Woody's Auction: Atomic Patio

Saturday I eyed this neat fiberglass table and chairs at the auction. It's  in pretty good shape with only a few spots in need of repair. It's incredibly heavy because each piece is filled with sand. Definetly something from the mid-60s. The design and color scream atomic space age. If nothing else an interesting and intriguing piece. I had to have it.

After winning the bidding war against a married couple with small kids I recruited my guys to load them up and haul them home. I went to work researching what we might have. I could not find anything similar. For three days I googled. Every combination of fiberglass, eames, mid century modern, placstic, heavy, atomic, space-age, etc. Nothing.

I emailed Mod50s a store in Tulsa that specializes in the mid century modern era. While waiting for the return email I finally came across the exact chairs in yellow located in Brooklyn, NY.

I was so excited to finally see the same chairs, and as I scrolled down I saw they were listed at $100,000! Needless to say I thought I may have hit the auction lottery especially because I also had a table. But this woman had no other helpful information listed in the details. Just a lot of similar hashtags from my previous searches. I gave her a call to see what she knew. She answered, but when I asked if she was really selling them for $100K she hung up on me.

A few hours later I heard from Mod50s. The owner described them exactly by the picture I had emailed. Then he went on to say he had similar items before that he got from jails and prisons! He also mentioned he would be interested in buying them from me for a "reasonable price."

I guess I won't be cashing in on the $100,000. Maybe they are worth it, but probably not. Did they come from a prison? Who knows? No one seems to have any real idea. There are a few certainties with this set. I've picked up something rare. It's absolutely from the atomic period. And if I keep or sell them it's certain they will hold great dinner conversation.

Anyone with info at all on these pieces please leave a comment!