To figure out how the art and antiques industry will evolve, its past offers no roadmap. However, going back into the early history of “the trade” in New York, one finds an individual like Duveen, who dominated the highest end of the art trade. However, in the antiques business, the firm of Sypher and Company was actually a company listed in the New York Stock Exchange’s 1886 volume of leading merchants, manufacturers and businesses in New York City. The narrative on the firm and size of their inventory as described in the volume seem staggering by today’s standards. Sypher and Co. must have been doing something right to be that successful.

Sypher evolved from a prior company started in 1821, before the American Civil War and later became French and Company, which maintained the same reputation of quantity and quality well into the 20th Century. What’s interesting is that the auction world was confined to European estate sales of Royal homes and castles. American dealers had all the pickings they wanted to supply this country’s vast demand for European style. Today, what “style” is in demand?

Thinking you know the next trend or lack of one at all, is a speculator’s game. If you had put all your chips on mid-20th Century modern furniture design 20 or even 10 years ago, you’ve got to be ahead of making the same bet on classical English or French periods. Hindsight is clearly 20/20, and a dealer puts his money on the line. Auctions don’t (and should be barred from secretly tilting the playing field). Auctions, and specifically the Sotheby’s/Christie’s imposition of a buyer’s premium in the mid 1970s, unalterably changed the way dealers could operate. Other factors like changes in taste, wealth, and costs of operating a business were dynamics that numbered the days of the “big dealer”. Will there ever be a Sypher and Company in the decorative arts world again; is it possible for this type of company to ever be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, like Sotheby’s.

I’ve always been an advocate for dealers to work together to attain an openness to change how things work in this industry. Starting with auctioneer’s practices of deceptions, fraud, and conflicts of interest, to dealers openly disclosing their prices, the list of issues needing exposure and remedies is clearly identifiable. Dealers have the opportunity and need to work together to attain goals that enhance and benefit the public’s perception of our industry and its resources.

In the context of the past meeting the present and therefore the future, I found an interesting object described in that New York Stock Exchange summary of Sypher’s inventory. They mention an item “previously belonging to the (Napolean) Bonaparte family, including a wrought iron balcony that was purchased by Mr. Sypher from the French Government last year [1885] at the great sale on the grounds of the Tuilleries”. Now I know where that fantastic railing came from that has been resting on my second floor for as long as I can remember. I had always heard about a Bonaparte connection, perhaps also Sypher too.

Shelter magazines have stamped their approval on showcasing residences with a minimum use of antiques and furniture in general. White walls and scattered rugs on plain wood floors are the template for as little as possible in a room. The sentiment of these publications is exemplified by the walls acting as a backdrop for nothing or a “trophy” painting or work of art. The practice of multiple quality items juxtaposed next to each, like in the Barnes Museum could hardly be conceived in today’s endeavor to need high tech and best image necessities.

I find that today, decorative arts as a means of functional furniture and life style is in conflict with the perception of its usefulness. Obviously, this stuff has lasted through a certain test of time and still survived. Decorative arts require some functionality; fine arts involve only the necessity of a visual interpretation, a much more powerful emotional and intellectual connection. In today’s way of thinking, innovation should offer better and more efficient functionality with simplicity of use. Is that such a tall order for antiques?

The other side of the argument is that furnishing a home with antiques requires much more than just physical and aesthetic qualities. The most difficult aspect of these items is time and passion to understand them, as a collector. That type of zeal is hard to translate into the emotional and intellectual qualities present in fine art. Would a collector of American 19th Century Hudson River School paintings have the same passion for furniture of the same period? Undoubtedly, a collector of contemporary art would not consider any piece of furniture other than modern. Bulky, American 19th Century furniture would distract from modern art, but modern furnishings in some way can enhance the 19th Century art. Certainly at a minimum, antique furnishings are mean to embellish any period art on the walls and not necessarily to compete with it.

Perhaps the Decorative Arts are to be relegated to the ash heap of second tier status. A comfortable antique dining chair is certainly a rarity and will never receive instant recognition like a Picasso. Besides, unless someone has written a sign on the chair, how would you know that George Washington sat there!

https://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.1&th=128cf5b4d5a6aa7a&disp=vah&view=att

For as long as I have been in this business, nothing has disturb me more than how the industry has allowed the Sotheby’s/Christie’s duopoly to instill an acceptance of deception and fraud in the auction process. Just because they were convicted of collusion back in 2001, doesn’t mean it stopped; compare how incredibly, they both schedule sales of similar categories at identical time periods, but never at the same time of day. It’s an amazing phenomenon!

