Tuesday, 07 June 2011 23:20
Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 23:38
Excerpt from Trash Talk: Repurposing and recycling in the Junction on YourHome.ca
• Eclectic Revival , 3075 Dundas St. W.: Peter Breese, in the Junction for seven years, specializes in antique lighting and repairs. Like Rawlinson, he found that antiques don’t appeal to young buyers so he unleashed his creative energy and began making custom pieces. “As you know, the buzzwords these days are reclaim, repurpose and recycle,” he says. “What’s become quite hot at the moment, is that industrial look. That’s been my inspiration.”
Thursday, 27 January 2011 01:24
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 02:20
I wouldn’t’ recommend reading Freedom by the diffuse glow of a vintage Chevy headlight, but it sure looks good on a coffee table.
Last year, lighting dealer Peter Breese recalls, he told his wife, “that’s it, after this year we’re done.” Prized antique finds like an obverse- and reverse-painted table lamp, executed on an amber blank so that the sunset appeared that much more golden ($4,000), and a 1920s Classique lamp ($2,495) were gathering dust.
At around the same time, Breese started tinkering with a four-arm cluster light he’d found in a corner of his Junction store, Eclectic Revival. The store basement is a warehouse of orphaned components because, “like most dealers,” Breese says, “it’s like a disease. It’s like women with shoes, or for some guys it’s car parts.” He scavenged some sockets, screwed a few reproduction Edison bulbs in (without shades, to show off the decorative amber filament), hung it in the window and turned it on.
Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:41
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 01:08
“Steichenize” a pose or a room with a luminaire: Steichen’s dramatic play of shadows and light emphasized the mystique of haute couture and Hollywood. Art Deco table lamp, $275.
Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:23
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 02:22
Anybody who meandered through the Junction Arts Festival a few weeks ago could see immediately that the people who live in this west-end triangle have a heartfelt connection to the ‘hood...
Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:02
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:40
Walking past Eclectic Revival, it’s the modern industrial chandelier in the window that beckons. Turns out owner Peter Breese made it himself, out of vintage copper tubing and reproduction Edison bulbs ($650). He’s had the shop for seven years (he was previously a lamp wholesaler) and can recite the provenance and historic significance of each and every lamp, shade and chandelier he’s restored and retrofit in the shop...
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 23:45
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 01:53
Junction Toronto is a bit rough around the edges and is dubbed one of those up and coming Toronto neighbourhoods. But unlike some other up and coming neighbourhoods like Leslieville and Parkdale, the Junction's main street (Dundas) is much busier with 4 lanes of traffic that aren't slowed by street cars...
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 22:51
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:41
Stunning antique lighting fills this Junction showroom. Arts and Crafts and deco pieces—including a large selection of glass table lamps by Tiffany and Handel—take pride of place, but true to its name, Eclectic Revival features lighting from a variety of bygone eras. Owner Peter Breese sources items from a network of dealers across North America and also does repairs and restorations...
NAMED for a jumble of railroad tracks, the Junction section of Toronto was once a booming manufacturing hub, with lively pubs, hotels and shops. But industry declined and, in recent decades, the neighborhood withered as prostitutes and drug dealers staked their turf along Dundas Street West, the area’s main thoroughfare...
