Vintage Bazaar, the floating agora that styles itself a flea market without tube socks, landed on 9/18 at the Congress Theater, which proved to be a not entirely accommodating venue for the event.
I’ve never been to a concert at the Congress — although I know they still use it as such but only, evidently, for dance parties [Erasure — yes, the dance-pop darlings are still, apparently, together and touring — played there the night before] , so the main floor of the theater is an open space, which should make it ideal for exhibition, except that it is entirely interior and windowless, with ambient lighting that is generally insufficient for looking at merchandise [and for that matter, for taking photographs].
The Congress wasn’t a grand palace in the style of the Uptown or the Chicago, but the lobby is still pretty luxe, and — because there is natural lighting — offers the best display areas.
Manly Vintage occupied the primest spot at the front of the lobby, and had one of the two items in the show I almost had to have: a marble-topped Harvey Probber table, asking price $250
[they have better pics on their website]
Manly also showed a great surfboard-style coffee table [asking about $300, IIRC]
In the way-too-dimly lit theater space, one object really jumped out at me: a table lamp with a base designed by a midcentury ceramicist, entirely unknown to me, named Marianna von Allesch
a beautiful object that seems to have been made as a lamp, not a vessel converted into one.
The market continued outside onto the street beside the theater, where it was drizzly on and off mid-day
There wasn’t much that excited me there, so I had no problem leaving before I was all too liable to succumb to temptation and go back inside the theater to buy that ceramic lamp.
