Pair of Bookends Happy Chic White Arrow
About the Item
- Creator:Jonathan Adler (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 5.75 in (14.61 cm)Width: 4.75 in (12.07 cm)Depth: 2.75 in (6.99 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Hollywood Regency (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2015
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:San Diego, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU936621602202
Jonathan Adler
Potter-turned-home-design guru Jonathan Adler is a man with a peripatetic mind, inspired in equal parts, it seems, by classic modern design, Surrealism and pop culture.
Although his namesake company has expanded into a mini empire touching just about every aspect of modern living — chairs and ice buckets, wallpaper and menorahs, chandeliers and rugs — made in myriad materials, Adler still creates almost every object in clay first. His guiding principle is a simple one: “I make the stuff I want to surround myself with, and I surround myself with it.”
Adler grew up in a New Jersey farm town. His grandfather became a local judge, and his father returned home after graduating from the University of Chicago. “My pop was a brilliantly talented artist. At one point, he had to decide whether to become an artist or a —,” he pauses, searching for the right word, “person.” His father became a lawyer but spent all his free time in his studio, “making art, unencumbered by the need to make money from it. It was a totally pure pursuit.” Adler’s mother, who had worked at Vogue and moved to the rural town reluctantly, was also creative, and both parents encouraged their three children’s creativity.
When he was 12, Adler went to sleepaway camp, where he threw his first pot. “And it was on,” he says. His parents bought him a pottery wheel, and he spent the remainder of his adolescence elbow-deep in clay. Even while majoring in semiotics and art history at Brown University, he hung out at the nearby Rhode Island School of Design, making pots.
Adler moved to New York City, worked briefly in entertainment, and in 1993 returned to his true love, throwing pots (in exchange for teaching classes) at a Manhattan studio called Mud Sweat & Tears. One day, at Balducci’s food market, he ran into Bill Sofield, an old friend who had recently cofounded, with Thomas O’Brien, the now-legendary Aero Studios, a design firm and shop. Sofield paid a studio visit and promptly gave him an order. Then, another friend introduced Adler to a buyer at Barneys New York, who also wrote an order.
For about three years after Adler began devoting himself to ceramics full-time. Despite the street cred of both Aero and Barneys, he also wasn’t really making enough money to live on. Then, in 1997, he teamed with Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit aimed at creating economic opportunity for skilled artisans in developing countries, and traveled to Peru to hire potters who could follow his designs, thus increasing production.
Adler’s first store opened in 1998, in the Soho shopping mecca in Manhattan. He now operates about two dozen shops, as far-flung as London and Bangkok. During Adler’s trip to Peru, he connected not only with potters but also with several talented weavers and decided to branch out into textiles. Other categories followed, leading him to travel the world in search of artisans who could execute his endless supply of ideas. In India, Adler found a man who’s expert at beadwork; he has his limed furniture made in Indonesia, his honey-colored wood pieces in Vietnam.
After a friend asked him to decorate her house, Adler expanded to interior design, taking on hotels as well as private residences — projects for which he remains “agnostic,” using pieces by other designers. “I really try to get to know my clients and then make them seem more glamorous and more eccentric than they think,” he says. “I see myself as a slimming mirror for them.”
Find Jonathan Adler seating, case pieces, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: San Diego, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Vintage 1940s Pair of Sculptural Elephant Bookends in Solid BrassBy Jonathan Adler, Paul Williams, Dorothy DraperLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful and unique pair of sculptural elephant brass bookends. This beautiful pair comes from the 1940s. The solid sculpted pair weights 5.1 pounds each, making this pair not onl...Category
Vintage 1940s Chinese Hollywood Regency Bookends
MaterialsBrass
- Vintage Pair of Carved Aztec Onyx Stone BookendsBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful pair of onyx bookends. These beautiful pieces are carved in the likes of aztec warrior deities. The onyx veining and translucent beauty comes t...Category
Vintage 1970s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsOnyx
- Pair of Faux Coral Ceramic BookendsLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful pair of faux coral ceramic bookends, circa 1990s. This elegant and unique pair are in good vintage condition and measure 16" W x 3" D x 10.75" ...Category
Late 20th Century American Hollywood Regency Bookends
MaterialsCeramic
- Pair of Vintage Rare Pink & White Geode BookendsLocated in San Diego, CAVersatile set of pink and white geode bookends, circa 1980s. The set is in very good vintage condition with no chips or cracks.Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier American Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsRock Crystal
- Pair of Lucerne Lion Bookends by HPIBy BorgheseLocated in San Diego, CAA regal pair of "Lucerne Lion" with shield bookends by HPI, circa 1992. The pair is in great vintage condition and our made of what I believe to be a heav...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Bookends
MaterialsResin
- Pair of Mid-Century White Marble Horse Head BookendsLocated in San Diego, CAVery stylish pair of mid-century white marble horse head bookends, circa 1970s. The bookends are heavy and solid and well crafted. They measure 8"W x 2.25"D x 8.5"H and would make a ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsAlabaster
- A Pair of White Agate Horse Figurehead BookendsLocated in Middletown, MDA stunning pair of exquisitely hand-carved figurehead bookends sculpted from a singular piece of authentic Mexican white agate, beautifully grained and wonderfully preserved. Prize...Category
Vintage 1920s Bookends
MaterialsAgate
- Pair of Vintage Brass Ibex BookendsLocated in Houston, TXPair Of Vintage Brass Ibex Bookends. Our large pair of Hollywood Regency brass ibex bookends are substantial and can hold large scale or heavy books. Beaut...Category
Vintage 1960s Hollywood Regency Bookends
MaterialsBrass
- Pair Antique White Nephrite Jade BookendsLocated in Somis, CAA pair of extraordinary bookends with large oval he-tian white nephrite jade insets. In the form of ovoid, the 4" x 6" hand carved jade plaque each ...Category
20th Century Chinese Bookends
MaterialsJade, Brass
- Pair of Art Deco Italian White Marble BookendsLocated in Miami, FLA very decorative and good quality pair of French Art Deco hand-crafted bookends made from beautiful Italian white carrara marble. Perfect for displaying your favorite books on a...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Bookends
MaterialsCarrara Marble
- Pair of Horn BookendsLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of horn mounted bookends.Category
20th Century Bookends
MaterialsHorn
- Pair of Lucite BookendsLocated in Cathedral City, CAPair of vintage Lucite bookends made with recycle acrylic bank window protection.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Bookends
MaterialsPlastic, Acrylic, Lucite
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Video Tour: Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan Sheltering at Home on Shelter Island
In our "On Location" series on YouTube and Instagram, top designers share their personal spaces while on lockdown. Here, Jonathan Adler and his husband, fashion commentator Simon Doonan, show us their bold beach house on New York's Shelter Island.
Confessions of a (Semi-Retired) Window Dresser
Even though he's been a writer for two decades, Simon Doonan can’t escape from decorating windows.