ClosingBidding is open on this lot.No reserveThe glaze breaks iron over every throwing ring, which is exactly what you want and impossible to photograph badly.
Closes inCloses in 2 minutes 0 seconds.Celadon teapot with bound cane handle
The object study
Objects worth keeping, described by people willing to tell you what is wrong with them.
A curated Portland auction for ceramics, mid-century furniture, watches, textiles and small-batch maker goods. Every fault photographed. Most lots without reserve.
ClosingBidding is open on this lot.No reserve
Sales running now
All sales- The Kiln Room
10 lots open
The Kiln Room
Studio ceramics and hand-blown glass
Closes inCloses in 2 minutes 0 seconds.
- Long, Low Lines
12 lots open
Long, Low Lines
Mid-century seating, case goods and one very good stool
Closes inCloses in 11 minutes 0 seconds.
- Wound & Worn
Opens soon
Wound & Worn
Vintage watches and small carried objects
Opens inOpens in 3 minutes 0 seconds.
- Warp & Weft
Opens soon
Warp & Weft
Handwoven textiles, rugs and hangings
Opens inOpens in 1 hour 32 minutes.
Shelf one
Closing soonest
The lots whose clocks run out first. Every one has a three-minute soft close, so a bid in the last moments moves the closing time rather than winning by ambush.
Lot 1, Celadon teapot with bound cane handle 
ClosingBidding is open on this lot.No reserveCeladon teapot with bound cane handle
The glaze breaks iron over every throwing ring, which is exactly what you want and impossible to photograph badly.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$24517 bidsCloses inCloses in 2 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 7, Pair of celadon yunomi 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reservePair of celadon yunomi
Made alongside lot 1 and glazed in the same firing. Buy both and they will match; buy one and it will not.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$956 bidsCloses inCloses in 9 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 11, Walnut-framed lounge chair in oatmeal bouclé 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Walnut-framed lounge chair in oatmeal bouclé
Turn it right round before you bid. The back of a chair is where the honesty is.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$1,45023 bidsCloses inCloses in 11 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 17, Teak wall clock with brass markers 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Teak wall clock with brass markers
The movement is new. The face is not. We would rather tell you than have you find out.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$15511 bidsCloses inCloses in 11 minutes 0 seconds.
Shelf two
No reserve, no floor
Most of what we sell carries no reserve at all. There is no secret number below which the seller walks away — the first bid can genuinely win, and across our last four sales these lots drew about two and a half times the bidders.
Lot 1, Celadon teapot with bound cane handle ClosingBidding is open on this lot.No reserveCeladon teapot with bound cane handle
The glaze breaks iron over every throwing ring, which is exactly what you want and impossible to photograph badly.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$24517 bidsCloses inCloses in 2 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 2, Wide-shouldered vessel, oatmeal to rust 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveWide-shouldered vessel, oatmeal to rust
A big quiet shape that does most of its work from across a room, and the rest of it up close.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$46012 bidsCloses inCloses in 47 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 5, Smoke glass decanter and two tumblers 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveSmoke glass decanter and two tumblers
The stopper still seats with that small glass sound, which is the entire argument for buying old glass.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$1958 bidsCloses inCloses in 1 hour 58 minutes.Lot 6, Tall thrown vase, iron slip over bone 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveTall thrown vase, iron slip over bone
Thrown tall and thin enough that you can see the potter changed their mind about the shoulder.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$32011 bidsCloses inCloses in 2 hours 14 minutes.
Shelf three
Long, low lines
Mid-century seating and case goods, each one stating plainly whether you are looking at an original surface that has been cleaned and oiled, or a sympathetic refinish. They are not the same thing and they are not the same price.
Lot 11, Walnut-framed lounge chair in oatmeal bouclé Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Walnut-framed lounge chair in oatmeal bouclé
Turn it right round before you bid. The back of a chair is where the honesty is.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$1,45023 bidsCloses inCloses in 11 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 12, Danish teak sideboard, sculpted pulls 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Danish teak sideboard, sculpted pulls
Seventy-one inches of teak and one ring mark. We have photographed the ring mark.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$2,10019 bidsCloses inCloses in 58 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 13, Turned oak three-legged stool 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveTurned oak three-legged stool
Somebody sat on this for forty years and left a dish in the seat. That is the whole appeal.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$16514 bidsCloses inCloses in 33 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 14, Rattan and cane lounge chair with linen cushion 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Rattan and cane lounge chair with linen cushion
Light enough to move with one hand, which is more than can be said for most of this sale.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$69016 bidsCloses inCloses in 1 hour 28 minutes.
