Reading the Room at Vintage Junction: Ross Cassidy on Finding High-End Pieces in LA's Biggest Antiques Market
VOGUE JAPAN
Interior designer Ross Cassidy visits Vintage Junction, which they describe as Los Angeles's biggest antiques market at more than 50,000 square feet, filled with a mix of high-end antiques and quirky one-of-a-kind pieces. Cassidy sets themself a challenge: find about ten things that could work in a truly high-end interior, even in a place full of thrifty, "super vintage-y" stock. Their approach throughout is that a piece's value lies partly in its maker and history, and partly in the owner's imagination about how to reuse it.
An Umbrella Stand Becomes an Ice Bucket
The first find is an umbrella stand. Cassidy explains that it would originally have been brass, but the brass has almost worn away, exposing copper underneath. Because it is already beaten up and slightly rusted at the bottom, it won't be watertight, so they suggest keeping it outdoors. They test the idea on the spot by dropping in a glass vase, which fits perfectly. Filled with ice, it holds a bottle of champagne, making what Cassidy calls "a very civilized outdoor ice bucket." With the same liner trick, it could also serve as a vase for large flowers in a room with very high ceilings.
Trash Cans and the Unpredictability of Thrifting
A wicker basket catches Cassidy's eye as a trash can. They refer back to earlier content in which they recommended using silver ice buckets as trash cans, calling that the "super high-end version" and the wicker basket the "down-to-earth version." Then they check the price: $48. Some of the silver ice buckets they had seen in London cost around £25, so the humble basket turns out to be more expensive, which "there goes that logic." Their takeaway: when you go thrifting, you never know what you're going to get.
The Case for Low Dining Tables
Cassidy calls low dining tables "massively underused, massively underrated." They find a high table with high chairs somewhat intimidating, while a low setup feels more relaxed. They joke that the Romans, who ate lying down, were probably onto something. Their main reference is Harry's Bar in Venice, where, they say, the tables and chairs are low and very comfortable, which makes people want to linger, chat and enjoy the meal instead of being uptight. The table they find also has wheels, which they are delighted by. They sit in a standard-height chair and then a low one to compare. The standard chair makes them feel they need to be "present" and make intelligent conversation, while in the low chair they "don't care so much."
Fancy China for Every Day
A full set of French china, labeled Maple and Co, prompts Cassidy to restate one of their rules: no everyday china that is "white and sad and mass-produced." Sets that include serving dishes excite them especially, and they imagine roast potatoes, peas and salad in the pieces. They argue that fancy china should be used daily because it has personality, is fun, and "makes bad food look good."
They also give a practical tip about building a set. Check the maker's mark on the back of a piece you like to identify the manufacturer, then search online. They recommend replacements.com as a source for finding matching pieces and building a set gradually, a plate here and a plate there. They add that china doesn't need to be hidden in cabinets and can be displayed. According to Cassidy, full sets are more cost-effective than people expect: a tea set they call exquisite is priced at $250, and a large Limoges set is $350, which clearly surprises them.
Toast Racks for Phones and Mail
A toast rack prompts another repurposing idea. Cassidy likes using one on an entry table to hold a phone. They suggest that party guests could be made to put their phones in the toast rack on arrival so everyone can be present. They keep one on their office desk for letters, mail and bills, and joke that you could tuck a photo of a loved one behind "your audit from the taxman." Shortly after, they find what they call a "toast cart," a rolling version, which they find charming though very heavy.
The Tap Test
With a bronze sculpture, Cassidy demonstrates a habit they call the "tap test": well-made things sound good when you tap them. They compare it to bakers on the Great British Bake Off listening to a cake to tell whether it's done, while admitting they know nothing about the baking side. They would put this bronze piece on an entrance hall table as a catch-all for keys, or a phone for anyone not using a toast rack.
A Bakelite Mahjong Set
Opening a box they found, Cassidy discovers a complete mahjong set made of Bakelite. They describe Bakelite as the original plastic, invented in Yonkers, New York, in 1907. A full set is almost impossible to find, they explain, because the tiles are so attractive that people bought sets and turned the individual tiles into jewelry. They add that Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli used Bakelite for costume jewelry and buttons. Although it is plastic, Cassidy argues it was desirable because it was an innovative material at the time.
