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Thread: How Much Are Sam Maloof Pieces?

  1. #31
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    I have one bone to pick about all of this. Sam has been called and artist multiple times in this thread. While I don't disagree, Sam would never call himself an artist. He was always a woodworker.

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Casey Gooding View Post
    I have one bone to pick about all of this. Sam has been called and artist multiple times in this thread. While I don't disagree, Sam would never call himself an artist. He was always a woodworker.
    If you watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKIoezZUK6s he says clients are buying a piece of art (this is in 1982 I believe) which would make him and the guys that finish artists.
    Adam

  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Gager View Post
    so what exactly made his work worth so much money?
    Well the guy made custom furniture for the sitting President. There aren't a whole lot of folks out there with that bullet on their resume!
    Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Grills View Post
    That is funny Guess you can tell people what ever they will believe. There may be that many hours from cutting the tree, milling, drying, sorting, milling, talking with the customer, making the chair, finishing, paperwork in accounting and building the shipping crate. Personally I would think under half that time.
    It's not that far off: 200 hours is only four guys (Sam and his three helpers) for a week. Since they only did about 40-45 pieces a year, saying a week per piece is a good ballpark. Admittedly not all of those pieces are rockers, but I suspect there's more labor in a rocker than a larger piece like a dining table.

    And IIRC, Sam's normal workweek was closer to 60 hours than 40.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  5. #35
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    David,
    The rich have lost a significant portion of their money and investments too. A higher percentage than most, actually. It's fun to think that they will afford to buy Sam's chairs and my healthcare, but something has got to give. I wonder what it will be.
    Matt

  6. #36
    Okay, I stand corrected and I feel like somewhat of an ass. Dummy me, I only vaguely knew of his "art" and more about his custom finish that sells in wood working catalogs. I didn't mean to come off sounding so cold and statistical about his success. I have studied the success of similiar folks who became successful through hard work and perseverance, and the love of the work they did.

    Walter Chrysler. Walt Disney. Raymond Loewy, even the Beatles. It just fascinates me how certain people rise above obstacles to achieve their goals. I'd love to be able to make a living making custom designed furniture, and time will tell if I achieve that goal. But I think we all do endure hardships in one form or another in pusuit of our goals. And yes, financial gain is important because I have to support a family. I've done the starving artist thing and it's hard on a wife. But a person cannot endure such hardships if they don't love and believe in what they're doing.

    Regardless of Sam's apparent dislike to be labeled an artist, he was. But I can understand that he probably shied away from what he felt was a pretentiousness about that title. I can see now that he seemed to leave the business side of things to his wife. Artistic folks often don't care for the business aspect of it all.

    But you know, it takes all types of personalities. I have a theory that for one thing, you will never know if you can succeed in the marketplace unless you try. From there, there is an undefineable element you might call chance that can take what you are offering the public and either catapult it to success or drown it out.

    Probably a lot of it did have to do with Sam's being a nice, humble person. At any rate, whatever it was, the combination worked for him, didn't it?

    So my sincere apologies to any of you who may have been offended by my previous observations.

  7. #37
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    "So my sincere apologies to any of you who may have been offended by my previous observations."
    I don't think anyone was offended - it's a legit question to ask why someone would pay $50,000 for a rocking chair where one with equivalent functional characteristics can be bought at a yard sale for $50.

  8. #38
    A few points. Maloof did not eat with his parents-in-law in the early years. Freda's Dad was already dead and her mother was an invalid by the time she and Sam married in 1948. They all lived together in a tract house in Ontario. Sam began working in their one car garage.

    He denied it, but I think it's clear from looking at his early pieces that Sam began by imitating Danish modern. His laced bench, an early coffee table, the chairs and sofas he did--all those forms had been done before he did them in the early 50s. In fact, one of his earliest commissions was to copy Wegner's chair. When the client rejected his version, he still used the form for his early dining chairs. Gradually, he developed his own forms and design-sense, but he began with a Danish modern sensibility.

