Description
“The Nose” eyeglass tand. Neo-retro Kitsch from Ashleigh Manor, circa 2001. Fine, with no damage and only trace dust on the velveteen under-base. See all images. Taiwan: Ashleigh Manor, about year 2000. “The Nose” – on which one sets ones eyeglasses when those are at rest – is one of those slightly oblique, but not ridiculous, products from a number of Asian manufacturers over the last few decades (including Ashleigh Manor, as well as Hong Kong-based Lobeco and others) which immediately appealed to an at least reasonably sizable western demographic. But not everybody in the west; these products were (and are) from the imagination of creators who did not reside in the west, but did a pretty decent job nevertheless, and still do. The result is not true kitsch – these were never laughably trashy, neither when new nor as retro. Some items thus sourced have taken on their own peculiar collectibility. “The Nose” bears the look and weight of ebony (it is not ebony, for sure) and vaguely the styling of an African sculpture – at least in the eyes of the designers, one supposes. An item which brings a small smile, but no guffaw. And, when placed with sunglasses mounted on it, at just the proper angle on a middle-distance table, it’s superb good for creating an undefinable malaise in an unwanted guest of the opposite gender. Cheesy sunglasses and dollar store glasses in images not included. Apparently quite scarce; we were unable to locate another. Not that we tried all that hard.
SPC1011