Tramp Art Frames and Cigar Boxes
After passing through aisles of frames, bar stools and old windows, Cassidy finds a piece of what they call tramp art and explains that the name is a misnomer: the pieces were made by crafters and hobbyists, not tramps. The technique involves layers of wood sandwiched together, each notched with a pocketknife. In Cassidy's account, the craft grew out of Civil War–era taxation. Cigars were taxed and had to be sold in small wooden boxes, so cigar boxes were everywhere. People began collecting and notching them, making frames, boxes, grandfather clocks and furniture entirely from cigar-box wood. For this frame, they suggest adding a vintage mirror and hanging it in a powder room.
Ceramic Garden Stools from Sierra Towers
Cassidy calls ceramic garden stools easy to use and very versatile. The pair they find is highly maximalist. Judy, the owner of Vintage Junction, told them the stools came out of Sierra Towers, a well-known Beverly Hills apartment building. Cassidy says Joan Collins, Elton John and Cher are among its famous former residents. For anyone who likes loud, statement pieces, they suggest placing the stools on either side of a sofa, using them indoors or outdoors, or putting one in a large shower in place of a bench.
Arts and Crafts Copper Trays and Stickley's Hammer Marks
A stack of Arts and Crafts copper trays is where Cassidy says they've "hit paydirt." One tray carries a maker's mark on the back identifying it as Stickley, which they describe as a very famous American furniture company. Wiping off the dust reveals an uneven, undulating surface, and Cassidy explains that these are intentional hammer marks. The Arts and Crafts movement, as they describe it, reacted against the Industrial Revolution and the spread of machine-made, mass-produced goods by celebrating handmade objects with a real sense of craft. They suggest a tray could simply hang on a wall as art. One is priced at $1,000, which they call pricey. Another is $285, which they joke is "the look for less."
Tiffany Candlesticks from the Art Nouveau Era
In another wing of the market, Cassidy finds bronze Tiffany candlesticks with "1887" scratched into the base. They note that this date may or may not be accurate. Tiffany has existed since 1837, they say, so these would come from the second generation, from the son they call a genius and credit with the Tiffany lamps that sell for well over a million dollars at auction. Today people associate Tiffany with jewelry, silver, gold and diamonds, but Cassidy prefers to hunt for Tiffany home goods, especially from the Art Nouveau period. They say these are hard to find because they are highly collectible, and they call the candlesticks a sensational find.
Meissen and Sèvres Behind the Glass
"The good stuff is behind the glass," Cassidy says, and they handle Meissen figurines nervously. They describe Meissen as the first European porcelain. In their telling, the Chinese and Japanese were the only makers of porcelain from the 7th century until Europeans worked it out around the beginning of the 1700s. The crossed swords painted on the bottom identify a piece as Meissen, and Cassidy calls it one of the first trademarks in the world. The company made tableware, but according to Cassidy it became truly famous for its figurines. People who could not afford a full dinner service could buy a figurine instead and set it among flowers to dress a dining table. They point out that the hand-painted figures were often deliberately "lusty," a staple being "saucy shepherdesses," and this one is a "saucy musician." They add that Meissen is probably the oldest luxury brand in the world and is still in production.
Next to it is a piece of Sèvres, which Cassidy calls the French counterpart to the German Meissen: equal in quality but "a little louder," known for heavy gilding and intense ground colors like the sharp cyan of this piece. They say it is manufactured just outside Versailles and has been since about 1740, while noting that this particular piece is probably not that old. Their idea for reuse is to remove the lid and plant living herbs such as basil, thyme and rosemary for a large kitchen island. It is, they say, the kind of thing you'd see at Versailles, "minus the dust."
Stickley Furniture and "Als ik kan"
Cassidy notices a lot of original Stickley furniture at the market and explains why it matters. They say Gustav Stickley started the company in 1890 in Pennsylvania and New York. Stickley still exists, but in Cassidy's account it peaked around the turn of the century and led the Arts and Crafts movement, which eventually became Craftsman architecture, seen across the United States. The furniture is sometimes called Mission style, and its focus is making visible that each piece was handmade from natural materials.
The maker's mark reads "Gustav Stickley" along with "Als ik kan," which Cassidy translates from Flemish as "all I can," or "to the best of my ability." They find that meaningful: this was furniture made with intent and purpose rather than simply for profit, and it is luxurious not because it was marketed that way but because it was built to last, not for one lifetime but as an heirloom. Some 125 years later, they say, it is an heirloom, and they regret that it is sitting in the market instead of someone's home.
