Mar 28, 2020
Technology has eased the strain of the pandemic to a great degree, in my opinion. Social media, for all its problems with trolling and the like, has also provided us with a great deal of creative amusement as people go online with gallows humour to entertain us with jokes and spoof videos.
For those isolating indoors miles from their loved ones – be it aged parents or adult children – video apps like FaceTime allow for the sort of personal connection that would have been unthinkable if this crisis had happened just a few years ago. So, with all the challenges we currently face, from grocery shortages to maintaining mental wellbeing, we must count our blessings and stay strong.
I have been using the time to think about all the great auctions we will be able to stage once this period of incarceration is over, especially as it is apparent that with people stuck inside, many of them are spending their time decluttering and going through the treasures in their attics. I’d like to think that I and my team will be able to play a part in rewarding them for their efforts by making sure that whatever they decided to consign for sale as a result achieves a decent price. Thinking positively definitely helps.
Mar 23, 2020
A week on from when things started to get really serious in the UK, a number of auctioneers who were on tenterhooks have now mopped the anxious sweat from their brow – for the time being at least.
Why? Because, like me, in the past few days they have held long planned sales that could well have tanked. Instead, an extraordinary thing happened. Bidders logged on from all over the world – including from countries like Italy and China where lockdown has been in place for a while.
I’m not saying everything sold, but a lot more than we could have hoped for did, and the better quality items sold well. Some jewellery went for multiple-estimate prices and one auction house even set a record for a particular type of ceramic.
So what’s happening here?
It would seem that those without money worries who now have few outlets to express themselves have taken a greater interest in our world and reacted accordingly. This is not just good news for me; it is good news for those who work with me and it is good news for you too. Why? Because it shows that even in our darkest hour, we can find a way to keep going.
Who knows what will happen in the next week and months? But one thing is certain: the resilience and inventiveness of human nature is a marvel to behold.
Mar 16, 2020
With all the drama of the news at the moment, businesses have had to take some difficult decisions about staying open and carrying on as usual. Like everyone else, we have been monitoring the situation closely as the safety of staff and clients comes before everything else. Who knows how things will have developed by the time you read this.
It’s a time to reflect on the importance of human contact, even in this digital age when, for instance, more than half the people who bid at auction now do so online.
In the past ten years we have seen sales affected by snowstorms and ice, while others have been badly affected by floods several times, including in the past few weeks. However, this is the first time in my 60 years in the business that something like a pandemic has intervened.
Once this threat is lifted, it will be interesting to see what has changed for good and what will revert to the way it was before. No matter how technology progresses, in my view auctions will only flourish in the long term with some form of face-to-face contact. Other aspects of business and day-to-day life are less predictable.
As this crisis teaches us, the challenges ahead are sometimes unexpected, but we will adapt because whatever else changes, or basic values remain the same.
Mar 9, 2020
Every so often I like to check on the latest developments on Star Wars memorabilia. Rebels fighting in a Galaxy Far, Far Away may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when you bear in mind that Jedi is now officially classed as a religion, you get some idea of what the whole franchise means to the truly devoted.
A bit like The Beatles when it comes to rock and pop memorabilia, Star Wars is distinct from the rest of the market it occupies because there is nothing else quite like it.
As I have mentioned before, the most avidly sought after collectables within this field are not the figures of arch heroes and villains, but more peripheral characters, especially those whose release as toys were in limited or withdrawn runs, like the Cape Vinyl Jawa.
In this market, rarity and condition are the key factors, so if you have a very rare character toy in an unopened, undamaged blister pack, you can be talking extremely serious money indeed.
How much?
An unpainted prototype of the Rocket-Firing Boba Fett, the bounty hunter hired by Darth Vader to capture Han Solo, includes a slot mechanism allowing the rocket attached to his back to fire and was created by toymaker Kenner to promote The Empire Strikes Back.
Never released to the public, it has just sold at auction for $93,750. That’s exactly half of what another sold for in November last year.
Mar 2, 2020
Up for auction in Canada is a series of almost 200 photographs and negatives of Marilyn Monroe taken during the making of the 1953 film Niagara. What makes them especially attractive to bidders is that they are being sold with copyright, which means the buyer has the opportunity to exploit them commercially. Hence the estimate of $50,000.
It’s not often that photos or artworks come up for sale accompanied by copyright, but when they do they tend to be fought over enthusiastically. Remember, copyright remains active until 70 years after the year in which the artist or photographer died, and this also applies to musical compositions and other creations. The extent of copyright used to be different for different artistic forms, but it has been put on a level by the European Union over the past few years.
Even if you do manage to secure copyright to something you buy, there’s something else you mustn’t forget: moral rights. These give the artist further protection, meaning that even if you do hold the copyright to their work, you can’t use it in any way that the artist or their heirs might deem derogatory or damaging to the reputation of the artist or the work itself.
Feb 24, 2020
One of the reasons that rock and pop memorabilia appeals to so many people is what I refer to as the ‘musical nerd’ factor. While the top prices always come for stage-worn clothes or instruments used on seminal albums or during live shows, other influences can also come into play to make something desirable at auction.
