FREE shipping on orders $150+ (excl. oversize items) ❖ Delivery available for a fee in LA ❖ Oversize items require white-glove shipping ❖ Contact us for a quote

Fill your home with stories.

Each object in the Backstory collection has been selected for the richness of its legacy: a connection to the time, place, or idea from which its design or function was born.

explore

choose your own adventure

1950s, Syracuse, New York

The iconic Sunburst Mirror was made by Syroco (short for Syracuse Ornament Company), founded in 1890. Syroco was originally known for their decorative wood carving, but in the unpredictable economy of early 20th century manufacturing, shifted their focus to an innovative and cost-effective technique: compression molding. This 40-pound mirror is not made of carved wood, nor is it plastic - its ornately detailed rays are made of a concoction of wood pulp and flour that was poured into a mold before being painted and finished.

Shop

Victorian Era, Naples, Italy

An alchemist fibbed to the King of Poland, and that is why we have European porcelain. That is how this towering, decadent Capodimonte lamp from Victorian Naples came to be. The alchemist’s name was Johann Friedrich Böttger, and he proclaimed to King Augustus of Poland that he had achieved that impossible dream we all have, to be able to turn worthless materials into gold. Gentleman that he was, Augustus put Böttger in protective custody and delicately encouraged him to produce gold.

...

Keep reading

Early 20th Century China

This hand-carved antique corner chair with mother-of-pearl inlays is an endangered species. It's not just that it's rare to find an antique of this condition in the wild - this chair is made of rosewood, a tropical wood that was protected globally and prohibited from international trade in 2013. There are 300 species of rosewood trees and they grow in tropical rainforests from Brazil to Malaysia. Rosewood is named for its floral, perfumey scent, a fragrance that can persist in rosewood pieces for years. There is something both solemn and captivating about sitting in this chair, a piece that for good reason could not be recreated in the world today. Its beauty feels rare and precious.

shop

Featured collection ✴ decorative art

  • Midcentury Nautical Hanging Weather Station: Thermometer-Barometer-Humidity
    Regular price
    $55.00
    Sale price
    $55.00
    Regular price
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • S/2 Hanging Japanese Plates
    Regular price
    $67.00
    Sale price
    $67.00
    Regular price
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • Rare 1952 Cybis Porcelain Signed Columbia Lady
    Regular price
    $125.00
    Sale price
    $125.00
    Regular price
    $142.00
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • Midcentury Mexican Hand-Painted Duck
    Regular price
    $49.00
    Sale price
    $49.00
    Regular price
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • S/2 Midcentury Colored Glass Geese
    Regular price
    $65.00
    Sale price
    $65.00
    Regular price
    $72.00
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • Psychedelic 70s Latch Hook Wall Hanging
    Regular price
    $650.00
    Sale price
    $650.00
    Regular price
    $785.00
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • Decorative Japanese Plate
    Regular price
    $26.00
    Sale price
    $26.00
    Regular price
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out
  • Midcentury Pink Glass Grapes
    Regular price
    $76.00
    Sale price
    $76.00
    Regular price
    Unit price
    per 
    Sold out

Give a meaningful gift.

Engage Backstory's concierge gift sourcing service this holiday season.

Matchmaking services

Objects are what matter. Only they carry the evidence that throughout the centuries something really happened among human beings.

Claude Levì-Strauss

A precious — mouldering pleasure — 'tis —
To meet an Antique Book —
In just the Dress his Century wore —
A privilege — I think —

"Mouldering Pleasure" by Emily Dickinson

Any great work of art revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world."

Leonard Bernstein
Sale

Unavailable

Sold Out