Green Front’s new Van Thiel showroom, in the basement of Building 9, gives fresh meaning to the familiar saying, “Everything old is new again.” The showroom features Van Thiel replicas as well as handpicked antique treasures.
Den Cralle is excited about the partnership. “Original. Crisp. Van Thiel’s line is helping diversify what we offer in Farmville,” he says.
Van Thiel & Co originally focused on collecting and curating the best of antiques from around the world. Nowadays, their artists focus on reproductions of these same pieces. But these aren’t just any replicas—imperfections, wear and tear, and even water marks are recreated painstakingly to give the ultimate feel of authenticity to the works.
“We might imagine that a piece has been standing for centuries on the stone floor of a French home. Assuming the maid mopped every day, we have to faithfully recreate the water spotting and warping that would likely have occurred,” company co-founder Rudy van Thiel, Jr. is quoted as saying on the company’s website.
Although the aging process is exacting, the company also stays true to the solid construction of the original pieces, creating furniture that combines the durability of the new with the distinctive character of the old.
Along with the Van Thiel replicas, the new showroom also features a collection of original antique items, including chests, cabinets, chairs and even bright yellow doors from a French race car.
Finds include a black, solid oak English table from the 1920’s with two retractable leaves; a British colonial side table circa 1910; French iron folding bistro table, circa 1920; An original, fourteen-drawer sideboard from the Shanxi province of China, made from solid elm; and assorted British colonial trunks.
Whether you are an antiques purist or looking to blend fresh ideas with hand-crafted aged beauty, the new showroom is sure to have something for you.
