Our Page
Our names are Shannon Aaron and Sue Jacobson, we live in Boston, Massachusetts.
Wow! It's hard to believe it has been almost four years since we first opened
our ModHaus store online. What a thrill it's been to meet so many others who
share our obsession with the many unique elements of the mid 20th century
style. From the smallest, most ephemeral item to those that test the limits of
our freight carriers, we're thrilled to find each piece a new home. But more
importantly, each one of our customers and visitors has become a part of our
growing 'Haus'hold. The response and encouragement we've received has been
beyond our imaginations. And, with our newly installed database, our plan is to
keep the site updated with new merchandise as often as possible, so please be
sure to check back regularly. Our special thanks go to Barry Bryant, our
webmaster and creator of GOMOD, for the tireless work he has done in building
the world's finest online community for Mid Century Modern. We're proud to be a
member of it, and if you follow the link on our home page you'll find many other
wonderful dealers there offering just about anything a mod lover could wish
for. We're also immensely grateful each time a new customer drops in from
having seen us mentioned in print, from InStyle magazine to Lucky, TimeOut,
Fortune, Miller's Antiques Guide and all the foreign publications we wish we
could read.
Just five years ago, on our very first date, we both knew within hours
that we were meant for one another and that somehow we would have to find a way
to bring our shared vision of the world into focus. Our mutual fascination with
mid century design made it all the more inevitable. So, we got married, and in
the midst of restoring an 1840's row house, launched this site, deliberating at
length over which items from our own collections we would part with for that
first round of inventory.
Not surprisingly, we've both been involved in the decorative arts most of our
lives. Shannon was born and grew up in San Antonio, Texas before later moving
to New York. After moving to Boston he became the editor of a major New England
antiques newspaper for six years and has worked at numerous galleries and a
major auction house. His tastes run from eclectic handcrafts of the 20th
Century to textiles and ceramics, plastics, metalwork and any form of art that
defines its time. He also collects American Impressionist and Modernist
paintings and comes from an artistic family. His great great great grandfather
was John Dawson-Watson, a well known pre-Raphaelite painter from London. Dawson
Dawson-Watson, John's son, was an important impressionist and a founder of the
19th century artist's colony in Giverny, France centered around Claude Monet.
His great grandfather Edward was also a noted WPA era artist.
Sue's lifelong affliction with collecting began in Los Angeles around the age
of 12. Long before the days of the internet and ebay, she would pore over her
mother's copies of the Antiques Trader, circling advertisements and ordering
items from record and rock memorabilia dealers with her baby-sitting money.
Later, she ran a thriving underground rock poster business from her dorm room
at Wellesley College. Her interest in civil rights and employment
discrimination law eventually lead her to become a union-side labor lawyer. But
her free time was devoted to music and the arts, and her wide range of
collections: modern, pop and 'outsider' art, Charles Bukowski rare editions,
Irish literature, Jean-Luc Godard film posters, Mexican Day of the Dead
figures, and modernist studio jewelry (of course!). Sue's family is immersed in
the art and antique business. Her mother, now retired, was a widely known
dealer of modern art in Los Angeles and her sister owns a major film and rock
poster gallery there. Her brother is a dealer of estate jewelry in Beverly
Hills.
In this website you'll find examples of many of the things we both enjoy most
from the late 1950s through the 1970s, particularly the "golden age",
which for us occurred around the time we were born in the early 60s. Everything
you see is vintage and original to the period. Ceramic arts might be
represented by Scandinavian designs as well as American, German, Italian,
Israeli or Japanese pieces we find noteworthy. Paintings, prints and sculpture
needn't be by important artists to capture the essence of their time. We're
always on the hunt for the vanishing material of the Beat and Hippie
generations - clothing, jewelry and odd objects for the home and virtually
anything in the spirit of William Morris's advice to "Keep nothing in your
house which you do not believe to be beautiful or useful."
When we first opened this site in 1999, the planet was abuzz with fears of the
coming Y2K. Miraculously, the world didn't end. But if history is any guide, a
turn of the century often brings us to look nostalgically at the basics of
civilization. The dawn of the 19th century, for instance, sparked a revival of
the classic arts and learning inspired by the Greeks and Romans. The 20th
century likewise saw a return to the honest origins of handcraft through the
Arts & Crafts Movement. For many reasons, the pulse of most serious
collecting these days seems to be a renewed look at the profound contributions
of the Modernist Movement, a period all but obscured by the tragedies of war,
assassinations, changing cultural values and the drug thing. In its simplicity
of design, organic forms and craftsmanship, the best of this period marks a
culmination of all the previous reforms and movements of the 20th century. In
our minds, some of the most compelling designs ever yet produced.
Hopefully, you'll like what we have to offer here. If you have any questions or
would like to request additional photos or information on a particular item,
please let us know. Since this can only represent a portion of the items we
have available at any time, let us know if there's something special you're
looking for.
- Thanks so much for looking and
PEACE
Shannon and Sue, August 2002
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