With recent public debate on what necessary regulation is needed in the banking and finance industries, the timing of such requirements in the art and antiques sector bear a striking similarity. In her conclusion Ms. Tate has clearly laid out a case that establishes the need for auction transparency:

“This article assesses the regulations of the secretive practices of the two leading auction houses in New York. The duties of the auction houses and auctioneers to their fiduciaries are plainly laid out, and when seen in this light, are unmasked as inadequate. While art itself is not simply a financial investment, the business of selling art is just that—a business. The current New York auction house regulations fall short of balancing the interests of both the public and the business sector and wreak havoc on the art market by inflating prices and under-mining public trust. New York should require auction houses to uphold their fiduciary duties to sellers, buyers, and the public at large by becoming more transparent. The difficulties of dealing with a unique asset would be reconciled if the regulations were amended to require the disclosure of interests, reserves and guarantees on a lot-by-lot basis, and to forbid the practices of third-party guarantees and chandelier bidding”

The interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield coined the term. I believe he was trying to put a name on a style that just was classified as “contemporary”, but lacked a style period name. Art Nouveau isn’t quite Victorian, but guess what period preceded it? Art Deco became Midcentury-Modern; Millennium Modern takes us to the present. Millennium Modern takes Neo-classical and free form designs, and injects form and materials. It is a period born in the 1960s and still evolving with today’s designers’ creativity unleashed by this style’s open boundaries.

What brought me to this blog topic was a situation where I was about to receive an outstanding consignment of “this stuff”. I have every inventory item clearly broken down by a style and sub-style, class and sub-class. What to do with this merchandise, when my only option in my database would be: Art Moderne/1940s. It doesn’t sound right for these items and it really is individually a highly developed form of design. The term Millennium also clearly delineates an applicable time frame too. I always believed the year 2000 would separate us into the 21st Century, with unimaginable decorative arts design and technology. We have late 17th Century, Baroque; late 18th Century, Georgian; late 19th Century, Art Nouveau; late 20th Century, Millennium Modern?

When you go to my web site, I am now using the style classification “Post-War Design” for items I believe are original designs from the 1960s to the present. It encompasses American, European, and Asian designers. I have always defined period styles as a time era of an original design form. Presently there is no one encompassing term like Art Deco, Georgian, or Victorian that is a commonly used term for this style period. Millennium Modern sound good and so does Post-War Design, but if anyone can come up with a better title for this period, I would love to hear it.

I love how the famous Sotheby’s/Christie’s catalogue notation “estimate on request” attempts to add a mystique to the item; it also sets up further blockage to the reserve price. A disclosed reserve price at auction would suck the wind out of the auctioneer’s theatrics. The personality of the auctioneer is critical to the success of having a secret reserve. It demands a skill to cajole buyers very differently than the selling efforts by a dealer. At some point a dealer will have to disclose a selling price; secret reserves are secret until it is breached by either two bidders or a bidder being manipulated by an auctioneer. With any reserve you have a legitimate minimum pricing, why is this secret form of price manipulation accepted?

The fear of pricing, be it a minimum or maximum starting point, is fear of the market and its natural capabilities. Part of the problem is an institutional acceptance with these forms of deception. Going to an upscale art and antiques show and seeing price tags in one booth and none in another is a bit disconcerting and reveals a lack of standards among dealers and show operators. What could you possibly hide more from a potential buyer than price; certainly your competitors knowing your prices aren’t really surprised by them and probably confirms their own valuations. For the retail public, knowing your prices gives them a sense of where a valuation point exists.

The transparency created by pricing is the best starting point to any potential transaction. Antiques and art somehow have made a case to deny that fact. What makes art and antiques so exclusive to this form of commerce? Investment banks deal in significantly larger numbers when trading companies and they aren’t ashamed of starting off with a generous asking price.

What has happened with the auction segment by this non-disclosure of the reserve price has degenerated into rampant conflicts of interest and other techniques for deception and manipulation. This was never how auctions were originally designed to function. It is also how two competitors, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, learned that together they could seize control of the industry by expanding these tactics. They lost the battle of colluding charges, but won the war to institutionalizing their methods.

