I’m back after a wee Fashion Week break – more on that later – with A Week of Modern (part II). I was a tad ambitious trying to squeeze so many posts (and research) into one week, so I’m looking forward to bringing you more of my mid-century modern finds. Which brings me to this week’s birdy pick: Danish architect Kristian Vedel’s family of classic wooden birds.
As with the Eames house bird, I’ve avoided Vedel’s birds in the past because they’ve enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, and I always try to choose something new and a wee bit different. But since we’re celebrating all things mid-century, I think it’s time we have a closer look at these delightful little birds.
Vedel designed an entire family of wooden birds in 1959, including grandparents, parents and babies. The heads can be moved to convey different expressions – curious, downcast, perky and alert – and it’s astonishing just how much character is revealed with just a slight tilt of their beaks. The bodies of the birds can also be inverted to represent both male and females.
Vedel’s birds continue to be handmade in Denmark in either natural or smoaked oak that has been aged for 15 years. They’re available in three different sizes – small, tall and chubby, and start at AU$100 from Great Dane Furniture in Australia, or from the Lollipop Shoppe in the UK from £33.
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It’s a total travesty that I’ve never featured the Eames House Bird as a “birdy pick of the week” before. I always thought it was a bit obvious, so I steered well clear. But since it’s “A Week of Modern” on Wee Birdy, I really can’t ignore this iconic little fellow any more.
The original black wooden bird was actually an Appalachian artefact (circa 1910) that Charles and Ray Eames picked up on their travels. It stood on the floor of their acclaimed Pacific Palisades house for over fifty years.
I love the way that their beloved collection of objects from different cultures and eras worked seamlessly to create this timeless yet very modern look. They clearly adored this bird because he pops up time and again in the Eames’s photos – and is used as a prop in many shoots of their iconic chairs.
In co-operation with the Eames family, Swiss designer furniture company Vitra has used 3-D scans of the original bird to create the solid alder wood reproduction. It’s made in Germany and you can get it from Nest in the UK (for £103.33) and from Space Furniture in Australia. It’s also available on DWR.
For this week’s birdy pick I’ve returned to one of my favourite Sydney-based online shops, Upon a Fold, which showcases an immaculate collection of paper creations from around the world. Stationery nerds will get their geek on over the exquisite range of cards, envelopes and notebooks sourced from Japan and Korea, while design aficionados will appreciate the line-up of architectural paper objects and creations.
I made a bee-line for the beautiful bird-themed cards and envelopes, which are miniature works of art in themselves and can be enjoyed for a long time after they’re opened. This colourful little fellow, top (AU$6.95), has die-cut feet so that he stand up alone, or he could be hung as a colourful mobile. And the beautifully-illustrated birds by Japanese designer Ayame Kikuchi, above, would make charming (and relatively inexpensive) decorations perched on a shelf or windowsill.
From top to bottom:
Bird card, AU$6.95
Birds card – Java sparrow (2 pack), AU$24.95;
Tori Pochi – Jiro envelope set of 3, AU$9;
Dove card, AU$9.95; and
Tobidustry tree sparrow pop-up card, AU$9.90, all from Upon a Fold.
Susie Style Bubble is one cool London bird, and one of the few fashion bloggers I look forward to reading every day. I couldn’t resist posting this pic of her wearing Yang Du for this week’s birdy pick. Not too many girls could pull off a cashmere poncho with a outraged owl’s face on it.
You can read more about Yang Du and the exhibitions at London Fashion Week on Susie’s blog.
I’m actually a bit embarrassed that I’ve never mentioned Matt Sewell before on Wee Birdy. It’s a disgrace, really, considering that this British artist, like me, has been posting a “Bird of the Week” on his blog for the past few years. The only difference is that Matt’s birds are his very own watercolours. His passion for bird-watching is apparent throughout his quirky art, and his birds are infused with delightful details and character quirks.
So I was beyond delighted to discover this gorgeous new range of wooden birds he’s made exclusively for the sublime V&A shop. (Bravo to the V&A Shop, too, for snapping up this talented artist for their spring/summer 2012 collection.) Each bird is handmade and painted by Matt, and was inspired by the V&A’s archives. Little Owl, for instance, was based on an etching from the earliest hand-coloured book of English birds, The Natural History of Birds by Eleazar Albin (1731-8).
Matt’s sweet stylised versions are made using reclaimed wood and FSC accredited pine, and come packaged in a hand-printed nesting box. Swoooon.
I want them all, but if I had to choose one, I couldn’t go past the lovely little Strawberry Thief, who comes with his very own strawberry. Which one would you choose?
Top, ‘Strawberry Thief’ Wooden Bird by Matt Sewell, £85, from the V&A Shop.
Bottom left, ‘Little Owl’ Wooden Bird by Matt Sewell, £85, from the V&A Shop.
Bottom right, ‘Nuthatch’ Wooden Bird by Matt Sewell, £85, from the V&A Shop.
Click here to read my full review about the V&A Shop.
What do you think of high street knock-offs? Is it fair game? Or is it just something that we take for granted these days? I have to confess that I love a good ‘luxe vs less’ magazine feature, but I draw the line at high-street chains pinching the work of small independent designers. Does that make me a hypocrite?
Anyway, I stumbled across these two frocks quite independently of each other, and I was going to run them as separate birdy finds. But side-by-side, you can see the extraordinary similarities. Over to you – what do you think? Would you be tempted to buy the Oasis version?
Left: Paul & Joe Sister alouette bird-print brushed-satin dress, £235 from Net-a-porter.
Right: Oasis bird print dress, £45 from Selfridges.
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