Stuart Altmann on mon 15 dec 97
I had made this beautiful vase. Spent hours decorating it with motifs from
Val Camunica petroglyphs. It came out better than hoped for, a rare event,
the best of my current batch...except (damn!) there inside the bottom was a
big blister. Not very noticeable unless you looked down the narrow neck.
But still, a defect. And it was fair time. What to do. Sell it? Don't
sell? Hammer treatment? Keep for personal collection?
Well, instead of a price, I wrote on the pot, "See me". Soon, a fellow did.
"What does the 'See me' mean," he asked.
I explained my hesitation about selling it and showed him the blister.
"Well, do you want to sell it, or don't you?"
"Make me an offer I can't refuse," I said.
"How much would it have been if it didn't have a defect?"
I told him, he offerred me about 2/3 that amount, which I accepted, and we
were both satisfied--he because he knew that he got a fine pot at a good
price with a defect no one was likely to notice, and I because I didn't
feel that I had belittled the pot by calling it a second nor did I feel
that I had deceived the buyer.
Stuart Altmann
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