Lane Perception side tables by Warren Church, c. 1959 or later

Lane Perception is a lovely suite of midcentury furniture design attributed to Warren Church, Lane’s lead designer during the midcentury era. I spotted ads for Lane Perception as early as 1959, but I am not sure if the entire line was available then or whether it grew over time. This is actually story #5 about weebit’s apartment. She spotted these gorgeous Lane Perception side tables at the ReStore, and came to run and find me. We snapped them right up for her planned living room. But then, they didn’t end up fitting the final room plan, so this weekend I put them on craigslist. 

These are long, low, leggy beauties.

Notice the “Wovenwood” panel on the drawer …

…the brass (?) balls on the curvalicious legs that give the tabletop a “floating” look …

… and even the attention to detail in the design of the back. These Lane Perception side table look great from every direction.

The set we found was in overall great condition, with some exceptions. See the top of the table, left, above? There is irregular oxidation/darkening of what surely was the original finish where — what? — someone left a tray or something. I priced them accordingly, given the condition issue, and to move for local pickup only. As usual, it’s fall, and I am recommitting to cleaning out the house. Wish me luck with that. Note: Ack, I would never refinish them, even with the irregular fading — the finish is to tough and shiny and beautiful. Decorate around the fading… As you can see, these side tables are a whopping 30″ deep — that’s a lot of room for side table stuff!

Googling around, I see there were many pieces in the Lane Perception line — living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture alike. I quite like them. The are an interesting combination of minimalist midcentury lines married with more decorative elements coming into play in the 1960s. The wovenwood detail in particular — nice! “My” set is the “Burnished Walnut.” I am not an expert on furniture construction, but golly, the things are sturdy. 

American furniture makers — names like Lane, Drexel, Staney Furniture, American of Martisville, Baker / Milling Road — all made lovely, often transitional midcentury modern furniture. Prices were lower than big name midcentury makers, but golly, the quality seems awesome, to me at least. 

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