Insight from the Auction
New Hampshire Furniture Masters' 12th annual event gives lessons on pricing your work and more
Throw on a great party and buyers will come. That’s been our simple formula over the last 12 years selling high-end handmade furniture through the New Hampshire Furniture Masters auction. This year we did it again. On Oct. 21, we packed the ballroom at the grand Wentworth-by-the-Sea in Rye, N.H., and offered for sale 23 works by 14 members, four invited artists, and two prisoners who we mentor. Beyond the fun, the auction holds plenty of lessons about prices, making a living, and even what to build.
What’s fascinating and humbling about an auction is its honesty—here’s the work; what are you willing to pay for it? It’s a quick marketplace with no dickering or chance to replay a lost opportunity. The audience sends a very clear message about what they really like and what they’ll offer. Most makers overvalue their work; very few go the other way. I find the auction a good reality check on how I price my work throughout the year and what pieces I might design to follow the successes of past years.
Citron Altar. Jon Brooks crafted this piece from New Hampshire sugar maple, finished with stain and oil. Click to enlarge.
The work offered up for sale was as diverse as the members, from a fun sculptural “twig” table by Jon Brooks ($8,800), to a beautifully made formal center table by David Lamb ($16,500 ), a carved polar bear bench by Jeffrey Cooper ($3,300), and many tables and cabinets in the $4,500 to $8,000 range.
Center Table. David Lamb crafted this table from cherry, cocobolo, and dyed stringing. Click to enlarge.
The highest bid of the night went for a large claro walnut and maple sideboard by Ted Blachly, rich with his subtle shaping and details ($19,800).
Claro sideboard. Ted Blachly built this piece from claro walnut, ebonized cherry, curly maple, and rosewood. Click to enlarge.
The highest per pound was my playful Art Deco reinterpretation, “Takin’ A Shine” side table with seven small bird’s-eye maple drawers, a Macassar ebony case, and rosewood legs with fine silver toes ($11,000).
Takin’ A Shine. Garrett Hack crafted this piece from three types of ebony (Macassar, Mun (Laos), and Gabon), as well as bird’s-eye maple, rosewood, amboyna burl, cherry, aspen, holly, mahogany, and silver.
New Hampshire is steeped in tradition and quite conservative, but we still sell all styles of work. Price doesn’t seem to be a big factor–we publish retail prices of the pieces as a guide and sell work over a wide range–but design is. I think buyers connect with the essence of a piece, the feelings it evokes, and the sensitivity of the way the materials are chosen and used. Is it a piece they want as part of their lives? It’s not about figured wood or uniqueness as much as warmth, detail, shape, usefulness, and impeccable craftsmanship. To some degree, they’re buying a little piece of us.
Hack showing his work to potential buyers.
What lessons does the auction hold for someone starting out today? I’d recommend that other makers do what we do as a group for five months before the auction: Show your work, explain every aspect about how it’s made, and show sample joints or even photos of the raw planks. Invite potential buyers to your shop. Always do your very best work, regardless of the time it takes.
Overall, if the auction holds one lesson, it’s that very few of us will get rich at this, so be realistic about prices. Buyers might not understand the building process as we do, but they can feel your vision as a craftsman and the depth of the soul (if any) of the piece.
Posted: 11/26/2007
Garrett Hack is a Fine Woodworking contributing editor and furniture maker in Thetford, Vt.
Photos: Courtesy of Steve Booth Photos (first, and last two images on this page) remaining photos by Thomas McKenna
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