Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Art Deco collector John Thomas, left, has a home so crammed with his finds that it looks a bit like a museum. But his interests in the period extend outside his home too. To kick off the 6th Annual Queen Mary Art Deco Festival, Thomas is conducting a walking tour from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday.
Thomas is co-chairman of the festival this year, coauthor of the book "Long Beach Art Deco" and president of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles.
All this began with a plate, Thomas told The Times.
He got hooked on Art Deco in 2002 at the Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. It was a plate with a flower-and-fountain motif, made for the Paris Exposition of 1925, that set him on his Art Deco journey.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
After eight years, Thomas has about 4,000 objects, from matchbooks valued at $50 to $100 each to a Norman Bel Geddes skyscraper-shaped clock that might fetch $4,000 and a Walter Teague blue-glass sleigh-shaped radio that could be worth up to $10,000. And he's opened a design consulting business.
The festival runs Friday to Monday and also includes a special insider tour of the Queen Mary, lectures on Art Deco topics such as fashion and architecture, and parties and shopping. There's also a grand ball. Tickets range from $10 to $650; the latter includes all the events plus two nights at the Hotel Queen Mary.
-- Mary MacVean
Photos: John Thomas and objects in his home. Credit: Christina House / For The Times
