01/10/2025 General News
After many years in the fine art auction profession, I still enjoy the buzz of an eagerly contested lot, that electric atmosphere when buyers contest to own a special piece, writes Tim Blyth. That excitement is doubled when you know that your expertise in both valuation and marketing has resulted in the vendor getting maximum value for the item they are selling.
Our summer Fine Sale had one such moment, a fierce bidding battle which made front page news in industry bible Antiques Trade Gazette, no less.
The lot in question was a small pencil drawing which had come to us from the family of a deceased collector. Fortunately they had rebuffed the offers of a house clearance merchant and decided to consult an expert.
Our own research identified the picture as a study by 19th century artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82) for a larger pen and ink drawing which he created during 1858-9. The larger work, Mary Magdalene at the door of Simon the Pharisee, is an elaborate picture which is now displayed in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
Rossetti made a number of preparatory drawings for the work, including a head study of fellow pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones as Christ. This was the picture which we believed had been consigned to us for sale.
When we catalogue such works, we always have to err on the side of caution if we are not 100% sure that the work is genuine. The aim is to be completely honest and transparent, yet still attract serious collectors who will make their own minds up about the veracity of the work and bid accordingly.
Followers of Victorian art would regard a study of Burne-Jones by Rossetti as something of a trophy lot, so ensuring they were drawn in was key to achieving maximum value for the vendor.
We decided to catalogue the picture as being by the ‘Circle of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’, with the catalogue entry including the fact that the reverse of the picture included an inscription in pencil reading ‘drawn (1859) from E.Burne-Jones as a study for the head of Christ’, and that the work also bore a monogram on the front.
Because of this, and also because the picture was not in perfect condition, we were equally cautious with the pre-sale estimate, putting it at £1,200-£2,200. We were fairly confident that Rossetti enthusiasts would bid higher than this if they believed the work to be genuine, but this estimate was designed to draw potential buyers in.
As it turned out, that is exactly what happened. The picture attracted a range of bidders in the room, on the phone and on the internet, and they entered into a keen contest which lasted more than nine minutes – at the end of which the hammer fell at £26,900, plus buyer’s premium. How pleased the vendor was that they turned down the house clearance offer!
The lesson here is that expertise is vital, both in identifying works with potential value, and in cataloguing and marketing them in such a way that the right bidders are attracted to the sale. Choosing an auction house with a range of specialists who have extensive experience is the only way to ensure that items such as this achieve their true value – and that electric buzz occurs in the saleroom.
Keys next autumn Fine Sale takes place in November; items can still be consigned for the sale. For more details, visit www.keysauctions.co.uk/selling.