Craft in the Age of AI
Cassidy closes by drawing a parallel between the Arts and Crafts movement and the present. People now fear that AI will take their jobs, just as the Industrial Revolution made everything machine-made. They see us as "in the same boat" 125 years later. What interests them is that the earlier response made craftsmanship prized and collectible, and people wanted to buy it. They express hope that we will learn from that history. They are glad places like Vintage Junction still exist and that people are interested in vintage again, arguing that quality, character, idiosyncrasy, durability and history all matter. Buying vintage, in their view, protects past craft for future generations, and in a very modern world, handmade objects will matter more as they become increasingly rare.
I'm at Vintage Junction, LA's biggest antiques market, and this place is huge.
It's over 50,000 square feet. The collection here is an incredible mix of authentic and eclectic. It's filled with high-end antiques and quirky one-of-a-kind pieces. As an interior designer, I love shopping here for pieces with that Architectural Digest look and feel.
There's a lot to see. Ah, I've already found something. Okay, this is an umbrella stand. It would have been brass originally, but the brass is all but worn off, and so now it's copper underneath. I'd use it as an outdoor ice bucket, cuz it's already beaten up, so like keep it outdoors. This won't be watertight because it's a little rusted at the bottom, but hang on. Okay, perfect.
You get like a glass vase like this, and you... Oh my god, this fits perfectly. You pop it in there, fill that up with ice, bam, bottle of champagne. That is a very civilized outdoor ice bucket.
Another thing you could do: that could be a vase when you have really high ceilings. Again, liner on the inside, big flowers, be kind of amazing. I like it. All right, let's move on. Woof. This place is dusty.
I love a wicker basket, and I love a trash can. That's a very decent trash can. If you've been watching, which I hope you have, I talked about ice buckets, silver ice buckets in particular, as trash cans. So, that was the super high-end version. This is the really down-to-earth version. Wait, this one is... Ironically, this one's $48, and some of the ice buckets we saw in London were like 25 pounds, so there goes that logic. This is more expensive than the silver one. You never know what you're going to get when you go thrifting.
All right, back to work. The crazy thing about this place is they literally have like absolutely everything. There's literally something for everybody. It's kind of like I've set myself a challenge when I come here to find 10 things that I think would work in like a really high-end interior space, even though there's a lot of sort of thrifty kind of super vintage-y things. So, it's about using your imagination. You certainly have plenty to work with.
Low dining tables, massively underused, massively underrated. This is the way to dine. I find a high dining room table and high chairs to be sort of intimidating. This sort of low dining setup is so much more relaxed. And I think the Romans were probably onto something cuz they used to eat lying down, which sounds ideal to me. I'm thinking about Harry's Bar in Venice, which is very, very famous. Their tables, they're low like this, and the chairs are low, and they're super, super comfortable. It makes you want to linger and chat, and just enjoy your meal instead of being super sort of uptight.
And then, the wheels on these are freaking awesome. Check this out. Standard dining chair height, low dining room chair. That would be comfortable, chill, relaxed. This is not bad, but it's just I feel a little more like I need to be present at the dinner party and have intelligent conversation. Now, I don't care so much. But I think it's fantastic. I love it. All right, let's keep shopping.
Damn. That's good china. This is so stunning. My rule about no everyday china that's white and sad and mass-produced, this is my solution for you. This is a full set. It's made in France, Maple and Co. Absolutely freaking beautiful. Sets that include serving dishes are massively exciting. And these are so beautiful. Roast potatoes, peas, the salad in that. Even sounds good. And I think you should be using fancy china every day because it has personality, it's fun, it makes bad food look good. So, if you're not eating well, at least your plates will look good.
There's a great website called replacements.com. So, when you find a china pattern that you like, you look at the back at the maker's mark, you'll figure out who makes it. Then you can go on the Google and you can Google it and you can find replacements and you can build sets out. You can buy a plate here, a plate there, and slowly build a full set. Then also, you could keep it on display. Like it doesn't have to be hidden in cabinets. You can actually like show it off.
