A mid-century dining suite bought for $50 at The Green Shed has been sold at auction for almost $7000.
The circular table setting including four nesting chairs was purchased from The Green Shed outlet adjacent to the Mugga Lane tip earlier this year.
General manager at Fyshwick auction house, Evans Hastings Valuers and Auctioneers (EHVA), Adam McDonald, said it was not unusual for mid-century furniture in good condition to achieve significant prices.
“We are ecstatic for the vendor but not entirely surprised at the result,” he said.
“This was a fantastic find by the vendor, in very good shape, and it was hotly contested by a range of potential buyers before closing at $6676.”
Offered as part of EHVA’s regular quarterly Retro and 20th Century Design auction, the 1960s teak round table and chairs by Hans Olsen for Frem Røjle attracted 10 different bidders over the 11 days of the online auction, with 34 bids being placed in the last 20 minutes.
“A new bidder entered the fray with six minutes to closing and the resulting competition saw the price jump more than $3000 in those final bids,” said Mr McDonald.
In the same auction, a retro Norwegian Turi Design Lotti 73-piece dinner service was sold for $2610, a pair of PK-22 lounge chairs by Poul Kjaerholm for Fritz Hansen made $2980, a good Kai Kristiansen ‘No. 394’ four drawer rosewood sideboard for Aksel Kjersgaard, Denmark circa 1960s achieved $2822, a Villeroy & Boch 67-Piece Acapulco design dinner service reached $1598, a mid-century Australian pottery glazed table lamp reached $470, and a single retro Rosenthaal porcelain large bowl by Dorothy Hafner in Flash design realised $422.
Mr McDonald said the current cost of living squeeze was seeing more and more people offer premium items for sale to bring in some extra money and discerning buyers were lapping it up.
“You never know when the next ‘find’ is going to be delivered and make thousands for its vendor,” said Mr McDonald.
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