Home Interiors: Guide to buying replica mid-century furniture
An authentic Womb lounger with foot-stool by Eero Saarinen from Knoll staged with a Tulip side-table.
Given the ongoing survival of the trade in affordable, premium reproduction of iconic mid-century design in Ireland, it’s clear that as buyers, many of us are not bothered when it comes to what we want to be seen and enjoyed in our homes — even where it’s an obvious pretender.
Enjoying a wide array of budget-happy faux products, the lines refreshed with exquisite skill in Europe and Asia, Irish shoppers can still flout the spirit of the EU directive on copyright infringement intended to protect the estates of dead industrial designers and the creative integrity and fortunes of living ones.
It’s a laissez-faire attitude that remains an outrage in the international design community, who shriek loudly at what they regard as cloned icons trotting along on conveyor belts to hapless buyers.
Ireland is an outlier currently. In the rest of the EU, and as of last year in the UK, the legal enforcement protecting the work of industrial designers, now extends for 70 years after the creator of the piece has died. Enduring Irish statutes allow us to shop unimpeded for that artificial Arco, or wishful Wishbone. If it’s out of copyright by 25 years, it’s street legal.
There might even be a few light CAD tweaks or some genuinely talented reinvention for the home of today.
Open acknowledgement of what the piece aims to imitate in the online description is delivered with prosaic respect to the departed designer — Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, the late, lamented and heavily imitated goddess of Deco, Eileen Gray or whoever’s work is being shopped around at a tantalising cut-price.
The EU's intellectual property legislation may parachute in eventually, but even when it does, it allows for “ caricature, parody or pastiche”. Who knows what will be allowable. It’s mid-century madness alright.
The honestly marketable pieces available through Irish suppliers are not made to deceive (as a counterfeit or forgery most certainly is). It’s still all fair game.
Still, dip your bread into the lower end of the market from unknown overseas suppliers, and that supposed Arne Jacobsen Egg chair for €500, could end up being a real stinker.
Some supporters of these almost-famous goodies argue that warehoused copies have democratised rarified designs that would otherwise remain the province of the wealthy. I have twisted myself into a pretzel resisting a politely plagiarised classic.
Scruples aside, the trouble is, most of these "in the style of" and “inspired by” doppelgangers are not produced to the exact specification and materials dictated by the authentic piece. Some of these things, for instance a Isamu Noghuchi coffee table, were intended to be hand-made and hand-finished.
Poorly engineered, lesser impostors? With some exceptions (and there is some superb, exceptional copy work out there) replicas are not made to last — they are made to sell - and to sell in volume. When faux fashion pieces become confused with the authentic original, then oddly-off Le Corbusiers can slip into the shadowy area of outright dupes.
As with all furnishings, don’t get snagged simply by a look. Examine the substance beneath that cunning style.
If you do decide to fake it until you make it, will your cover be blown 10 minutes after your sneery peers spot things they know you could not possibly afford? Will they care? Will you really care?
Having seen mid-20th century reproduction used in Irish interior magazine sets (clearly credited back to the supplier) — clearly not.
I folded my bare legs up into a faux Wegner Papa Bear in CA Design in Dublin some years ago. The quality of close reproduction offered under the right eye can be sumptuous.
Brendan McElroy together with his colleague Gerard Martin, is joint director of Zin Zan, a popular retail outlet for reproduction and original home furnishings based in Kimmage in Dublin. He finds the idea of democratising design to be pompous.
“I think some of the best mid-century furniture has superb lines, that’s what it comes down to. The kind of homes people are building right now — the extensions they are creating — really suit the look, and blended with new modernity, the classics look great immersed in say kitchen/diner spaces.
"Together with private individuals, we have a lot of interior designers shopping with us too — a lot. In terms of quality, it’s not in our interest to sell shoddy pieces, but it’s important to understand the difference between spending €5,000 or €1,200 on say a sofa.
"That’s true of all furniture in the market,” Brendan continues. "They are a different product, but you should expect both to be comfortable and fit for purpose. As far as possible, and it’s becoming more difficult, we attend trade shows as far away as Hong Kong, we then go on to visit the manufacturers.
"We are moving towards narrowing the geographical range, and the carbon footprint of what we sell. There’s a myriad of reasons for this, but delivery costs and the inability to predict freight times, weighs on us.
"Currently, we work with woodworkers in Estonia to make the frames our sofas, as they have a tradition in furniture-making and plenty of available timber. We also benefit from the textile-making skills available to us in Poland when sourcing upholstery."
The DSW Eames dining chair, described by Brendan as "a lost leader", is quite simply made in terms of its materials and components", he adds.
"With an upholstered sofa, the materials, the frame, the stuffing, the textiles — there’s a much wider range of specification in terms of price and final quality. We depend on our reputation, it’s everything to us, and if there’s an issue from a dining table not being set up quite right, we attend.”
Like all furniture houses, ZinZan and other suppliers have to remain nimble, responding to trends and market changes. Brendan acknowledges if copyright law was altered for iconic furnishings in Ireland, they would simply adapt in what they were doing.
“In 2015, everyone was crazy for olive. We are driven by the media in terms of aesthetic change — it’s challenging. Added to this, we have developed the heights and sizes of tables and chairs to accommodate the taller, larger body types of today. A classic mid-century table is 72cm high — very low for a rangy, tall family in different body shapes. Comfort is key.”
“More than 70% of our custom comes from references,” he continues. “Someone is at someone else’s home and sits into a great chair — they then want to come and see us. Most of our customers make an appointment and visit the showroom.
"Covid enhanced that process, and we encourage people to have an all-out private viewing, whereas an individual or couple, they are not rushed. People tend to come to see that one thing and are attracted to other pieces.
"Our buyers are very well informed, and the Europeans, in particular the Belgians, are like Hercule Poirot — pouring over every detail, ears out for any potential creak. Irish buyers in my experience have great taste, and they do insist on good furnishings, but they are very interested in who they are buying from."
Brendan accepts that there has been a problem with mid-century replicas, and claims that there are still reproduction pieces on sale in the UK despite the changes to their copyright law.
“It’s a much larger market in the UK, and for a time there was a frenzy of selling. The quality of the pieces in some cases was terrible. If you buy something online from anywhere for a clearly low cut-rate price, it’s your prerogative, but you’re taking a real risk."
See zinzan.ie
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