So, a really fantastic thing about Replacements is that they have a lot of variety when it comes to full sets of china. It's also way more cost-effective than you think. This tea set is $250 and it's legitimately like exquisite. For 250 bucks, that's a great buy. This set, which is a lot of pieces and it's Limoges, is $350. For Limoges! Limoges!
Oh, wait. Hang on. This is fun. This is a toast rack. They're great for toast, but I like them in an entrance hall, on an entry table, to put my phone in. You should have a party and when your friends come, they should be forced to put their phones in the toast rack so that they can be present and we can like stop being on the phone. I have one on my desk in my office and I use it for letters and mail and bills. You could even put a little photograph of the one that you love in there behind your audit from the taxman.
Oh, no way. What the hell is this? Is this another toast rack? Wow! Winner! It's a toast cart. I mean, it's so cute. I mean, that's pretty amazing. Yeah. Look at... Oh, Jesus. It's heavy. Ugh!
All right. Look at this. It's a sculpture. But, it's bronze. I always do a little tap test. You can hear if things are well made because they sound good. It's a bit like when you watch the British Bake Off, and they listen to the cake, and they're like, "Yeah, it's done." I don't know anything about that, but I do know that if you tap good things, they sound good. I would put this in my entrance hall table. Ooh, people are going to be mad at me for throwing that. But, yeah, this is what I would use this for. I think it's kind of a great thing to put your keys in. And your phone, if you don't want to use a toast rack.
I like random boxes. This one is kind of cool. What's in here? No way! Check this out. This is a mahjong set, and it's made of Bakelite, which was the original plastic that was invented in Yonkers in New York in 1907. It's a full mahjong set, which is almost impossible to find because these pieces, they're so pretty that people would buy these, and then they would turn the little tiles into jewelry. Bakelite was also very popular with Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli. They used it for their costume jewelry, and also for buttons. Even though it's plastic, because it was the original plastic, it was a very innovative product at the time, and so it was kind of desirable.
And it's very beautiful. Frames, frames, lots of frames. Actually, not bad. Bar stools. Huh. Windows, in case you need a window. Oh, wait. Hang on. This is great. Come to papa. Tramp art.
I'm a big fan of tramp art. The name, however, is a misnomer. They were not made by tramps. They were made by crafters and hobbyists. It's layers of wood that are sandwiched together and each layer is notched out using a pocketknife. The reason that they were made was because in the Civil War, we were taxing stuff. Taxed cigars. And so cigars had to be sold in a little wooden box. And so there were these cigar boxes everywhere and people started collecting them and then notching them and turning them into frames and boxes, grandfather clocks, furniture. I mean, it's amazing the kind of stuff that they've built and it's totally built out of cigar boxes. But great frame. Pop a vintage mirror in this and it's perfect for a powder room.
Ceramic garden stools. I'm in love with these things. I think they're fantastic. They're so easy to use. They're massively versatile. Obviously, these are super maximalist. So Judy who owns Vintage Junction told me that she pulled these out of Sierra Towers, which is a very famous apartment building in Beverly Hills and it's where a lot of really famous people have lived including Joan Collins, Elton John, Cher. If you're into things that are kind of loud and make a statement, this is the way forward. They would be great either side of a sofa. You could use them inside. You can use them outside. If you have a huge shower, they're amazing in a shower instead of a shower bench. I think they're great. Okay.
Now we've hit paydirt. These are all Arts and Crafts copper trays. Wow. Actually, hang on. Check this out. That's Stickley. So Stickley is a very, very famous American furniture company. And you can see on the back here, there's the maker's mark that proves that it's Stickley. And if I dust this off, you can see the surface is uneven. It's got this undulation. Those are intentional hammer marks. The reason that those are there is because in the Arts and Crafts movement, what people were trying to do was celebrate the fact that things were made by hand. The Arts and Crafts movement is sort of a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the fact that everything... Oh my god, look at my hands. Everything was becoming machine-made and mass-produced. So, the Arts and Crafts movement came along to celebrate human-made things that were special and had a real sense of craft. They're also insanely beautiful. This one is great. I mean, you could just hang that on a wall. You don't even need to use it as a tray. And I think it's quite stunning.
This one is a thousand dollars, so that's really pricey. Buy it. But wait, this one's only 285. That's the look for less.
Let's keep going. We're in a whole other wing of Vintage Junction. It just never ends.
