The Antiques Trade Gazette is reporting that Sotheby’s plans to expand to include the so-called middle market in an effort to repair its wobbly income statement. For those of you who don’t know, within our ambit, the middle market would be antiques and artwork with a value of about $5,000 to about $50,000. Or, put another way, the typical stock in trade of most members of the accredited trade in art and antiques. Sotheby’s has for many years eschewed smaller consignments, preferring to focus on individual items or collections with potential hammer prices in the 6 to 7 to 8 figures.
And how does one suppose Sotheby’s will fare in this endeavor? I can respond with a degree of pith unusual for my loquacious self- they will fail. The fact of the matter is, the retail trade in art and antiques is successful in a way that Sotheby’s can never be. At my level, our business is a relationship one of the highest level of high touch. The stock that we offer does not precisely fly out the front door these days, and in fact never has. Our business is mostly driven by collectors, and those collectors, while they may only purchase one item at a time, very rarely only purchase one item in total. The stock that we have in inventory is selected by my own good self, and, using these general criteria, must form a confluence of quality, rarity, and condition. Oh, yes, and price. Price does sell, but quality, of course, sells first. We never ever have items just for their commercial appeal. But the composition and appearance of our stock- that’s just a part of the story.
Surprising to both Keith McCullar and me when we started this business was the level of intimacy established between ourselves and our clients. The initial entrée may be our stock, and for those of you who are amongst the cognoscenti, each successful dealer has for want of a better term a ‘look’. And it is not the same look dealer to dealer. Subtle, in some cases, but as distinctive for those who know as the aromatic difference between rosemary and lavender. And then it is trading with Keith and me. I don’t think anyone would ever describe us as exactly companionable, but we always try to be fair and straightforward and patient.
In condensed terms, what we establish with our clients is an intimate connection where the relationship then begins to inform us, as well. We acquire stock, within our established criteria, where we have one or more clients in mind. Of course we have spot sales, typically on one of the sales platforms we subscribe to, but for those who trade with us regularly, we are always the go to guys when our client cadre wants something specific.
Sotheby’s is now and will remain, the vicissitudes of their financial performance allowing, an auction house. They sell what someone else is willing to consign, to anyone willing to buy it, with no identifiable ‘look’ beyond the very, very general. Moreover, while we are so specific about the condition of what we sell that we maintain our own restoration shop, a purchase from Sotheby’s is made as is, where is. Hardly high touch and always caveat emptor. If memory serves, the auction house has tried all this before barely 10 years ago with their so called arcade sales in New York, and their Olympia sales in London. As the inherent features of the saleroom remain unchanged, hard to imagine that they can achieve any success this time. At the risk of sounding redundant and immodest, the inherent relationship driven features of our own modest business remain unchanged, as well.