Auctions can be frustrating

Benson Gray · Oct 27, 2021

I saw an interesting birch bark canoe model at https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-lot/lot_54F4663BBB and thought it might be fun to bid. The auction was in Pennsylvania so it wasn't practical for me to attend in person. The opening was set at $400 and the auctioneer's estimate was $800 to $1200. There were no advanced bids showing on the AuctionZip.com web site yesterday so things looked good. I started to get nervous after finding that it was also listed on the Bidsquare.com site with five advanced bids up to $1650. I watched the auction online today and saw the preceding lots selling above and below the auctioneer's estimates with no obvious pattern. The hammer just came down on this lot at $2400 (excluding the premium, taxes, and fees). It appears that I am not likely to be buying an antique birch bark canoe model any time soon.

Benson

Nick Dennis · Oct 27, 2021

I feel your pain Benson. I went and saw a beautiful but big RKL of Maine canoe which came up for auction here in the UK. Guide was £400-£600. I views and left instructions to bid up to £1050. This auction house also charges a 30% buyers premium so that made my maximum total outlay of £1365 if I went to the top of my range.
The canoe was just under 17’ Big tends to fetch less so I thought I was in with a good shout. It made £1560 in total so I didn’t get it but wasn’t far out on my bid. I suspect the auction house pitched the guide as a “come buy me” figure.
I didn’t need the canoe but it would have been a nice winter tidy up project. Something else may come along easier for me than you

Nick

chris pearson · Dec 22, 2021

Buy one from Ferdy!! They are awesome!

Benson Gray · Dec 22, 2021

Ferdy, Steve Cayard and several other modern bark builders do wonderful work. I would like to have something from each of them one day but that isn't practical with my current budget.

Benson

Dave Wermuth · Dec 23, 2021

I was previously a proud owner of a Beaver Bark Canoe, built by Ferdy. I have been to his canoe 'factory' in the north country. You'll never meet a finer fellow, or a better bow paddler, or fly fisher. or overall decent guy.

Dave Wermuth · Dec 23, 2021

Benson, and as to price, I can't say, but you might want to just give Ferd a call.

Benson Gray · Dec 23, 2021

Many years ago I spent quite a bit of time with Ferdy at a WCHA Assembly and found him wonderfully engaging. I contacted Ted Behene, Ferdy Goode, and Steve Cayard in March of 2011 about getting a four foot long Penobscot style bark model similar to the full sized one shown and described at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/penobscot/ from The Peabody Essex Museum. Their estimates then were $1500-$2000, $1600, and $4000 respectively. I decided against this purchase but Ted became interested and built one anyway as shown in the images below. I believe it was the last one he ever made and that his widow still has it. I have a modern bark model made by Eric Mase as shown at https://d3h6k4kfl8m9p0.cloudfront.net/stories/m6F9Z6u74lyvOMI8DTqysQ.jpg and I'm not sure that I want another yet.

Benson