Pieces can range from $600 to $10,000. An average 8'-long tavern table, for example, costs about $2,800. Kates says his clients are a unique group of well-educated people who appreciate period-style furniture as an art form. They are knowledgeable about period furniture, and many have restored pre-1900 houses. About 75 percent live east of Ohio. Kates says finding clients in the Midwest is a problem, observing that many opt for manufactured furniture.

“Old furniture, to people around here, is late Victorian, 1900s,” he said.

He also has customers from as far away as England, Ireland and Hawaii. He gets about three commissions a year from Florida. He does some deliveries and takes advantage of the travel opportunity by riding his motorcycle home after dropping off the delivery truck, or photographing nature scenery, a hobby he’s passionate about.

Occasionally, he will do some pieces for offices but most of his work is for residencies. Most of his work now comes from repeat business, and he does several shows that also generate business. He noticed a major drop in the market after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. He compared sales with the Country Folk Art Festival in St. Charles, Ill., which he attended in the fall of 2000, and where he made $50,000. He went to the same show two weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and sold nothing.

Kates’ professional credentials illustrate his prominent status in the world of reproduction furniture. He is a juried member of the Illinois Artisans Program. He was selected as one of America’s 200 best craftsmen by Early American Life magazine and was featured in the Williams Catalogue of American

MasterCraftsmen.

“There are a lot of period furniture makers but the market is small, which makes for a fair amount of competition,” adds Kates. “Period furniture is not something that appeals to the larger market such as the Ikea or Pottery Barn crowd. Our customers are not into trends and don’t throw away furniture. This makes for a small market, which has to be divided among the furniture makers.” n

 

Contact: D. Andrew Kates, 702 Wing-foot Dr., N. Aurora, Ill. 60542. Tel: 630- 482-3808. www.dandrewkates.com

 

Kates uses a riving knife to make a deep gouge in the stretcher of this tavern table.

“I’m not a tool junkie. If I can’t buy it cheap, I won’t buy it,” he said.

Finishing is another one of his acquired talents. He mixes all of his own finishes and uses only authentic paints. It takes him as long to finish a piece as it does to build it.

“This is an area that I am very particular about and would never think of handing one of my pieces over to someone else for finishing. This is the area where your artistic ability really shows.”

PHOTO: JENNIFER HICKS

Kates hand stains each piece, using mixed colors to represent color changes over time. Once the first layer dries, he makes more marks on the wood. After a few more coats, he works in a thick glaze containing dirt and other elements to joints and cracks

where debris naturally would have accumulated in the past. Kate prefers a heavy-bodied glaze because it takes a long time to dry, lending him time to work his magic. A completed piece might have up to seven layers of finish, and is sealed with shellac.

Clientele

Kates grosses roughly $200,000 a year and has a decent backlog, but nothing compared to what he used to. A two-year waiting period was not unusual several years ago. Now, the estimated wait time for clients is two to six months, depending on the piece. His Web site has been extremely helpful, but more so when it was first launched, with two to five orders a week.

 

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