For many dealers the fact that there exists a secret offers the opportunity to play the same game (if you have to ask for the price, you really aren’t ready to buy the item). Price tag(less) items must separate the boys from the men! Get over it; an asking price isn’t necessarily a selling price, nor should it be. Besides “everything has a price”, just start the process with one.

When a macro-economic event occurs, we in the trade have historically experienced the effect of the change in a delayed manner. Like any commodity, pricing and more so demand are the measuring sticks for art and antiques. The more cash in your pocket the more you can spend; and price becomes less important than finding what you want. This is micro-economics at its best and it is why possession of these items, either by a consumer, collector, or dealer requires a different mindset. Money only stirs the pot; owning a tangible object that doesn’t pay a cash dividend must give some kind of return that is complex to quantify.

One of the great opportunities for this industry is the thought that the general public will sense that there is value in our industry’s products, just like any other form of an asset. Dealers and people in the trade understand that, but the general public is now only beginning to see this possibility through TV shows that highlight valuations (Antiques Road Show, American Pickers). The public’s fascination with selective auction prices can however make it seem out of financial reach too. But the seed for public awareness of this viable asset class could be planted, and cultivating this prospect would bring new statute to the industry. Certainly, giving this industry’s merchandise the status as an asset class would be confirmed if it could be re-established as a viable investment for a retirement account. These items can’t be worse than owning the stock of Citicorp, New York State Bonds, or for that matter Greek government bonds. You also have the opportunity to make your own investment decision on these objects.

I don’t think the present pace of business is like it was a year ago. That conditions have already improved in some sectors of the trade, just like the rest of the economy, is clearly evident. Like most industries, we have experienced a shakeout in the number of operating businesses and other forms of cutbacks and efficiencies have been forced on those that are still functioning. Even the big auctions, with their economies of scale have had to reevaluate how their bottom line can avoid red.

The prospect of a leaner industry with an improved and new respect for its wares presents an awesome opportunity. Under these conditions, I like the chances for success and how the new dynamics of change can bring on rejuvenation and success to the business.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A01730%09%09&Summary=Y&Text=Y

Section 1 (S29) Requirements For Auction state it is the responsibility of the auctioneer for the truth in any statement relating to the auction.
Comment: The auctioneer should also be responsible for disclosing any relevant information that he knows regarding all lots that are not printed in the catalogue, and that information should be announced at the beginning of the bidding on those lots.

Section 2G Discusses the disclosure of extending a loan to a purchaser by the auctioneer as a general announcement.
Comment: By making a general announcement bidders do not know which lots are subject to loans by the auctioneer. Those bidding with the conditional advantage of obtaining the loan from the auctioneer on those lots have an advantage over regular bidders. Auctioneers should not be “bankers’ and loans should be illegal. This process requires inside information and collusion between the auctioneer and loan bidder. Also, the consignor should know that the auctioneer has made, in effect a side agreement on lots without the consignor’s approval.

Section 2H (VII) Discusses sending checks to the consignor along with a settlement statement.
Comment: This legislation should disclose on the consignor’s settlement statement all actual fees collected and specifically show all commissions (both Seller’s and Buyer’s Premium), along with a separate statement on the collection of sales taxes. If sales taxes were not collected, a form of tax exemption (purchaser resale certificate or shipping out of state bill of lading should be noted as to why the taxes were not collected on the sale. Presently, Sotheby’s and Christie’s do not issue their resale certificates to dealers or anyone consigning to an auction. For a dealer/reseller this income has no legal documentation to prove taxes were collected, yet these auctioneers are protecting themselves with the necessary documents they receive from the purchaser at the auction.

Section 2I Discusses the auctioneers disclosure of loans to potential purchasers or consignors as a general posting.
Comment: This section also fails to specify which lots these loans will be applied against. Again, the issue of loans by the auctioneer to a buyer represents a collusive action against other bidders.

Section 2J Discusses insider information as it relates to the bidding process and the disclosure of the status of such bidders in the catalogue or posted signs at the auction
Comment: By making this information generalized and not specific to lots, this inside information is clearly an area for abuse and collusion. Simple disclosure of the fact that a party with inside information is going to bid is not only unfair to the general public but deceptive in its intent.

