the first piece of furniture im getting for my first real home is my grandmas vanity from my parent's house, and i want to customize it to have one of the drawers turned into a firesafe lockbox. i want that one day. and also one day i'll get a big nasty dimitri omersa/abercrombie rhino...

every time i've seen an antique omersa piece in its natural habitat (inside someones home) I get a strong physical reaction. they're so whimsical, but so traditional, and their presence in a room is so elegant but unabashed at the same time. and the first time I saw one was at a ph*llips ac*demy party in HS.

but my favorite memory of an omersa was seeing edie sedgwick balancing on it in vogue of '65 (shown below) when i was in the 8th grade on tumbler. the older i get, the more i realize how much she influenced and still influences me.

what sealed the deal for me personally with purchasing an omersa as an adult was when i saw a pair at auction at christies in 2k16 from ron and nancy reagan's personal collection. it just makes sense. if you're familiar with 'the-first-best-friend' (and the interior designer shared between her and the reagan's), you'll understand the added importance of the reagan personal collection, in some ways even valued over their memorabilia for their political careers. 

it was: a pair of 'medium' sized elephants, trunks facing down, unfortunately. i like the upward ones slightly more. i think if i had two though, i'd want one up and one down. you think the biggest size of the elephant is the highest favored, but they add extra supports inside to support its massive scale, it makes the elephant look scared and cartoonish. its just not relaxing for me to look at personally, and its also seen a lot less on the resale market. scarce... and underfavored.

reagan's moderately sized elephant twins fetched a sxe 🔨 18,750 usd (christie's estimate was 2-3k lol)... a turtle ottoman was also shown as well and realized over twice their estimate again. The price for a moderately sized piece, historical significance aside, is typically greater than or equal to 3x the retail price depending on the quality of its age and its patina. If you see it for 3x the price, the person is properly educated on its importance. If less, theres issues with how its aged or its at a provencal auctionhouse. sometimes people just want to get rid of their old junk. make the trip, bring a friend.

depending on where they've spent their lives so far, these piece could smell a little 'organic' (in a bad way... its stuffed with straw that may mold. you should smell the leather before you smell the hay).  Think of it like wine, you want it to be aged, oxidized momentarily perhaps, but all under supervision. don't buy a piece like this online unless you trust the provenance or the house or have done research on restoration. dont be another liveauctioneers horror story!

The aging thats preferred for antique omersas is usually pieces that show patina and glow, even abrasions and sometimes even small holes are acceptable. i think thats what makes them more beautiful in general too... But a missing eye/nose/tail is honestly morbid and its worth repairing. unless youre a sadist who likes the visuals of a creature in pain. if you're on a date with someone, and you see an omersa in their home and its missing an eye or a tail, run home. and if they order a car, don't put your actual address.

omersa produced these pieces for Abercrombie and fitch in a line called 'africa' in the mid 60s i think during their decline into obscurity as a sporting goods provider. you could think of these pieces almost like memorabilia for the clientele who've somehow stuck by them. I think they're charming though, and I like the idea of being greeted by animals when I get home.

a very different kind of elephant (very, very large but without the extra furnishing in their ears) is below. this one was produced later in 1970 for Valenti... its a dry bar! I saw it sold online a couple times and it always goes for unpredictable prices and its actually wild to know I almost had one (someone bought it 1 week prior to when i was planning to). Nowadays my vision is just to overcrowd a single room with omersa ducks like they're stray birds who have broken in through the window.

My aunt had a tiny room that was filled to the brim and almost unwalkable with ferns and an upright piano that I enjoyed spending time in, and when I imagine my duck sanctuary now I imagine it a bit like this.