About RIGHT | PROPER
ART BLOOMS FROM ARTLESS THINGS In Erik Retzer’s world, art blooms from artless things—humble forms made extraordinary by time’s touch. A refined 18th-century French fauteuil finds comfort in the most casual of rooms, just as a well-worn carpenter’s hammer becomes a sculpture of purpose and grace. Each piece he selects is beautifully crafted, bearing a story that adds depth and meaning to any space. Guided by the belief that quality never gets old, he founded RIGHT PROPER, a collection where the practical and the poetic entwine, proving that elegance belongs wherever it i...Read More
Established in 20181stDibs seller since 2018
Featured Pieces
Collection of Mounted 19th Century American Barbed Wire Specimens
Located in Chicago, IL
History has a way of hiding in plain sight. This collection of 19th American barbed wire specimens, mounted across three burlap-wrapped boards, pulls it forward with clarity and conv...
Category
Antique 19th Century American Folk Art Wall-mounted Sculptures
Materials
Iron
20th Century American Draft Horse Hooked Rug on Custom Wall Mount
Located in Chicago, IL
Narrative comes stitched, not painted, in this 20th-century American folk art hooked rug—an image built loop by loop with clarity and conviction. Two white draft horses stand in prof...
Category
20th Century American Folk Art Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Pair of Early 20th Century American Art Deco Brass Flush-Mount Fixtures
Located in Chicago, IL
A study in glamour pared back to its essentials, this pair of early 20th-century American Art Deco flush-mount ceiling fixtures evokes the cinematic allure of the period. Cast in hea...
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Flush Mount
Materials
Brass
Massive Late 19th/Early 20th Century Burled Bowl
Located in Chicago, IL
Scale is the first impression. At over thirty inches in diameter, this 19th to early 20th century burl wood bowl commands space with its broad, shallow form hinting at a past life ro...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Rustic Decorative Bowls
Materials
Wood, Burl
19th Century Longhorn Hearth Chair Attributed to Wenzel Friedrich
Located in Chicago, IL
Attributed to Wenzel Friedrich, this late 19th-century American hearth chair channels the audacity that defined his work. Born in Bohemia and working in San Antonio, Friedrich helped shape a distinctly American design language—one that embraced regional materials and translated them into objects with real presence.
Texas longhorn horns...
Category
Antique 19th Century American Victorian Armchairs
Materials
Horn, Leather
French Whitewashed Pine Bookcase
Located in Chicago, IL
Some pieces whisper; this one practically disappears, and does so with intention. This late 20th-century French bookshelf is reduced to its barest elements: square uprights, four she...
Category
Late 20th Century French Modern Bookcases
Materials
Pine
19th Century Chinese Drum Table
Located in Chicago, IL
There are objects that decorate a room, and then there are those that quietly dominate it. This monumental 19th-century Chinese drum belongs firmly to the...
Category
Antique 19th Century Chinese Rustic Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Materials
Leather, Elm
18th Century Native American Ash Burl Bowl
Located in Chicago, IL
Carved from a single burl of ash, this 18th-century Native American bowl—likely from the Northeastern United States—carries the quiet authority of an object shaped by necessity and t...
Category
Antique 18th Century American Native American Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ash
Pair of Red Marble Vases
Located in Chicago, IL
Carved from deeply saturated red marble threaded with restless white and gray veining, the urns read less as objects than as captured geology. Their ovoid bodies swell and settle wit...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Vases
Materials
Marble
Late 19th/Early 20th Century English Thames Valley Windsor Chair
Located in Chicago, IL
This turn-of-the-20th-century English Thames Valley Windsor chair is where rural grit meets high-drama design. A bold reinterpretation of an 18th-century original, this version swaps...
Category
Early 20th Century English Country Windsor Chairs
Materials
Elm, Yew
French Art Deco Travertine Table Lamp
Located in Chicago, IL
There’s a certain restraint here that feels distinctly French—measured, architectural, and entirely self-possessed. This Art Deco lamp pares the form down to its essentials, letting ...
Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Table Lamps
Materials
Travertine
English Arts & Crafts Crocodile Stamped Copper Pitcher
Located in Chicago, IL
This early 20th-century English Arts & Crafts copper vessel leans closer to object than accessory—its surface relentlessly stamped in a crocodile pattern that feels almost confro...
Category
Early 20th Century English Arts and Crafts Pitchers
Materials
Copper
