Drowning Your Puppies

Kale sold their first chair last week, so the second chair of the apprenticeship is done. Two more chairs to go.

The chair is based on the Curved-arm Comb-back Chair from “The Stick Chair Book,” with some modifications. Kale changed the profile of the arm and devised a new comb. I think the comb is especially charming. It clearly channels the “Mickey Mouse Ears” combs you see on old Welsh chairs.¹ But it incorporates flats and coves that make it something entirely new.

I was worried that Kale wouldn’t be able to sell the chair because they have poured so much toil and determination into it. But selling the chair is one of the lessons of the second apprenticeship chair.² It’s not easy at first to let your work go into the world. To trade it for money. Then worry about it for years to come.

For many people, selling something precious is emotionally akin to saying a final goodbye to a beloved pet. One of my early editors used to say that doing difficult tasks such as this is like “drowning your puppies.”³

So I was curious to see how selling Kale’s chair would play out.

Earlier this week, Kale asked me for how much they should sell the chair. They suggested $500.

That’s less than I used to sell my crappy chairs for in 2004.⁴ Kale’s chair is considerably better than my early work, so I suggested $1,200 plus shipping.

Kale had a potential buyer asking about the chair. So they sent beauty shots of the chair (always important) and the price to the buyer.

Later that day, Kale told me that the chair was sold.

I asked, “How do you feel about it? Letting the chair go?”