Hardy Antiques - I hope you like a decent chest

I hope you like a decent chest

I’ve taken three apprehensive people to auction who, despite being dealers, have never been before. Yeah, I know. I don't understand why they needed their hands holding, auctions are easy. Well, easy-ish.
After many years I’ve picked up the odd thing here and there. I feel a bit ambiguous about passing them on, but as long as you promise that it won’t stop you buying from your friendly local antiques dealer then maybe my experience will help you avoid the mistakes we all (still) make.
I was once chatting with a couple of other dealers, and we had more than 90 years experience between us. I asked them how often they make a mistake, these days and was relieved when they both immediately said, “oh, every time”. Even hardened and extremely experienced dealers get it wrong. They do say you learn from your mistakes, so hopefully some of mine will be helpful when they are laid bare in the next few paragraphs.

-oOo-

To make this work, let’s imagine you are after something specific. So, to keep it simple, how about we imagine that you are going to go for a chest of drawers?

THE FIRST LESSONS
I’m intrigued now. I wonder what style you have chosen? And what your budget is? Hopefully you’ve opted for a lovely English Georgian chest - the finest - but maybe you’ve gone French, or decided for a something large, Victorian and pine? As a general rule, you’ll find that the more compact you go, the more you will have to pay per square inch, and vice versa. People like small furniture. But here are rules one and two in quick succession: your budget. You do have a budget, right? And you'll stick to it? Oh good. Now knock about 25% of it away. So if you started with say £500, you've now got about £400.
Why? Oh, just auctioneers charges, VAT on those, Insurance, and so on. They all add up. And it gets worse if you pay by credit card, so don't. Cash or debit. And make sure you know what these costs are before you bid. I’ll come back to this.

LESSON THREE
OK, Lessons one and two, done. You need a budget and costs mean your money isn’t all yours. Lets move on to the next: never buy blind. You can buy in several ways at auction, real auctions I mean not eBay. You can attend and flap your hand about, you can book a telephone call, or you can leave a bid. But don’t do any of these unless you've seen what you are buying.
You will note I have not said anything about where the auction is, or how you found it. Come on! I’m not going to do it all for you. No, I’m assuming you have an auction and an item in mind. So, lets jump in the car and go view. Whadayamean you can’t get to any of the viewing days? Well that’s chucked a cat into the pigeon loft. Remember what I said a moment ago? You can not - I will not let you - buy blind.
Actually I recant. Ignore this lesson. Buy blind. Buy a bit of broken wormy old crap that’s got more problems than not and hence put yourself off auctions for life and buy everything from your kind, friendly, charming local dealer (me). End of post. Job done.

CONDITION CONDITION CONDITION
But when I’m in full flow I'm hard to stop, so on we go. There is an alternative to attending, but it is not, repeat not as good. You can phone/email the auctioneer for a condition report. They’ll offer a general review which is subjective at best: one person’s shabby is another’s chic. I recently ignored my own preaching
“What's the back like?” I asked.
“Nice and clean” came the reply.
Well if that's their idea of clean I hate to think what they think water-stained, filthy, and a marriage really looks like. So my tip is to ask specific questions. In theory, they can be held to account against their report and you can return a dud for a refund. In practice though ask yourself if you really are going to pay for a courier to return the item to Scunthorpe or wherever it was that you bought it? The auctioneer won’t cough for the delivery charges. So, like I had to, you'll end up keeping it and, like me, wishing you hadn't bought it. Which really makes lesson three: go see the item yourself, an inviolable rule. Even if its a few hours away, take the time. Remember what I said here - buy the best you can, and that may mean going, literally, the extra mile.

VIEWING IN FOCUS
You’ve made it to a viewing day and found your chest in the room. Yes, yes, I know there are lots of lovely things to see, but, Lesson four, focus, please. We’re here to assess your chest. No, the one you came here to look at, remember? But, what surprise, you can’t see it because it’s loaded with bits and bobs and sitting in a row of other things and you can’t get at it. Auctioneers always ram the stuff in to help hide the …I mean, help maximise the space. That’s why I say go to a viewing day. Traditionally these are a bit quieter than auction day itself and this gives you time to call over a porter and ask them to heave it out for you. Or do it yourself. Just don’t break the precious china on top though, because you’ll have to pay (mid-estimate) for it.
Now its out, you can see all round the chest and really check it over. Remember, this is Lesson four, focus. So slowly and carefully Interrogate it. Are the handles original, was it once the base of something else, any damage, splits, losses and so on? You could use your torch now. You did bring a torch right? Even in a well-lit room (rare), that little circle of light can concentrate the mind wonderfully and help you give it a real good examination. Another tip is to use your fingers: fingertips reveal much more than the eyes alone. This is especially true if you are buying ceramics, or glass. Give it a real good fingertip going over, and ping it with your fingernail. Is the ring true or a dull thud. Cracks mean dull thuds. Avoid.
Open the drawers, are they correct for the age, machine or hand-cut dovetails etc? Look for the shuts between the drawers, do the drawers rock when in place because the runners are worn, do they shut easily, tidily? The little things can be quickly and inexpensively mended by your good local restorer…you do know a good restorer? If you don’t then make sure you buy something that doesn’t need any work. If you do, then factor that cost in.

DECISION MADE
Let's assume you have decided all is well and you are going to go on the day and bid for it. Have a quick word with a member of staff and ask what sort of time your lot will come up. Most auction houses will sell a few hundred items, and if you are just after one or two, its not worth spending all day there. And although no two houses are the same, most can predict their own timings with quite some accuracy. So ask, and then aim to get there an hour or so before. You'll need to register and you might as well do that as soon as they will let you. Sometimes its only on the day, sometimes you can do it at viewing.
If you can't make it now is the time to leave your written bid, or book a phone call. Speak to reception about this. There are usually forms hanging about for leaving bids. Complete and hand it in to someone and let them check its all OK before departing. You'll need to register with them and hand over details, maybe a driving licence (photocard) for identification. Bear with them, money laundering rules are quite strict these days. If you want to bid live, by phone, book your telephone call with them, or at least find out the way this auction house works it - they all vary. And check how much you can pay in total over the phone. If your item is over the limit you will need to pay by bank transfer, or in person.

There’s more to say, in part two of this quick breeze through auctions. But in this first post, looking at the preliminaries, I’ve talked about four lessons:

Budget
Costs
View (with your torch)
Focus

And after all that, if you decide to go for it, how do you bid? And how much? I'll look at that next time.

If you'd like to comment, my Facebook page is a good a place as any

16/05/2016 Posted by Paul Hardy Tags: buying, bidding, auction

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