My Vintage Precious: Thomas Hamberg's Beaver

My Vintage Precious is a monthly series where I ask people working on the creative field to share their most beloved second hand possessions and reveal the stories behind them.

Photo Salla Poutiainen

"My most cherished vintage object is a stuffed beaver I’ve jokingly named Seppo. Our paths with Seppo came together when a former customer of mine contacted me asking whether I’d be interested in buying a stuffed beaver for my antique shop. At first I wasn’t too keen on the idea of having a beaver, but after I saw how uniquely expression rich face it possessed, I was immediately sold. Something about his fuzzy face also reminds me of my sister’s dog, which was probably also part of the attraction.

Photo Salla Poutiainen

I choose all my belongings very carefully and when it comes to taxidermy, I’m not interested in perfect pieces, I like critters that have seen life and which possess a spirit of their own. I added him the paper hat and the basket, placed it on a table in my shop and ever since that Seppo has sat there greeting customers with it’s delighted grin."

Thank you Thomas! Thomas runs a superb little antique shop in Helsinki called Götan Maailma which I had the pleasure of visiting last November. You can read the story here.

For more information about Göta, visit their fb page here.

My Vintage Precious will be back on January 2013!

x
Salla

My Vintage Precious: Tuomas Ikonen's Armchair

My Vintage Precious is a monthly series where I ask people working on the creative field to share their most beloved second hand possessions and reveal the stories behind them.

Photo © Tuomas Ikonen

My most precious vintage possession is this baroque style chair, which is about 100 years old. My parents bought it for themselves in the eighties from an auction. It was upholstered with green wool fabric and was in bad condition, and they gave it a new life by upholstering it with dark red velvet.

About five years ago, before they moved to a smaller apartment and the chair didn’t fit anymore to their home, they gave it to me. I wanted to give the chair a modern touch and make it a little less serious, so we painted the wooden parts with golden paint and upholstered it with purple velvet. It was very kitschy and throne-like for couple of years. After our mischievous cats used it as their scratching post, we had to renew the fabrics. We bought a bunch of interesting looking fabrics, and my girlfriend Maaret sewed the little pieces together to make a giant quilt. We wanted it to look a little bit ugly, and so colorful that it hurts. Rest of our home is quite monochromatic and most of our furnitures are modern, from 60’s to beyond, so this chair really makes its presence known in our home. Cats still sharpen their claws to it, so we probably have to redesign it in couple of years.

Photo © Tuomas Ikonen

Many thanks to Tuomas for sharing his story! 

If you want to get to know Tuomas' awesome illustrations head to: www.tuomasikonen.com

Link with him on Behance: behance.net/TuomasIkonen

And to connect with him on Facebook go: facebook.com/TuomasIkonenArt

x

Salla

Ps. Want to be featured in MVP? If you feel that you can produce great photography and have an interesting story to tell, feel free to contact me at salla@houseofpo.com.

My Vintage Precious

My Vintage Precious is a new monthly series where I ask people working on the creative field to share their most beloved second hand possessions and reveal the stories behind them.

Photo © Maria Laine

I'm really excited about this new series and will start it by sharing one of my own vintage favorites. The piece that I want to introduce you is a golden evening bag which I've had almost all my life. I bought it from a flea market when I was just five years old.

My folks use to give me a small weekly pocket money (something like 5 marks = 0,85 EURO = 1 USD) which they usually let me spent however I pleased. Most often I used it on candy but one late summer Sunday as we were strolling around the Hietalahti flea market in Helsinki with my family, I spotted the most awesome golden bag I had ever laid my eyes on. It was a reign from the 1970's disco days and completely embroidered with gold sequins and pearls. I knew immediately that I had to have it. I remember that the vendor wanted six marks for it, but unfortunately I only had five. 

A bag, a pencil case, a hat - over the years my clutch has had many jobs.
Photo © Maria Laine

I recall that she tried to offer me another silver bag for a cheaper price but I wouldn't budge. I had my little girl heart settled in this amber beauty and was determined not to leave the market place without it. After some debate the vendor finally gave in to my puppy eyes and headstrong attitude grinningly accepting my bid.

And that's pretty much the story how this sparkling purse became mine.

My Vintage Precious continues next month when illustrator Tuomas Ikonen shares his favorite second hand possession. Stay tuned and find out what it is!

x

Salla

Ps. Want to be featured in MVP? If you feel that you can produce great photography and have an interesting story to tell, feel free to contact me at salla@houseofpo.com.