$35,000.00 chair

[Frank Fusco]

This stolen from a penturning forum.
http://www.sarasotarockers.com/amboynaburl.htm
Beautiful, no doubt. But worth $35,000.00? I dunno.

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Originally Posted by Frank Fusco

This stolen from a penturning forum.
http://www.sarasotarockers.com/amboynaburl.htm
Beautiful, no doubt. But worth $35,000.00? I dunno.

Neither know I, besides the design of the rockler, looks too much alike to Sam Maloof's one, maybe the cost of the wood is about 34,000$.

How much would cost a similar chair made let's say in oak or walnut?
I have no idea on woodworking wages/costs in US.

[Carol Reed]

Wages and costs have little to do with this kind of furniture and this kind of wood, Tony.

It is a custom one of a kind chair with very special wood, so it comes under the "whatever the market will bear" method of pricing.

In other words, he can ask whatever he likes, and he may well have the market that knows his work and is willing to pay what he asks.

As for it looking much like Sam Maloof's work, you are right. Sam is a personal friend of mine and I used to get exercised about people copying him. Then he told me there is only one Sam Maloof and everyone else is whoever they are. Only he can build the chairs he does. The design is not that easily copied and his workmanship is suburb. And he has been getting those kind of prices for years. Don't know about this other guy.

[Rennie Heuer]

Originally Posted by Carol Reed

In other words, he can ask whatever he likes, and he may well have the market that knows his work and is willing to pay what he asks.

My daddy used to say, "there's a seat for every....er....bottom". Don't think this is exactly what he had in mind, but it fits.

[Toni Ciuraneta]

Originally Posted by Carol Reed

Wages and costs have little to do with this kind of furniture and this kind of wood, Tony.

It is a custom one of a kind chair with very special wood, so it comes under the "whatever the market will bear" method of pricing.

Exactly what I thought, but not knowing who is this guy (I do not know wether is he famous or not) and looking at all the explanations he makes about how the wood is collected and so forth I had the feeling that he was justifying the price because of the precious wood used.

I feel "sane envy" of you of having Sam as a friend, it must be a really enriching experience for both of you. Please do send my greetings to him next time you meet him. I owe him more things than he can imagine without knowing me.

[Irv Graham]

Greetings
Certainly it is a beautiful chair, that any old bottom wouldn't be allowed to sit in.

However I believe we often create beautiful works of art that are priceless(to the family and could never be given away) and timeless(never got around to it, it took years sitting on the shelf). At least its so unique and custom that it would be impossible to recreate. Be proud of your original art.
Cheers
Irv

[Jerry Palmer]

Knock a zero off of that price and that is what Hal Taylor regularly gets for his rockers. A bit more or less depending on the wood used and the size. When I make my next one to try to sell, I hope to get about 1/2 or a little more than what Hal gets for his. But I'll be trying to sell through consignment places so the final selling price will likely be up around 2/3 or so of what Hal gets.

[Frank Fusco]

To me, the big question is 'where do you find people who are able and willing to spend that kind of money on a chair'?

[Rennie Heuer]

Originally Posted by Frank Fusco

To me, the big question is 'where do you find people who are able and willing to spend that kind of money on a chair'?

Washington DC

[Mike Henderson]

Originally Posted by Carol Reed

Wages and costs have little to do with this kind of furniture and this kind of wood, Tony.

It is a custom one of a kind chair with very special wood, so it comes under the "whatever the market will bear" method of pricing.

In other words, he can ask whatever he likes, and he may well have the market that knows his work and is willing to pay what he asks.

As for it looking much like Sam Maloof's work, you are right. Sam is a personal friend of mine and I used to get exercised about people copying him. Then he told me there is only one Sam Maloof and everyone else is whoever they are. Only he can build the chairs he does. The design is not that easily copied and his workmanship is suburb. And he has been getting those kind of prices for years. Don't know about this other guy.

I agree. The value in Sam's work is that he designed the chair. While he is a great craftsman, what people pay for is the fact that Sam originated the chair (and it has his signature to prove that he made it). The purchase is treated as an art purchase.

Any good woodworker can make a copy of one of Sam's chairs - or any piece of furniture that's already been made. The difficulty is in designing something new that's also beautiful.

Mike