In 1995, after over a year of multiple surgeries, 12 weeks of chemo, radiation, an experimental stem-cell transfer during which 10% of patients died during the high-dose chemo, Marla was finally given a green light by her doctors for international travel. She said she wanted to go to the island of Bali, a favorite of her parents from their trip in the 1960s. We both were a little scared for the future but she said: “Let’s go!” Little did we both know at the time but this trip opened up a new world of sourcing furniture and accessories for our company in Indonesia and in south-east Asia. A new and exciting adventure was beginning.

After checking into our hotel in Bali I told Marla I wanted to visit our “shipping agent”. She said, “I have a suitcase,…we don’t need a shipping agent!” I said, “We have one now!” I told her I would be back in an hour. Even though she was quite tired she said: “You aren’t going anywhere without me!” While at the agent’s office we met a man who had a woodcarving factory in the tiny village of Sebatu. We drove with him up in the highlands past verdant rice terraces to his company. We really didn’t have any idea what we would find.

This was our first real immersion into Balinese woodcraft suppliers. I was a bit shocked at first but still fascinated by their enterprise. Bali is internationally known for traditional crafts. Many of the rural villages specialize in one kind of craft, whether woodcarving, stone carving, basket-making, jewelry, etc. 

Marla and I spent the afternoon writing an order for furniture and woodcarvings. I asked if they had a “fax machine” so we could send a copy back to Wesco Fabrics in Denver. At that moment a rooster walked under his desk and nonchalantly out the door. I turned to Marla and said,…”I guess they don’t have a fax machine,…or even a phone line!” They only shipped about a 1/3 of what we ordered. Our agent had to drive an hour and a half up the hills to follow-up on the order on two occasions! This was an early lesson in doing business in Bali! We were not deterred as we made 25 buying trips to Bali.

We discovered beautiful pottery at our agent’s office as well. We imported pit-fired pottery from the neighboring island of Lombok for many years. The pots are primarily produced by craftsmen in Sasak village outdoor workshops.

In 1997 we returned to the magical isle of Bali and continued our hunt for beautiful items to sell in our Denver showroom and warehouse. I bought this beautiful vintage Madura bed. The unique style and carvings are characteristic of beds found on the nearby island of Madura near Java. Indonesia has over 17,500 Islands with 6000 inhabited and they speak over 700 living languages. It is the world’s most populated Muslim nation although the Balinese have maintained their worship of a form of Bali Hindu with touches of Buddhism and animism.

On our first trip to Bangkok in ’95, we purchased a few nice items in River City in Bangkok. The furniture and antiques were beautiful but we knew we were paying too much! We needed to go directly to the sources but we only knew they were in “Northern Thailand.” Marla heard about resources in the Hang Dong area of Chiang Mai and wrote down the name for a future trip. The above image has me in full explorer mode in ’97 in Chiang Mai. It was trial by fire but so much fun! The Hang Dong and Baan Tawai districts of Chiang Mai soon became our most important areas for furniture imports!

I love all the carvings in Northern Thailand workshops!

I discovered this antique Naga which was once a guardian on a Buddhist temple. They always talked to me and I admit to having three of them in our home!

Certain objects have a way of connecting with you in an emotional way. When Marla first saw this 19th century Burmese Buddha pavilion In Chiang Mai, Thailand, she said “Oh my I wish we could purchase it!” It was NOT for sale. We told our agent to let us know if they ever wanted to sell it (without the horns, of course). After we returned to Denver we were told it was ours. It graced the entryway of our Denver warehouse for many years. When we sold the business, Marla and I purchased it from the company and donated it to the Denver Art Museum. It will be featured in their new Asian Art Galleries this summer. We can’t wait to see it again.

We found unusual Monkey Pod wood tables on our first Chiang Mai trip. As the years went on we sourced new and better resources for this popular style furniture.

Re-purposed teak furniture made from old wagons.

It was beyond hot and humid during our visit to the majestic Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. We found old monk carvings and unique bronze opium weights and crammed them in our suitcase to take home.

This vignette at our Denver showroom in 1998 shows so many truly magnificent items during this period. The amazing 19th c Burmese manuscript chest and the golden Buddha on top were too pricy for our market, so we sold them at an Asian art auction in San Francisco.

