One of a Kind

Sometimes I like to wander over to the One of a Kind section of the Anthropologie website. It's pretty much like going to a gallery, except you presume that these are curated by a consumer brand and so, are probably intended to sell. Probably is the key word here. While a lot of these one of a kind pieces are quite beautiful, let's face it, some are downright hilarious and given the price tags, I have serious doubts whether they will find a home.

So the first item that caught my eye in this section are the Cafe Chairs. I don't know, I have a think for rusty furniture. It's just so...shabby chic?

These Cafe Chairs apparently were found by Anthro buyers in Paris at a Flea Market. You know the saying: Our junk is your antiques. Not to imply that these chairs are junk. I really do like them.

Let's not forget the hand-made rugs.

Coral Shore Rug - $698

Gorgeous! I love the color combo. But wait, I'm a little confused by the description. 

"While traveling the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, our buyers came across a collection of 1960s boucherouite rugs in a local village, and returned home with their favorites. To create a boucherouite rug, recycled fabric bits are hand-knotted using an ancient Moroccan technique that requires no pre-conceived design or pattern - only the free, fluid finger movements..."

1960's? Is this a dirty, old used rug? 'Cause you know, a Moroccon might have come in from walking his goat barefoot and wiped his feet on this rug. I'm assuming Anthropologie dry cleaned these before selling them and maybe the rug's history just makes it more appealing to a discerning customer, but personally, I will always be wondering if any of those pesky goat poo germs might have survived the dry cleaning process.

And then there's this, which renders me speechless:

Doe Hat - $980.00

Alpaca Head - $3,200.00

Red Beast Head - $980.00

Stag Head - $3,800.00

Are these headpieces or wallpieces? Both? Well, whatever it is, this animal-head-on-wall has been a theme with Anthro lately. When some apocalypse event will put an end to civilization, I imagine the cave-dwelling survivors will find these headpieces very useful. If you have the foresight to invest into one of these now, it will keep you warm, help you camouflage yourself in the forest and possibly even scare away the wild animals. Anotherwords, what may look like a little hood with pig ears, may actually be your ticket to survival in the future.

Slated Drawer Unit 

For the right price (a mere $9,800), you can get yourself a one-of-a kind, beat up drawer unit. "Filled with contents found in nature like moss, seashells and twigs". Let that seep in for a minute. You just paid 10K for a splinter-hazard drawer chest and now you have to 

clean it out before you can actually use it?!  

Handcarved Wall Cupboard - $9,800

I have to admit, this one's pretty awesome looking. My one regret is that it doesn't seem to be very roomy on the inside. Sure, it'll fit my four Anthropologie cups and maybe a squirrel home, but for the price, I'd expect more storage space.

Bathtub By Pierre Malbec - $4800

I'm pretty sure I saw this at the Rockefeller Center Anthro store a few years ago. You'd think Anthropologie would reduce the price, since it didn't sell in a few years. Unless this is a different beat-up bathtub...

Flamenco Dancer By Pierre Malbec - $2,400

I consider myself artistically inclined, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't see a Flamenco Dancer. 

Art Panels by Neel Bukhle At Anthro

One of a kind artwork by Neel Bukhle went up for sale at Anthro recently. The gigantic eight foot panels of majestic sepia toned scenery are made using old plywood and a torch.

The panels are truly mesmerizing!  Magic in monochrome. The three pictured here are from the Norden Farm collection and are called simply Torched I, Torched II. There is also III and IV. I love how Anthropologie is a proponent of art and introduces it's customers to many up and coming artists who's works I might have not seen otherwise.

Felt Sculptures At Anthropologie

Perhaps you are into this modern version of the stuffed moose-head or you appreciate the comic mimicry of it enough to place these intricate art pieces by a New York based artist Zoe Williams on your wall. 
Though not quite my cup of tea (having these creatures protrude from my walls is not exactly my idea of coziness. Plus they must be dust magnets), I appreciate the creativity and labor involved in whipping up one of these. Each, one of a kind felt sculpture is needle felted by hand - a slow and painstaking process, considering the size of the finished artwork.  Zoe uses only a single needle and wool to create all of her art work, with the exception of finishing touches such as glass eyes, beads, feathers, and the wood frames on some of the pieces.


Anthropologie, currently offers four pieces by Zoe. They are Crane, Egret, Ibis - each one sold separately at $1,500 a piece (Although, I say: if you're going to buy one, you'll have to get the others too; they seem to go together), and a  Black Swan .

Egret

Black Swan 

Here are some other works by Zoe, in case you find them eerily appealing.

Check out her website HERE.

Seawall

Mandorla

Gold Rhino

There are tons of tiny and cute needle felt figurines all over Etsy. 

Dante: Day 22 Needle Felted Donkey

 I found these guys  on eBay. Cute, aren't they?


Ran-Free Needle Felted Grey Fox

Afghan Hound Dog 


Want to try your hand at needle-felting? Here are some step by step instructions.

Anthropologie Spring 2011 Windows

Made of clothespins, hangers and construction materials, each avant-garde silhouette and woody blossom explores the spaces between art, craft, design and fashion in Anthropologie Spring window displays.

Via Anthropologie Facebook page

Tea Time Chandelier

When I saw the Tea Time Chandelier on Anthropologie website I had one of those speechless "This is so weird and awesome" moments. The chandelier looks like something that belongs in Mad Hatter's home.

Eighteen vintage teacups dangle from an arrangement of vintage silver serving trays, utensils and the teapot itself, as seven lights illuminate the scene.
Imagine company walking into your house and seeing this contraption hanging over your dining table. When it's time for tea, do you just reach up and pull a few cups down from the chandelier?

The price tag is $1,800, not too shabby for Mr Mad Hatter.

They Unshrunk the Underwear!

It seems like we went around full circle. Underwear reached it's smallest wearable size and now it's growing again! Yippee, big bloomers are back!

Nadia Underpinnings and shorts
Big underwear done right could look very poetic/nostalgic, wouldn't you agree?

Wisp-of-Silk


Embrace underpinnings and shorts


Tiny Buds Bloomers


Hayward Briefs


Silhouette Brief
Ok, there's comfortably roomy and there's damn gigantic.
As in Bridget Jone's diary, don't get caught "naked" in these.


Be sure to arch your back when wearing your big underwear.
Without this seemingly minor detail the effect will be lost.

Little Tin Men

One-of-a kind Fobots by Amy Flynn.

These little guys have so much character!

Love Machine
He's got a caged heart!


Spellin' Fool - $428

Cosmo - $298

Bike Messenger

Betty Bot - $298

Phobot

Bot Jovi - 248

Der Meistersinger

Bobble

Robonzo

I started this post on Friday, but didn't have time to finish. Now, browsing through Anthropologie.com I see that a whole bunch of these Fobots are missing, which leads me to conclude that they must have sold. That was impressively fast, considering their price and that they just appeared in the November catalog. Sure, $250-$450 by original art standards is not that high of a price to pay for a one-of-a-kind piece, that is if you're the type who actually has a budget for original art.