October 2010 Market

Just walked in the door from one VERY long day at the High Point Market. Left the house at 4 a.m. (5 hour drive) and rolled back home at 11 p.m. That place is just too big - after awhile all the furniture begins to look alike and you just go numb from the overwhelming quantity.

I took a LOT of photos, especially in the Hancock and Moore display. Will take me several days to post them up, but watch this space for them. This year I took a photo of the tag of each piece, so I know exactly the cover of every item for easy identification.

Best Market Story to relate: I went into the Baker showroom, where they would not let me go on my own (that's fine, but it slows me down). The Baker saleslady kept telling me how their reproductions of 18th century piece were EXACT, and done from the actual piece, not from a photograph. And that no other maker at High Point goes to that extreme. At one point I'm standing in front of a sideboard that was decent, but certainly not world class (Baker is overpriced), and she tells me again how its exactly like the original. I can stand it no longer and quip: "Well, actually its an adaptation at best. You see, this piece has plywood drawer bottoms, glue-blocked channels and machine cut dovetails. They didn't do that back then....why do all the Carolina furniture makers all do that? Everyone of the high end makers does their drawers the same way, did they all go to the same trade school?" My Baker saleslady bristled at that - but hey! If you keep telling me its 100 % authentic to the original and I know its not - what do you expect?