Shelf four
Out of the kiln
Studio pottery where crazing, kiln kisses and glaze skips are photographed rather than described. If a rim has a chip, you will find it numbered on the picture before you find it in a sentence.
Lot 1, Celadon teapot with bound cane handle ClosingBidding is open on this lot.No reserveCeladon teapot with bound cane handle
The glaze breaks iron over every throwing ring, which is exactly what you want and impossible to photograph badly.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$24517 bidsCloses inCloses in 2 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 2, Wide-shouldered vessel, oatmeal to rust Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveWide-shouldered vessel, oatmeal to rust
A big quiet shape that does most of its work from across a room, and the rest of it up close.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$46012 bidsCloses inCloses in 47 minutes 0 seconds.Lot 3, Six iron-glazed dinner plates 
Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.Six iron-glazed dinner plates
Six plates that have already survived thirty years of dinners. They will survive yours.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$2859 bidsCloses inCloses in 1 hour 12 minutes.Lot 6, Tall thrown vase, iron slip over bone Bidding openBidding is open on this lot.No reserveTall thrown vase, iron slip over bone
Thrown tall and thin enough that you can see the potter changed their mind about the shoulder.
Current bidHammerBidding reached$32011 bidsCloses inCloses in 2 hours 14 minutes.
The honest-condition pledge
The question you cannot answer from a photograph is “what is wrong with it?”
So we answer it first. Every fault is photographed at the magnification of the object, measured where a measurement means anything, and pinned to the point on the picture where it actually is. Chip to rim, 4mm, glaze only, body not exposed is a claim you can act on. Minor chip is not.
It costs us bids on individual lots. It earns us bidders across sales. We think that trade is obviously correct, and we are not going to relitigate it every time a consignor asks.
Lot 1
Celadon teapot with bound cane handle
4 numbered markers, each pinned to real coordinates on this photograph. Hover the plate and the marker moves to the nearest annotated region — or tab through them, which works just as well.
The condition report
4 notes, each pinned to the point on the photograph where it is. Select a number to move to it.
Buyer letters
Notes from people who took the risk of buying an old object from a photograph.
WonTeak sideboard, three drawers over a shelf$2,832 paid, with premiumI asked for four more photographs of the top and got them the same afternoon, with a tape measure in the frame. The sun fade is exactly where they said it was and exactly as strong. I have bought furniture at distance three times and this is the first time nothing was a surprise.
WonPewter candlesticks, matched pair$401 paid, with premiumI was outbid twice in the last four minutes and the lot kept extending, which I found infuriating at the time and correct in hindsight. Won them at more than I meant to spend and I am not sorry. The touchmarks are legible on both, as promised.
WonWool flatweave with a repaired corner$1,357 paid, with premiumThe repaired corner was marked on the photograph, described from the reverse, and honestly a little less visible in person than online — which is the right direction for that error to run. Packed in a way that made me feel slightly guilty about the amount of paper.
Invented for this demonstration, like everything else on the site — but the prices are the true hammer-plus-premium totals for the lots they name.
Consigning
One chair, one collection, or a whole workshop.
We photograph it on our own sweep, measure it with a tape in the frame, write the condition report ourselves and hold it back for the right sale rather than the next one. Commission is 14–16% of hammer, and there is no listing fee, no photography fee and no unsold fee.
- Free valuation visits across the Portland metro
- Photography, turntable and measurement included
- Settled in 10–14 business days, with a per-lot statement
- If it does not sell, you pay nothing at all
Worked example
- Hammer price
- $1,450
- Seller commission, 15%
- − $218
- You receive
- $1,233
- Buyer pays hammer
- $1,450
- Buyer’s premium, 18%
- + $261
- Buyer pays
- $1,711
The same lot, from both sides of the transaction. Shipping is quoted separately and published on the lot page before anybody bids.