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.
Jan 20, 2020
As we prepare for out next fine art auction in Fernhurst, I continue to be astonished by the number of people who think that you have to have some sort of specialist knowledge to bid at a sale of paintings and drawings. The most important question you can possibly ask yourself about a picture or piece of sculpture coming up for auction is: Do I like it? If it’s something you think you can live with for a long time and get plenty of enjoyment out of, you have passed the vital hurdle. Next: What am I prepared to pay for it? That’s what the estimate is there for. Sometimes lots can soar over estimate, at other times they can go at a bargain price or not sell at all. In the end, only you can decide what your upper limit is – and don’t forget to account for any auction charges like the buyer’s premium.
It’s also a good idea to check out the work’s condition; these days, if you can’t attend the view, you should find most of the details about this online in the catalogue description.
Apart from that, your main consideration will be getting it home if you are successful. Can you collect it personally? Is it something you can put in the back of your car? Will you have to pay for delivery, which will mean packing and shipping costs? If so, what are they?
Follow these simple steps and you will find you are, indeed, qualified to bid. As the saying goes: come on down!
Jan 13, 2020
It’s hard to think of a more sought-after book at auction than a First Folio Shakespeare. Published in 1623 – seven years after the great man’s death – it constitutes the finest collection of poetry and drama in any language.
The announcement that a copy will come up for auction April with an estimate of around $4 million to $6 million is a timely reminder of a few things we know about Shakespeare and few things we don’t.
The first thing is that none of the playwright’s original scripts for his 37 plays has survived and it is only through the printed editions that we know his works at all. Without the First Folio, 18 of the plays would probably have not survived, including Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and Measure For Measure. How many of the more famous and widely used sayings would also have been lost to the English language as a result? Shakespeare is known to have contributed at least 1700 words to English for a start.
If Shakespeare himself is the god of the written word, then John Heminge and Henry Condell are its guardian angels. Fellow actors and friends of The Bard, it was they who edited the First Folio and had it printed, dividing the plays into comedies, histories and tragedies.
Jan 2, 2020
Last week I told you about a young man whose dedication had built a substantial art and antiques business from nothing over just five years. Now I have further evidence of the enduring appeal of auctions and the indisputable fact that this process is not a dying tradition limited to old folk.
As the old year gave way to the new, one of the more interesting revelations was that Kim Kardashian (if you’ve not heard of her, where have you been?!) is ‘obsessed’ with auctions and has already put a significant sum where her mouth is by snapping up rock ’n’ roll relics under the hammer.
As a stocking filler for her six-year-old son North, she bought a jacket (for $65,625) that had once belonged to his idol, Michael Jackson, while adding the Smooth Criminal star’s white fedora ($7680) to top it off. Meanwhile Kardashian added rings ($7000 and $8000) worn by The King, Elvis Presley, to the list of gifts she handed to her brother for the Festive Season.
This is all pretty impressive stuff. Of course, the problem with buying all this for a six year old is how you go one better for next Christmas!
Dec 23, 2019
Anyone who thinks that young people today don’t know how to graft should read the tale of a twenty-something lad who set out to conquer the world of art and antiques just five years ago and has now built himself a business valued at around £350,000.
He’s still some way from realising his dream of having the most successful dealing business online in the country, but I take my hat off to him for what he’s done so far. It’s all been the result of a little bit of luck and a great deal of sweat. The luck was discovering that what everyone else took to be worthless tat – 20-plus year old children’s TV VHS videos – turned out to have a great deal of retro appeal that meant he could buy them for 10p to 50p at car boot sales and retail them online for up to £15. This gave him the nest egg for his proper launch into antiques and collectables, while brushing up his skills and knowledge of the auction world by working as a porter and a cataloguer at an auction house.
From the sound of it, there have been precious few hours left to do anything else, but imagine the sense of achievement. The future looks bright after all.
Dec 16, 2019
There are 25 drams in a bottle of whisky, a dram being a one-ounce shot, and the price of a dram at current rates of the 1926 Macallan coming to auction is round £60,000. No, that’s not a misprint, it’s the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold at £1.5 million.
It belonged to the late Richard Gooding, who ironically made his fortune from bottling Pepsi Cola and who built the most enviable collection of whisky in the world.
Gooding housed his 3900 bottle collection a specially built bar in his Colorado home, travelling to Scotland on a regular basis to top it up.
That collection is now estimated at £8 million, and while I find the prices fairly staggering, it is the passion that whisky instils in collectors that is the really captivating aspect. It may be distilled alcohol, but its real value is in the romance of the history and landscape of Scotland, as well as the science of the process itself.
Japanese whiskies and single malts from Australia to Wales attract avid fans too, but it is the Scotch version in its many varieties – Highland, Islands, Lowlands and Speyside – that remains king. And the modern, hi-tech way it is marketed and sold these days has attracted a whole new collector base among the young. It’s an auctioneer’s dream really.
Dec 9, 2019
One of the most important factors affecting value at auction can be the historical significance of an item – copies of the US Declaration of Independence are among the best examples of this. Often overlooked, however, are those seemingly unimportant pieces of ephemera that cast light on largely forgotten episodes from our past.
I was reminded of this by a news article about two small sheets of paper consigned for auction that recall the 1740 frost fair on the Thames. Each expected to fetch around £1500, they detail all sorts of activities on the ice as the river froze over: football, horse racing, ox-roasting, merry-go-rounds, skittle alleys and puppet shows.
It’s hard to imagine the Thames freezing over now – in fact since the building of the comparatively modern set of bridges with their pontoons, this has been made much more unlikely. No one alive now can remember these events, so even the faded memory is lost, which makes these written records so much more important.
One of my favourite examples of this is a 15th century French illustrated manuscript that appears to show an early game of cricket. The known history of the game dates back to the late 16th century in south east England, although it is thought to have its origins in Anglo Saxon times. What if another document appeared that forced us to re-attribute its invention to another country?
Dec 2, 2019
This time of year the news is full of headlines talking about Contemporary artworks that have sold for tens of millions of dollars at auction in New York. Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Jackson Pollock and others whose masterpieces can attract prices that dominate the upper end of the art market obviously earn their moment in the limelight, and every national and international magazine and newspaper column dedicated to the art and antiques market will be full of news about these sales.
Far less often they also report what is going on at the bottom and middle of the market. Selling a decent Victorian watercolour at £150 is just not news, and I get that. But we should not forget that for all the stratospheric sums paid for the trophy Contemporary works, it is the comparatively workaday pieces that oil the wheels of the global art market, attract new buyers for the first time and form the bedrock of the grander sales.
Think about the billions of pounds worth of stuff sold on eBay each year. A global player for the best part of 20 years now, it has also delved into online auctions of art – albeit with mixed success. But it all started because a collector of humble Pez sweet dispensers wanted to be able to trade them over the internet. It’s another case of mighty oaks growing from tiny acorns. So next time you read about a $50 million Hockney, remember that £150 Victorian watercolour and the indomitable roots of the great world of auctions.
