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| TCH Archives > Sunday Business Post > 2005/01/23 > Going funky can pay off | ||
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Sunday, January 23, 2005 - By Aileen Power
Can you make money from funky modern furniture and other design objects? Yes, if you buy pieces that you hope will make it big or become classics in the future.
If you had been interested in the work of Irish designer Eileen Gray 20 years ago, when she was less fashionable, her famous circular glass and chrome bedside table, €1027, would have cost you about €1,000. “To purchase an original now costs at least €250,000, and they're all owned by private collectors,” said Jennifer Goff, an Eileen Gray expert and collector of furniture.
That's a 250-fold return over 20 years, which beats the stock market and property hands down. Naturally, not every piece will produce these kind of returns, and not every collector has this type of budget.
There are two main markets: original designers, who can charge considerably more for bespoke pieces that hopefully could appreciate significantly, and the more affordable reproduction market, where good quality (typically licensed or certified) classic reproductions have appreciated by about 4 to 5 per cent a year.
Well-known examples of classic furniture pieces which are widely copied are the Barcelona chair by German designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the chaise longue by Le Corbusier.
These cost about €3,500 and €4,000 respectively from licensed manufacturers.
A reproduction of the classic S chair, designed by Tom Dixon in 1988 and manufactured in many different materials from rubber to plastic, cost €900 nine years ago. It would now cost about €1,300.
That's an annualised return of 4 per cent, which is much better than the returns from deposit accounts in the past few years.
In addition, you have a beautiful and practical piece of furniture to enjoy and use on a daily basis.
“When buying modern reproduction pieces for collection purposes, it is key that they are made by top manufacturers who employ designers and produce a very well-finished product,” said Aoife Power, interior designer with Dublin-based furniture retailer Mobilia.
Collectors and other professional buyers emphasise the importance of the quality of the reproduction in maintaining an object's value.
“The quality of the upholstery, the weight of the material and whether it's a poor or good imitation is key,” Power said.
“It's all about the quality of the finish.”
She is tipping the X-Tile chair by Casamania as a collector's item because of its unique technical and detailed design. The design is inspired by the construction industry, where you can see it in buildings where clamps are used to connect large sheets of glass.
The chair is made from a complex plastic, comes in a range of colours and retails from an affordable €355.
“Plastic used to have a bad reputation but with the improvements in quality and technology, it is now tipped to become as popular as wood,” Power said.
Investment in designers
Vincent O'Shea, exhibitions programme manager with the Crafts Council of Ireland, believes that, on average, good quality, original design pieces can appreciate by about 5 per cent a year. Highly sought-after designers will produce even higher returns.
Furniture is not the only modern collectable. Beautiful pieces from the applied arts field, such as glass, furniture, textiles, metal, ceramics and so on, could also prove very lucrative.
Other outstanding designer pieces can produce much higher returns. For example, the silver teapot by Irish designer Kevin O'Dwyer costs €15,000 today. O'Shea said collectors could have bought his work for half that price ten years ago.
“The trick is to spot these guys early,” O'Shea said.
“O'Dwyer is now bought by bigUS collectors.”
Joseph Walshe, a rising star in furniture design, takes commissions from €1,800 for work.
The Crafts Council of Ireland is a collectors' market for Irish designers. It has exhibited their work in Europe, Britain, New York, Georgia and Philadelphia in a bid to promote Irish work among international collectors.
If you have a big budget and are interested in collecting at the top end, the Collect Exhibition, which takes place in London each year, is a must. It shows the very best international designers in glass, furniture, textiles, and metal. They feature in the world's most prestigious public collections and are sought after by top international curators.
Irish wood-turner Liam Flynn is the only Irish designer to have exhibited there this year.
“If you own a piece by Liam Flynn, you should be very happy,” said Mary Heffernan, a private collector who attended the exhibition. “Collect sets the benchmark for design internationally. It is the showcase for big collectors. Only the very best work is exhibited.”
The problem is how to pick a winner. Unfortunately, like most investments, picking a designer whose work will become a collector's item is an art, not a science.
However, collectors agree that the important criteria for picking a classic of the future include:
originality
aesthetic appeal
technically-demanding design
high-quality materials
specific provenance (for example, if the work was commissioned for a particular building)
established designer
Hand-crafted items are also preferable to mass produced ones.
functionality
For example, a chair that is both practical and comfortable
The Irish market is still relatively underdeveloped, and snapping up top or up-and-coming Irish designers could prove to be excellent timing.
Designs on the web
Websites for researching hot designers, and what's available for sale in Britain, Europe and globally are useful to have at your fingertips. They include:
www.classiconline.com - 20th century classic furniture designs by Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Gerrit Rietveld
www.mancha.demon.co.uk - sells Charles and Ray Eames, Scandinavian glass, ceramics and furniture
www.internetauctionlist.com - a portal site to worldwide web auctions
www.ebay.com - largest auction site in the world
www.scandinaviandesign.com - for new furniture, designers and news
www.danish-design.com- specialising in Danish furniture
www.retrogallery.co.uk post-war decorative glass, specialising in Murano and Scandinavian design
www.fearsandkahn.co.uk - specialise in plastics
www.icon20.com - pieces available for sale plus a reference directory of 20th century design
www.banaldesign.com - specialising in postmodern design items
Designer websites
www.eamesoffice.com;
www.eeroaarnio.com;
www.ronarad.com;
www.fornasetti.com;
www.marc-newson.com;
www.vernerpanton.com;
www.nanna-ditzel-design.dk
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