Cost
The opening assessment
The opening assessment is not chargeable and commits you to nothing. Formal valuations for insurance or probate are a separate, charged service, quoted before it begins.
Sell a Work
See the numbers
before you commit
A written estimate, the comparable results behind it, and an honest recommendation about whether we are even the right house for it. All of that comes before any agreement.
How it goes
AB / CONSIGN
Send what you have
A photograph of the front, the back, and the signature, plus whatever history came with the work — a bill of sale, an exhibition label, a family recollection. Nothing needs to be complete, and an imperfect record is normal.
The opening assessment
Within five working days: what we believe the work is, an estimated range, and the comparable auction results that range rests on. If we are uncertain, the letter says where the uncertainty sits. No charge, no obligation.
Inspection and condition report
If you go on, the work is seen in person and examined under raking light. Restoration, retouching, and any structural issue is photographed and described. You get the report whether or not you sell.
Private sale, or auction
We recommend one and explain why. Where an open room would produce the better result, we say so and name the house that should have it — including when that means the work does not stay with us.
A written agreement
Reserve, commission, period, and who carries transit and insurance, all stated before anything moves. Nothing proceeds until it is signed by both sides.
Settlement
On completion you receive the settlement statement and the Registrar's record of every movement the work made while it was in our care.
Before you write
AB / NOTES
Fit
Selective by design
The house takes on what it can document and place well. Where a work belongs with a different specialist, we say so plainly and name them, which is faster for you than a year on our books.
Age
If it is over a hundred years old
It may be an antiquity under the 1972 Act, which brings registration and export restrictions. We will tell you and direct you to the right authority. We do not deal in antiquities.
Never send an original document or the only photograph you have. Copies are enough to begin, and always will be.
Begin
Send the photographs
Front, back, signature, and any history you hold. You will have a written view within five working days.
Send a work for reviewPrefer to understand the market first? Read Expertise.