am wondering how folks deal with galleries that mess up pieces. i have been working with a gallery that has been really good over the years – but recently they moved a large cabinet – dropped a drawer and broke a handle. when i repaired that i noticed that during the moving the cabinet must have been “racked” and the doors no longer lined up – so have taken the piece back home. i know that some galleries have insurance, but was wondering if any wwrs have their own insurance for pieces that are put out on consignment. any other suggestions? thanks,
jerry
Replies
If the gallery clearly was at fault for damaging my work, I'd expect them to pay for its repair. A dropped drawer probably falls into that catagory. I think anyone would expect a piece of furniture to be able to be moved so the "racking" of a piece while moving it about in their shop might not be their fault assuming they were being careful and handling it correctly. You should examine this racking and ask yourself why it happened. Did you build it strong enough?
Hi jerry ,
I would consider the following ,,
Do you get many sales or commissions from this gallery ?
If not cut your losses now , if they put dollars in your pocket perhaps you could build a smaller piece of work , wall hung or lamp tables or coffee table chair or smaller items in general . Don't try and charge them if you want the exposure , just suck it up .
good luck dusty
i like the idea of putting out smaller pieces. As to the "racking" - it's how you move a piece - large pieces need to be lifted and placed - rather than "walked" across the floor.jerry
"As to the "racking" - it's how you move a piece - large pieces need to be lifted and placed - rather than "walked" across the floor."I agree with your concept but disagree with your expectations. One of the first hard lessons I learned about furniture and/or sculpture is: If it has to be handled in a certain way, it won't be. One simply cannot expect everyone, including gallery owners or their staff, to be cognizant of the structure of furniture; where it's strength and weaknesses are, and how it "should be" moved. For instance... as makers, we are all aware of the potential damage that can occur to a chair if one tips it backwards to balance on the two rear legs. We know how that load will concentrate stresses at the leg/stretcher join. Nevertheless, we must assume that the chair will be used (abused) in that manner sometime and probably more than once. A competant maker will allow for this and build the chair accordingly. I would suggest that you modify your expectations of what others think is an appropriate way to move furniture.
fair 'nuffjerry
Stanford,
I think you got it covered. most people don't commission custom furniture and then proceed to abuse it once it's in their house.
Great post.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 9/21/2007 9:14 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
You and Stanford are living in la la land on this one. If people can touch something, they'll find a way to damage it. Oh, they won't mean to, but it'll happen nonetheless.
sap,
Yeah, especially if they have kids, or cats, on which to place the blame.
Ray
Don't know about Stanford, but yes, instead of playing football and baseball outside when we were kids we spent our summers rearranging the furniture.
I couldn't think of anything cooler than moving the highboy so it would catch the light a certain way in the late afternoon. Beat hell out of hitting homeruns.
Edited 9/24/2007 7:01 am ET by PanBroil
Pan,
Well, I was thinking of the customer's 3 yr old who was already scruffing match box cars around the crossband "race track" on the newly delivered oval dining table, when we came back into the dining room from the truck with the extension leaves.
Ray
Superficial damage, not structural.
Pan,
Yes, but you wouldn't have thought so, from his mama's reaction!
Ray
Jerry:
I've been around a long time and indeed you will have damage! If it can be touched it will be damaged, I sort of like Ray's post about the crossbanding inlay race track! I can just feel those little wheels peeling up my nice rubbed finish. If the gallery is a profitable venture for you well you have to decide if the value exceeds the cost of repair, if so tough it out if not hit the road.
I've had pieces chipped, dented and dinged up over the years and it just happens, I've left two galleries over the past 30 years for that reason and in the end neither were great losses. My primary gallery has actually sold a piece to the customer who caused the damage and I've since done six additional pieces for the client through the gallery simply because as she put it "nobody has ever held her accountable for her actions like that" and she seems to respect the fact that the gallery owner had the nerve to push the issue! Talk about making lemonaide out of a bad situation!
Best of luck!
Madison
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