face to NN).

Anyhoo, before the Watchmen expedition at the Arclight, NN and I went to Lawson Fenning on Beverly. The first thing I saw was this gold cabinet. I was transfixed.

I asked NN…”Is this ugly or pretty? I can’t tell.”

NN definitively responded “Ugly.”

“Is it really pretty? Or is it really ugly? Or maybe on a continuum it circles past ugly, around to pretty and then back to ugly and then lands somewhere in between pretty and ugly?”, I mused.

NN definitively responded again, “Ugly.”

Then he disappeared as I stared at the cabinet for another five minutes.

With no audience in sight, I finally replied “I’m not sure…in the right setting, although I don’t know what, this might work?”

(Crickets chirp)

But, even as I spoke, I wasn’t all that sure. Part of me thought beautiful…part of me thought absolutely not beautiful (verging on gauche).

I need more than NN’s opinion and my indecisiveness to decide on this one.

What do you think of this vintage brass cabinet…ugly or pretty?

(I do think this is a striking and bold piece that could make an amazing design statement…but don’t know just how…so what do you say?)

Close up of a Vintage nine drawer cabinet with turned wood feet, copper nail heads and brass sheets over wood

Please click on comments link below and weigh in!

Photos by Coco of Cococozy

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DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.
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12 responses to “UGLY OR PRETTY? VINTAGE FIND RAISES THE QUESTION!”

  1. Anonymous says:
    March 27, 2009 at 3:40 PM

    Pretty

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    March 28, 2009 at 7:12 AM

    Totally not my style, but I think it’s a very nice piece. It would make a great statement in the proper setting.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    March 28, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    Well, at first it was very attractive to me, I liked the pattern of the dots, but then in thinking about it, I would not like to use it,the skinny handles are not comfortable and the up keep of the brass material would be a pain. It’s very imposing, I would not like to see it everyday. But if you bought it and I saw it in your house, I would tell you it was fabulous and mean it. Beverly

    Reply
  4. grunge-queen says:
    March 29, 2009 at 8:00 AM

    (Love your blog, funny and a great read).

    I can see why you’re on the fence. I like shiny girly glam things, so the shininess attracts me. But the other elements – those circles? around the edge – make it look more industrial (not my personal look but could be for someone else). I think it could work with great pops of colour around it, but it would sink like a ship with blah surroundings and colours ….

    Reply
  5. Down Comforter says:
    March 29, 2009 at 9:00 PM

    Sorry, but I think it’s so ugly. I can understand trying to figure where it would work, but I don’t think I could ever enjoy its esthetics.

    Reply
  6. ChrisToronto says:
    March 30, 2009 at 8:51 AM

    LOVE it! I also love that people are responding to it so hot or cold. Of course it’s over the top but I think it’s chic and masculine. Anybody who could pull this off deserves bragging rights!

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says:
    December 4, 2009 at 1:04 PM

    UGLY! no one likes it! so since that is now resolved, please sell it to me ! cheap!

    honestly it is outstanding. anyone that doesnt see the beauty and elegance in that is totally blind to what the term ‘quality’ means.

    Reply
  8. julie says:
    November 24, 2010 at 7:52 PM

    love it !!

    Reply
  9. Susan G. says:
    December 8, 2010 at 6:38 PM

    I’m with “anonymous” on this one…although I am NOT a fan of brassy metal finishes any longer, I swooned a little when I saw this. It would wind up being the ONLY brass-anything in the house, but who cares, when it looks like THAT. I love it. I would LOVE to see that same design done in an anodized aluminum finish. That would knock me off my feet.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous says:
    December 15, 2011 at 6:02 PM

    IT IS AWESOME

    Reply
  11. Anonymous says:
    August 5, 2012 at 7:40 PM

    I have one!!! Love it..buy it!!!

    Reply
  12. Anonymous says:
    February 2, 2013 at 9:23 AM

    I LOVE it!! it is stunning!!!!

    Reply

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