    He also happened to live in post-war California during the boom years. He was in the right place (great climate, arts community) at the right time (lots of money in a growing economy) and he was connected to folks who had the means to send customers his way. And he got a spread almost immediately in Better Homes & Gardens because of someone knowing someone else. And the LA Times would do a story on him every few years. So it was a combination of things that gave him the ability to survive his beginning.

    He began to get more sculptural with his pieces and did the hornback chair, the early rocker, the Evans chair and the hutch cradle in the early to mid-60s. And then he just refined the basic designs over the years. He added a few new things but the basic Maloof look is there by the early 80s.

    As others have said, he was very likeable. But he also worked incredibly long hours, worked very fast without compromising the quality of his work, and worked with lots of drive and not much whine in him. I disagree that he continued to work because he was scared of being poor. He didn't make much money til the 80s and he loved what he did. His autobio talks about not going into woodworking to make a lot of money. He wanted to make a living at something he loved, and he did.

    As for Nakashima, I think Sam's pieces are going to be far more valuable only because there are less of them and they were all personally made by him. Some of N's designs were mass-produced and they were easier to make. Sam's were far more sculptural, took lots longer to make. So I think his market will only trend upwards.

    The world he grew up in is gone. So woodworkers today have to take a different approach to survive.

  9. #39
    No matter what we do for a profession*, we actually do two things: our "profession" and "lead generation."

    Doctors without patients are simply people who know a lot about anatomy. Woodworkers without customers are simply people who know a lot about woodworking. Successful people have to be good at both. And there's no shortcuts -- not in "learning your chops" nor in getting a customer base.


    * Yes, fire fighters, teachers and police officers don't have to worry much about lead generation. There are always exceptions.
    Deflation: When I was a kid, an E-ticket meant I was about to go on the ride of my life. Today, an E-ticket means a miserable ride.

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin Morton View Post
    I disagree that he continued to work because he was scared of being poor.
    Second that. He wasn't afraid to spend the money that was coming in: the contents of his house (and his garage) will attest to that.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  11. #41
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    Sam malouf sprices

    Rising expeniontally I would say!

  12. #42
    When I was in Honalulu on my honeymoon, circa 1976, we stopped in a gallery. There was baby cradle (reminesent of a boat) there made by Sam, although at the time I had no idea who Sam was. I was so impressed with it I shot a whole roll of film (before digital cameras) on the piece. I'm like David, I'm glad he was able to command such high prices for his work; I only wish I had had the opportunity to meet him.

  13. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Grills View Post
    If you watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKIoezZUK6s he says clients are buying a piece of art (this is in 1982 I believe) which would make him and the guys that finish artists.
    Adam
    I think that the determining factor is what the buyers of his furniture consider his work to be. My guess is that most of the people who own his pieces consider them to be art, made by an artist.

    I know that he always referred to himself as a woodworker. Regardless, he was also an artist. A very gifted and hard working artist. I, too, am pleased that he was able to command such high prices for his work. I'm also glad that he was able to enjoy the success and recognition of his art during his lifetime.
    Stephen Edwards
    Hilham, TN 38568

    "Build for the joy of it!"

  14. Hey, I make those too. How much is my signature worth? $50 perhaps ?

  15. #45
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Gager View Post
    so what exactly made his work worth so much money?
    At this point, one of the answers to your question is "because they make a great investment". He's no longer living and cannot make any more pieces, so the supply is now fixed. For this and other reasons, a Maloof piece will only become more valuable with time. There is no reason to believe there will not be a broad market of buyers/collectors of Maloof pieces in the future. So this is one of those rare situations where (if you have the money to do so) you can buy a piece of sculptural furniture, enjoy it for as long as you like, and then sell it and be quite confident you will get all your money back and probably quite a bit more.

    This is one thesis on why collectors confidently pay what they do for Maloof pieces. How many things can you find to buy that (i) you love and admire, (ii) will almost certainly appreciate in value more than inflation, and (iii) will cost little to nothing to own/maintain during your holding period?

    It's really quite incredible that Sam was a totally self-taught artisan. I think that's one of the things that makes him particularly exceptional. Even most of the Renaissance artists were apprenticed for years as children working under Masters in the Guild system. What a talented man.
    Last edited by Edwin Santos; 05-23-2017 at 6:04 PM.

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