Congratulations! You have reached the new MODish.net. MODish.net is a community of vintage modern design enthusiasts, scholars, dealers, and collectors. Please register! Registration is quick and helps foil spam bots; inappropriate, anonymous posts; and helps deter image mining. IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to recent technical issues, some registrants may not receive a password via email. If you are one of these people, please email MODish.net for a temporary password. This message disappears when you are logged in. For optimal viewing use the latest browsers (Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3.0, Safari 3.0). The site has recently been reworked to better accomodate some earlier browsers at lower display resolutions with browser display area maximized. |
I'm often confused between
I'm often confused between Raymor Informal and Tempron Taste Tempters. Can I assume the difference here -- beyond the use of RMS versus Pyrex respectively -- is the accent material used? Was Raymor Informal always accented with wood, as Tempron Taste Tempters is by sea grass wraps?
~Scott
sllab studios / sllab modern
http//www.sllab.net
You've seen the metal stands
You've seen the metal stands that exist instead of the ceramic stand for the RMS swinging coffeepot? That's Raymor Informal. In fact, there were a bunch of really dramatic wrought iron pieces made for the line. Some were actually huge. The one pictured here is very simple and not as involved as most.
When I think of Raymor Informal, I get mostly a visual of lots of wrought iron that often looks structural. When I think of Tempron, I see pyrex, metal, and wood that is lighter for holding glass. Gilley made both lines, so naturally, it would be confusing.
The Informal tabletop trays were wrought iron with wood accents mostly and tended to be larger. I think I may have seen some with wrapping on them, but I can't recall for certain. I don't recall my brochure information indicating that, though. Maybe Paul or someone else could enlighten us on that.
Tempron was "...black with seagrass-wrapped handles or brass finish with black cord-wrapped handles."
I think the confusion comes
I think the confusion comes more from the items that look just like Tempron in weight and material but are made to fit the smaller RMS shapes -- for example the small/individual casserole. The line between these "Tempron Style" pieces (to borrow Paul's terminology from his A Ben Siebel Design website) and items actually catalogued as being part of the Tempron Taste Tempters line is blurry, especially since they are made of the same materials and are constructed in exactly the same manner.
~Scott
sllab studios / sllab modern
http//www.sllab.net
Here's a clue to easy
Here's a clue to easy identification:
Informal was wrought iron, never brass. Brass plated=Tempron or Town House Brass.
Informal had no 'V' shaped iron legs. Informal had no flat structural metal.
'V' shaped black legs are Tempron.
Examine the handles. The handles are very similar in most Tempron pieces and very different from handles in Raymor Informal.
Handles in Raymor Informal were built in and rectangular affairs OR straight and supported above the stand.
A tougher problem might be distinguishing between Tempron and Town House Brass and Chrome. I'll have to check and see if Paul has these on his site.
Ok, I've just checked out
Ok, I've just checked out Paul's website.
First Town House Saucery was a tiny cookbook (I'm looking at a copy I got with one of my Ben pieces). Paul reproduces one on his website. In it are pieces from the Town House Brass and Chrome line--designed by Ben Seibel. This little booklet, best I can tell, actually illustrates that line. For example, the items on page 15 of the book actually show 3513 Crystal salad bowl; 13" that came with a polished brass or brilliant chrome stand. The 755 8 oz. oil and vinegar set with carrier and black tops was also available in brass or chrome. I think I can identify most of the Town House Saucery items from Town House Brass and Chrome illustrated catalog pages.
Now this was different from another line that Ben designed and I don't think Paul lists--it's called Copper and Milk Glass and it came with brown cord-wrapped handles and lids with half-sphere, flat top, wooden knobs. This theoretically could be confused with Tempron and Town House, but it is structurally very different. Actually, Richard Racheter shows a partial piece on page 253 of his book. The items in this line all look pretty structurally similar with both rectangular and circular stands in that style.
To make things even more confusing, there is a line that I thought was called Brass and Crystal that sports polished brass (BR) or brilliant chrome (C) with seagrass wrapping. I think Richard R. lists some or all of these as Tempron. Maybe so, but I'm not certain about that. The Tempron items I'm looking at are structurally different.
But I am sitting here looking at brochure pages that are not well layed out, so I can easily understand why anyone would be confused--especially if they didn't have this information in front of them. However, the Raymor Informal pieces are very very different than any of these other lines.