I’m old enough to remember my parents and grandparents bought furniture that lasted. We had a (what is now) mid century modern three piece suite (I’m sure it was a TH Brown) in a beautiful blue and purple berber upholstery. Eventually it had seen better days, especially with two young kids jumping up and down on it constantly. There was no notion of throwing it out to get a new one, instead Mum had it reupholstered to last another 10-15 years. Maybe it was a mentality passed down from her post war parents, about being frugal and keeping things to last. (Jason Harris, Managing Director)
Scammells do not support the sale of “fast furniture”.
Fast furniture is designed and produced to last 3-5 years, only to be disposed of. It is low cost, mass produced and poorly made.
Over 85% of fast furniture goes to the curbside and ends up in landfill.
Upcycling, repurposing and giving a second (or sometimes third) life to a beautifully made and designed piece of furniture is the ultimate in recycling.
Our customers are already in love with buying unique secondhand and antique pieces and buying from Scammells is THE best way to support a reduction in landfill. Much of the furniture we sell was designed and made in Australia, or at sometime in the past imported from Europe or Asia, originating from craftsman workshops.
Because our buyers have found value in the pieces, they are much less likely to end up in rubbish dumps in the future.
+ The ultimate in repurposing and recycling
+ Saving landfill and our environment
+ Moving buyers away from a disposable mentality towards furniture
+ Reducing the need for logging and plastics manufacturing
+ Carbon neutral
+ Sustainable
And it’s great value!
It would be easy to “grab the cash” and offer taxidermy or sell Ivory tusks, horns or netsukes.
Some of the “historical” collectables that were offered in the past do not align with our values, and Scammells have stopped offering these at auction. It’s not about erasing the past, it’s about not bringing the past into our future.
We accept we won’t always get it right the first time, and we constantly review what we sell (and why) and make appropriate changes.
Two years ago the UK legislated changes to the “legal” sale of Ivory products and pieces could no longer be offered for auction or be transported from the UK after an agreed date. Our Managing Director Jason was aware of the initial push 3-4 years ago, and made the decision then to stop selling Ivory products, and we have joined a (very small) handful of auction rooms in Australia with the same ethical DNA.
“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” Mahatma Gandhi