Even on our cold January trips to the Heimtextil fabric show in Frankfurt we were always on the lookout for something exciting to sell. One year before the market we visited our friend in the Champagne business, Jean-Francois, and his family. They took us to “brocante” dealers near Tours-sur-Marne. I’m taking this picture from the upper level of a barn where I found some great 19th century chairs. Jean-Francois is now mayor of the Champagne town of Bouzy and running the family champagne business.

The next day we found this brocante dealer who was already three sheets by 10 AM! He told us he had a bunch of furniture in the Art Deco style in his loft. He said it wasn’t popular so his prices were low. We ended up buying everything he had and sold it all!

We took a big plunge on this trip to Reims with Jean-Francois and bought four 18th century walnut Armoires. They were pricey but gorgeous!

On another January trip to Frankfurt we stopped off in Holland on the way. For many years we piggybacked on the fabric trip to look for antique furniture to ship home. We found some wonderful wholesale antique warehouses in a small town in Holland. We were both absolutely frozen but ended up buying some great things.

Marla is writing our order for a bunch of vintage skis, sleds, benches, cabinets,and old tin boxes from eastern Europe. We put some in our showroom but sold most of them in our 75,000 SF warehouse.

On this Holland trip, we found a lot of 19th-century chests and benches from Lithuania. Marla is next to some wedding benches on their sides. The container wasn’t fumigated properly so they had woodworm when we received them in Denver. We fumigated, wrapped and stored all of it ourselves in the warehouse until it was saleable.

I fell in love with vintage posters (mostly 1895-1940’s) for our showroom. We found most of them at the Marche-aux-puces-de-Saint-Ouen, a weekend wonderland in Paris. I also bought from poster auctions in New York auction houses online. We sold over $150,000 worth of posters in the showroom!

On a stopover in Singapore before a Buying trip to Bali, we visited a furniture trade fair. I’m negotiating an order for modern furniture from a Malaysian supplier.

We often went to a fabric trade show in Brussels in September. I was excited to find weekend markets before the show opened.

Marla is peering down on the stairs of one of the most amazing suppliers we ever found in Chiang Mai. We could count on them for the most unique items! Sadly they closed their business a few years ago.

Marla is pondering. “What can we do with these,…lamps…large pepper mill?” We passed!

I am totally blessed to have a shopping partner like Marla! She was always game to visit any good prospect; mosquito-filled dark warehouses, terribly humid markets, no bathrooms and the occasional rat. On some hot and humid afternoons, I would be thinking about heading back to the hotel for a swim but Marla would say, “Let’s see one more place!” In a field of wonderful teak root chairs and bowls, Marla is working with our first shipping agent and guide, Nyoman, who helped us for years. We sold the heck out of this category!

We always found mounds of things to add to our containers at the Ubud morning market in Bali. These are fabulous baskets woven in Tenganan village. The Tenganan villagers are famous for their unique baskets as well as single and double ikat weaving.

The look on Marla’s face says either we are crazy to be here,…or maybe… we will find something really cool. Yes, we did find a few rats in this place,…but a few nice finds as well.

Nyoman is measuring some vintage doors from Java. They were not easy to find.

We loved hunting down live-edge slab tables. We purchased many over the years in Teak, Suar, Tamarind, Acacia, Monkeypod, and Lychee wood. The biggest problem was warping if the wood wasn’t properly dried.

I remember a visit to this place in Bali. We negotiated for about 5 or 6 slab dining tables. When our agent went back a few weeks later to pick up the items the place was cleaned out and the owners disappeared with our deposit!

This supplier near Denpasar, Bali always had something interesting. One of my favorites were small carved and painted teak benches from the island of Madura, pictured in the lower right foreground.

Marla looks stunning among beautifully carved statues in Chiang Mai.

I’m holding a small gilded altar from Burma. I’ve always had an affinity for Burmese antiques and Buddha sculptures. As Buddha is given high reverence in Thailand, it strictly prohibits the export of any and all Buddha images without written permission from the Thai Government Fine Arts Department or a license to do so. Our agent was great about following the rules which changed often. Many shipping agents stay away from this area in order to be in good graces with the local authorities. Buddha heads and hands eventually became prohibited for export from Thailand though full size sculptures were often permitted.

Next week I’ll post more of our buying adventures.

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.