Take, for example, a guitar consigned for sale next month. What makes this rather non-descript acoustic number worth the £15,000 estimate? The answer is that it was played by Mike Hurst of the British folk trio The Springfields – also featuring Dusty Springfield – when they were the first British group to break into the US charts, a year and a half before the Brits began their assault on American pop fans in earnest.
The Springfields broke into the US Billboard Top 20 in September 1962 with Silver Threads and Golden Needles, before disbanding in 1964 so that Dusty could continue her career as a solo artist (my own favourite of hers is a song called Spooky), with Mike becoming a music producer who worked with Cat Stevens, Shakin’ Stevens and other big names.
An added attraction here is that Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin, played the guitar when he joined Hurst’s band in 1964. It cost Mike Hurst £65 in 1962. With a pedigree like this, £15,000 doesn’t sound too ambitious.
Feb 18, 2020
Turn on the TV or radio these days and the news is filled with people turning dramas into crises; it’s amazing how an inadvertent word or gesture can suddenly explode in your face.
Far more unusual are events that turn the other way, where a scandal or slip transforms into something positive. That’s why I was rather taken with the tale of the MP whose wardrobe malfunction in the House of Commons defied media and keyboard warrior outrage to become a very good news story.
You may recall that Shadow Culture Secretary Tracy Brabin took to the dispatch box in the House of Commons on an urgent point of order recently only to find the shoulder of her dress slip down her arm to reveal an eye-brow raising amount of bare flesh.
With every word and blink broadcast live on TV these days, the slip – soon dubbed #shouldergate – became the media highlight of the day, with the inevitable ferocious social media debate on just how much this did [or did not] matter.
The Member for Batley did the right thing and rose above the mudslinging by putting the offending dress into auction, where it attracted 180 bids before selling for £20,200. The money will go to Girlguiding. Well done!
Feb 11, 2020
It used to be said that consignments to auction were fuelled by the three Ds: Death, Divorce and Debt. House clearances from the former, as families sold off heirlooms and furniture they no longer wanted, have long been commonplace. Likewise, one of the side effects of divorce is that the separating couple have to find two places to live and that can mean offloading furniture and works of art that no longer fit the new space or look. Realising the value of an asset to pay of a tax bill or other debt has also been common practice down the years.
All three of these three situations continue to apply, but I would argue that we are now dealing with the five Ds, because we can add Decluttering and Downsizing to the mix.
I suppose Downsizing is similar, in some ways, to the factors involved in Divorce – it’s really about things that no longer fit, while Decluttering is a relatively new phenomenon; generations gone by tended more towards hoarding than having a clear-out.
Another – albeit rarer – circumstance that can lead to bulk consignments at auction is the makeover; a case of out with the old and in with the new as tastes change. Could this be the sixth D? Only if you titled it re-Design.
Feb 3, 2020
There can be a significant difference between purchasing retail and buying at auction. It’s as much about the process, the subtleties of bidding and developing the expertise required for winkling out the hidden gems as the objects themselves. In short, the whole auction experience has a connoisseurial element you don’t get from general shopping. I suppose that at its best a parallel would be the difference between popping down to the supermarket for bottle of plonk and embarking on a wine-tasting evening with a view to acquiring a case or two of top quality burgundy.
Of course, it’s not all about mastering a process – getting a bargain and finding something unique or unusual are as attractive aspects of buying at auction as anything – but it’s amazing how the thrill of your first successful bid never leaves you and buying at auction, both online but especially in person in the room, can become almost a compulsion.
Why is this? Firstly, it’s a competitive sport and there is both art and science to the bidding process as you try to outwit the competition. Secondly, often bidders are competing for something unique; if they don’t win out against everyone else, they may not get another chance to acquire the piece in question. Thirdly, sometimes you can get a real bargain.
Even before the bidding starts, there is the thrill of the hunt, as you root through items at the view, looking for that elusive treasure. What’s not to like!
Jan 27, 2020
What makes something art and gives it value? I don’t like to spend too much time getting philosophical, but a couple of events recently have jogged my curiosity on this one.
The first was the contemporary art “happening”, where a man ate a banana stuck to a wall with duct tape that had been presented as a work of art at an art fair by Maurizio Cattelan and priced it at $120,000. The man turned out to be a performance artist, so one form of art became another, a bit like when Banksy shredded his own work when it sold at auction last year. Cattelan can always stick another banana to the wall, so not much damage done there, I’d say.
However, there is a more general point about how items that are created for a specific purpose (banana = food), can turn into art when that purpose either becomes redundant or non-essential. Folk art pieces, such as duck decoys, which can make hundreds of thousands of dollars as works of art in the US, are good examples.
Just this week I saw that two vintage tractors sold for almost £30,000 at auction. Surpassed by modern machinery for farmyard use, they are loved by collectors for their cultural and artistic quality, from the engineering through to the overall aesthetic of their look.
It’s wonderful to think that something can have a new lease of life as a work of art after its practical purpose has diminished.