All right, Tiffany candlesticks. Yeah, that Tiffany, but these are really, really old. In fact, if you turn them over, at the bottom, scratched into the bronze, it says 1887. That may or may not be true, but Tiffany's been around since 1837. So, these would be the second generation of Tiffany's. This is the son who was a genius, and he's famous for Tiffany lamps, which sell for like well over a million dollars at auction. The Tiffany that we think of today is jewelry, silver, gold, diamonds, but this is the kind of Tiffany that I like to look for. It's the home goods, and it's specifically home goods from the Art Nouveau period. It's not easy to find because it's massively collectible. These are a sensational find.
The good stuff is behind the glass. These, which I almost don't even want to pick up because they're so good, are Meissen. Meissen was the first European porcelain. From the 7th century, the Chinese and the Japanese were the only people who knew how to make porcelain, but eventually, the Europeans figured it out, beginning of like the 1700s. So, these are Meissen and you can tell that they're Meissen because they have these crossed swords painted on the bottom. That is one of the first trademarks in the world. These are figurines, but the company used to make tableware, so plates, bowls, dishes, all of that sort of stuff. But, when they really got super famous was when they started creating these figurines because if you couldn't afford to buy an entire dinner service, which is like crazy, you could buy a figurine. You'd put them on a dining room table in between flowers and everything else to really dress your table up.
I'm so nervous holding these. These are amazing. They're so beautifully crafted. They're all hand-painted. One of her boobs is out. They were kind of lusty, actually. But, that was sort of intentional. The big thing that they used to make were sort of saucy shepherdesses. She's a saucy musician, but yeah, there's a little bit of filth everywhere.
Oh, wait, one more thing to say about Meissen, which I think is really cool. Meissen is probably the oldest luxury brand in the world. It's still in production today, as is this, which is Sèvres, which is the French version of the German. And it's equally good quality to Meissen, but it's a little louder. It's particularly famous for all of this heavy gilding and their ground colors, which were very intense. So, this in very, very like sharp cyan, I guess you could call it, is very typical of Sèvres. Their stuff is still being manufactured today, but this is old, really, really good stuff. What I want to do with this is take the lid off. You could fill it up with living herbs. You can have like basil and thyme and rosemary and have that on your kitchen island if you've got a really big kitchen island. This is something that you would see at Versailles. In fact, it's manufactured just outside of Versailles and has been since the 1700s, like since 1740. This is probably not from 1740, but the company has been around since then. So, yeah, it's literally the kind of stuff you would see at Versailles.
Minus the dust. Something I'm noticing here is there's a lot of Stickley furniture and Stickley is kind of important. It's Arts and Crafts furniture that was started by Gustav Stickley in 1890 in Pennsylvania and New York. It's very, very beautiful and these pieces are all original. It's so solid. Stickley is kind of like an American icon. It's still in existence today, but it was at its peak sort of around the turn of the century and really was the leader in the Arts and Crafts movement that eventually became Craftsman architecture. So, you'll see it all over the States. It's just very special. Sometimes you'll hear it referred to as Mission style furniture and it's all about the craftsmanship. They want you to make sure that you're seeing that it's made by hand using natural materials. So, there's the maker's mark and it says Gustav Stickley, but it also says "Als ik kan", which was the company's kind of slogan, which was Flemish and it means all I can or essentially to the best of my ability. And the reason that that was the company's slogan was because everything they made, they made to the best of their ability. There's something really beautiful about that. It's not just a piece of furniture that's made for profit. It's a piece of furniture that's made with intent and purpose. Instead of just like marketing something as luxury, it's actually luxury because it was meant to last. Not one lifetime, but to be an heirloom. And yeah, 125 years later, this is an heirloom.
It's a pity it's here and not in somebody's house. If you look at what's happening now with the world, we're all terrified that AI is going to take our jobs. The Arts and Crafts movement was a response to the Industrial Revolution where everything was becoming machine-made. So, 125 years later, we're in the same boat. But, what was interesting about this as a response to the Industrial Revolution was that craftsmanship was prized and it became very collectible and people wanted to buy this kind of stuff. So, let's hope we learn a lesson from history.
I love that great places like this still exist and that people are interested in buying vintage again. Quality, character, idiosyncrasy, and durability all matter. And so does history. Buying vintage protects crafts from the past for future generations. And in our very modern world, handmade will matter more as it becomes increasingly rare.
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