How
Best to Begin Buying Antiques in Auction, or From Dealers
A
personal view by John Neville Cohen
(as written for publication in 1995)
About Becoming an
Antique Collector
Before buying anything; make a
point of studying books and catalogues (even old ones) on your subject,
then attend a few auctions, be sure to inspect your choice of antiques
on the viewing days before the auction, always allow enough time to
visit and explore the main dealers' stock, both before and after any
auction sales. This way you will gradually be able to assess what
quality items are available and the prices being currently asked. Make a point of chatting to dealers, or well-known collectors, about
what has happened after an auction. Not always, but sometimes one can gain quite a lot of useful
guidance about particular pieces, what to look out for and importantly
about the general feelings about any record breaking prices.
After an auction it can be possible sometimes to find that a dealer
might have a similar quality piece, or even a better one, for much less
than has just been paid! A note of caution here, sometimes a
really silly price is paid in the auction room, simply because two
determined people badly wanted that piece. In such a case of
course, that value has to be discounted to a certain extent. It is this sort of information that should be sought
(in my
earlier suggestion of chatting at the end of the auction).
Buying Guidance
The best advice for anyone
tempted to collect any antiques would be, first, to study your choice of
subject and attend auctions, meet and talk to the dealers, handle and
see as many pieces as possible. Do not rush in to buy because unfortunately trying to
collect, in any specialised antique area, it often takes many years to
acquire the necessary expertise, without which, very costly mistakes can
be made. Once you feel more confident you should then be prepared
to commission a well-known specialist dealer to bid for you. You
would have to expect to pay at least 10% (of the bid price) for this
service. But this can be well worth paying, as you will not only
benefit from his knowledge and guidance, you will also stop him bidding
against you!
Only
another collector can fully appreciate that overpowering urge, that
comes over one, on finding a treasure really wanted.
It is the closest feeling to that of love at first sight. I have been told that one's pupils tend to enlarge, and
this is one of the signs that dealers watch out for, and as collectors,
of course, we always try desperately to camouflage our interest.
Auctions
Strange things certainly do happen at auction! If there is only
one spectacular piece amongst some fairly good items, there is a good
chance of picking up a bargain, both just before and just after, the
really super piece. Before, the main buyers are often holding back
hoping they can be in with a chance with their maximum bid, so they tend
to stop bidding as high as they might have done in normal circumstances. Immediately after, because everyone is discussing what has just been
paid, especially if a record price was reached, all this can be going on
whilst another piece slips through and is sold.
There are also items known as 'sleepers' and often these are pieces
that are sold at bargain prices, just because no one present required
it, or for some reason it was overlooked.
Attending a poor auction (this is one with only one or two good items in
it, amongst a lot of junk) can be advantageous, if there is a fine
example to be had. Quite a number of buyers feel they cannot
afford the time in attending such a poor auction.
Sadly, this does not happen so much now.
Sometimes too, but not often, a piece is wrongly described. Then
one can, if lucky, really find a bargain. Once we bought a jade
snuff bottle that is so remarkably well hollowed and such a flawless
piece of stone, that it was in fact sold wrongly catalogued as glass!
We had to buy it from a well-known dealer (preferring to pay him
a good profit, rather than keep bidding it up against him) in the end it
wasn't cheap but it is one of the finest we have ever seen!
We no longer believe much in trying to find bargains, as we have found
that the most expensive, but finest examples, over time, are often by
far the best buys! We have
worried about having paid too much on several occasions. They were
very rare, superb examples, but still we worried. Yet, these are
now the treasures that have proved to be the most wonderful bargains of
all!
Beyond Value
Lastly, there is one important factor that has not been mentioned,
as it is so impossible to measure! That is the value of the
pleasure one enjoys from participating, as a collector, in such a
fascinating hobby as collecting antiques is hard to describe.
You also meet such interesting people from all over the world, for there
is an immediate bond amongst fellow collectors, except when met at the
beginning of an auction!
Then there is the intrigue of the hunt and the excitement at every new
addition that only another collector can fully appreciate. Life is
so enriched, I do believe that such hobbies are vital, and so many
people who have hardly any outside interests, beyond their world of
work, have no idea of just how much fun they are missing!
John
Neville Cohen: An International award winning photographer
who also became a well known Asian antiques collector and an
enthusiast of Jensen British classic cars.
Other interests are skiing and Salsa dancing. The author has been a very keen
collector for many years in helping to create 'The Trudy and John
Neville Cohen
Collection'. Please have a look at: - https://www.jncohen.net
To see other articles, with
photographs, please use the following link: https://www.jncohen.com/_antiques/Articles/articles.htm
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