ANCHOR CHAIN TABLES
In Scranton we sit on two warehouses piled high with vintage glass, picturesque sheets of tin, salvaged wood paneling, doors, glass, and all the marble you could imagine. It’s a designer’s paradise.
In those warehouses we take these raw materials and spin them into altered antiques, pieces that pay homage to the riches of yesterday, but also respect the modernity of today.
Say hello to this pile of chain
Ten years ago, we met a retired Staten Island Ferry headed to the junkyard. Most of the ship had already been cut down for scrap, but we were able to salvage two truckloads of anchor and chain. That week we hauled it to the warehouse.
Why? We love the cool solidarity of metal, the gradients and color of wizened wrought iron, the flecks of original paint and this chain in particular. Called bar chain, each link has a bar running down the center, which keeps the chain from tangling as it drops anchor.
Showcasing these links, tables immediately emerged. Round, square and rectangular with tops of marble, glass, or reclaimed pine, these pieces became dining tables, coffee tables, end tables, display tables for boutiques (Tommy Hilfiger commissioned 200), and even breakfast nook eateries.
We had to get more chain! We found more in Florida, salvaging from a boat in the Miami River, links were four inches wide, six inches long and five-eighths of an inch thick. In all, the trucks carried 80,000 pounds of bar chain to Scranton.
Stocked back up, soon lamps followed tables. Four feet standing lamps or sold in sets of two to cap off a chesterfield, they are the perfect salute to old becoming new.
Pair of Antique Anchor Chain Table Lamps
We are still designing new chain link pieces. Send us your ideas and we will design a piece. Lastly, send us a pic of the piece in your home! We found this chain in a shipyard. To see it re-purposed and posing happily in your living room?! Well, THAT is the missing link.
View this particular chain table at our Bowery NYC store.
