Giallo chair

If you didn't already guess, then you need to know that I have an insatiable taste for kitsch. So when Dave and I saw a photo of this chair in a preview of a local estate sale, we both flipped. The estate was that of a lady who was an interior designer in the 60s, and she had sooooo many amazing pieces that I would love to own, but this was the one that we both set our hearts on (as well as being the only thing in our price range). It reminds me of something that should be on the set of a 60s Italian horror film, straight out of any of Mario Bava's Technicolor sixties-does-Victorian giallo flicks or even Suspiria (my all-time favorite spooky movie)! Or maybe a Fellini film, like Juliet of the Spirits.

We debated leaving it there and going back another day later in the sale to see if the price dropped, but after watching other folks' reactions to it we knew we'd have some pretty stiff competition and there'd be no way it would still be around. After some hemming and hawing about the price on my part, we took it home! Dave said to regard it as an art piece. I like buying art.

I so wish I could've met the lady who originally owned this. Walking around her home, you really got a feel for her sense of style, and it was so in line with my own that I think we could've found plenty to gab about. When Dave spoke to her caretaker, she told us that the woman attached the rhinestones herself, then placed the chair directly across the entryway so "you'd walk into the room and the first thing you'd see is those eyes glinting in the light and staring back at you." That sounds exactly like something I would do!! We also think she painted and upholstered the chair herself, refurbishing an old piece. I should mention here that she had respect for history and antiques, as she was a board member of the local historical society and decorated the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural Site in Buffalo.









Dave's best angry cherub impression. Is it not accurate?



All photos by Dave, except for the ones I took of him.