Auction of a chair

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This topic contains 8 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by Avatar Charlie James 5 years, 3 months ago.

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  • November 21, 2019 at 9:40 am #6870
    Michael Luciano
    Michael Luciano
    Participant

    People say you cannot make a living making furniture well this should put that myth to bed.
    In Colorado, recently, a women put up for auction a rocking chair which she had purchased from a local furniture maker when she lived in California, many years ago. The chair sold for $180 000. Not many details on the chair may be made from rosewood or mahogany by some guy named Sam Maloof

  • November 21, 2019 at 9:53 am #6879
    Joe Bottigliere
    Joe Bottigliere
    Participant

    Name sounds familiar. Wonder if he’ll ever make the big time.
    But come on, Mike. Even if this guy made one chair a year, how can anyone survive on $180K? After all, it is California.

  • November 21, 2019 at 10:18 am #6883
    Michael Luciano
    Michael Luciano
    Participant

    His house was in a lemon grove. Hard as it is to think of, he may have had a supplementary income. Cannot imagine Sam Maloof selling any lemons.

  • November 21, 2019 at 10:56 am #6887
    Michael Mittleman
    Michael Mittleman
    Keymaster

    All the more impressive is LIW member Mr. Corey Tighe has mastered Maloof joinery. He rates a mister because perhaps one day his work will also command stratospheric sums.

  • November 21, 2019 at 2:33 pm #6935
    Daryl Rosenblatt
    Daryl Rosenblatt
    Participant

    Sam was asked how he felt winning the Macarthur Fellowship award, also called the Genius Grant. His answer, “It was good for the cash flow.”

  • November 21, 2019 at 8:15 pm #6942
    Michael Luciano
    Michael Luciano
    Participant

    In my mind, Sam was a true genius. He not only executed the (Maloof)joint he invented it. He also was the first to celebrate joints, not hide them. The lines of his furniture flow, hard to soft. A master designer and a master craftsman who defined himself as a woodworker.

  • November 22, 2019 at 10:51 pm #6968
    CT
    CT
    Participant

    After taking the plunge into Maloof joinery on my guitar pick stool, I have a deep appreciation for Sam Maloof. He was a true craftsman and inventor. That joint is extremely strong and looks very nice with any wood as your choice. My next dive is into making the signature Maloof Rocker for next years show. Still unsure what wood I want to use. Of course walnut, cherry, and maple are on the list of choices. But also quartersawn white oak, ash, sapele, and ambrosia maple are on the list of choices as well.

  • November 22, 2019 at 11:08 pm #6969
    Michael Luciano
    Michael Luciano
    Participant

    Corey, Sam Maloof, I believe, also made a couple of chairs using Brazilian rosewood. In an interview, he stated he had a finite gsupply of rosewood and was using his stash to make furniture for his family. I am told this is a wood many are allergic to. Very expensive material.

  • November 23, 2019 at 9:17 am #6970
    Avatar
    Charlie James
    Participant

    C’mom, how good could the guy be? I looked at all his furniture and there’s not one secret compartment!! As for his lemon grove, the highway department ran a road through his property and they had to move the house a few miles away to a citrus grove. The house is on the National register of historic places and now a museum…My friend has a Maloof desk, had it shipped from New Mexico when his Uncle passed away and willed it to him. Long Island weather being what it is, he couldn’t open the drawer. Humidity stuck it tight. He asked if I could open it for him. I said wait for winter. He said he really wanted it open so I told him sure, but you’ll have to leave the room and pay no attention the splintering noises. He laughed and waited for Winter. It’s now waxed and the drawer is always kept slightly ajar..

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