Section 3B Discusses auctioneer bidding up to the reserve price
Comment: This is the area of greatest potential for the “chandelier bidding” deception practiced by the auctioneer or anyone he may be colluding with to reach the secret reserve price point. It is the single most important reason to start the bidding at the reserve price. Again, the way the legislation is written, a public announcement or conspicuous disclosure of the auctioneer performing consecutive bidding to reach the reserve isn’t specific to lots where this tactic is going to be employed. This is a form of deception and fraudulent bidding perpetrated against the public and should be illegal.

To recap, this legislation while well meaning, has some serious flaws and fails to adequately protect consumers buying at public auctions. Issues like the the consignor’s settlement statement, loans, secret reserves, and insider information are all in need of enhanced disclosure or elimination to properly level the playing field for all participants in the public auction process. It has been crafted to mask these issues and keep the deception methods in place.

One area that the legislation doesn’t discuss is the Irrevocable Bidding process, which actually involves a financial kickback to the individual leaving the Irrevocable Bid, if his bid is superseded in the auction. On many counts, it involves fraud, inside information, deception, and collusive illegal activity. I would refer you to two of my blog commentaries on this matter.

http://newelsantiqueblog.com/?p=83
http://newelsantiqueblog.com/?p=109

Well, maybe like many forms of market manipulation, these auctioneers methods are experiencing a bubble that is price sensitive. It also has been built on a policy to expand, which it has done by incorporating conflict of interest, double dealing, and deceptive bidding practices. The last time the auction business suffered its last great economic setback was due to speculation by the Japanese in the 1980’s. But the difference this time is that back then, the auctions, and in particular Sotheby’s, made comments to the effect that the decorative arts segment had maintained a consistent profitability. Not this time.

As I look at the slim pickings of goods on the auction market at the “top end”, the rest of that part of the trade is left with low priced, physically expensive inventory to maintain. There are rumors of any number of auctioneers who are in difficult times. As rumors of impending dealer’s leaving the trade abound, so do questions of which auctioneer is goings to shut down. One ex-auctioneer mentioned to me it’s too expensive to enter the auction business today, even with a 20% commission + 20% buyer’s premium. To obtain a 40% return and still not have any inventory equity seems either inefficient or is operating in a flawed manner. If a dealer could make 40% on a large volume basis, they too would be tempted to expand their successful methods.

For decorative arts dealers, this year took its toll on almost every category. The preponderance of dealers found that just staying alive was acceptable. I have to give it to Clinton Howell’s New York Times quotation on his lack of success in selling at the Winter Antiques Show. Honest and well, is it hopeless! You just can’t turn on people, especially young people to antiques. This is now a systemic problem and beyond the financial issue. Where’s the knowledge going?

Even with the Antiques Road Show success, I also enjoy watching the characters in the History Channel show, American Pickers. I would love to run around behind barns and in their rooftops. The people who the pickers visit are real and OK. That’s the magic of anyone who loves what they do and can share an experience. Perhaps that is my secret why I just flat out prefer the experience of talking to a dealer/seller and the place of the sale. As sterile as an antiques show can be, at least you hope to engage the dealers.

As I have always believed, all ships rise in a high tide; auctions and antiques dealers are riding the same wave. The money to invest into inventory is part of the problem. Having an educated public, anywhere near that of a generation ago and who understand more than just contemporary modern design, is the only option for a positive future in this industry.

Antique furniture is the most underappreciated, least know areas of the art world. Most design schools give very short and cursory coverage of these basic function forms. The evolution of furniture design is embedded in the social and economic events of its time. But the most important aspect of good design is its ability to evolve and take different shapes and functions. When it comes to comfort the modern reclining chair has no equal in the antiques world; perhaps a Victorian upholstered Turkish chair? But that’s the point, why not a beautifully tufted upholstered Victorian Turkish chair with soft springs and deep green velvet?

Hoping against hope is a challenging position to take. Antique furniture is diverse, decorative, art, functional, and not (usually) free. I trade this commodity for a living and I am in the position of experiencing a down market. It could also be the best buying and holding opportunity. Most successful wealthy developers prefer to build and own for the long haul. Antiques dealers however, don’t have the luxury of a rent check each month to cover their investment overhead.

Ultimately, the survival of antique furniture comes down to a form that can function within an interior design scheme. That quality automatically qualifies them for use, however what makes them special is the curiosity of the buyer. That appreciation factor is quite different than buying modern reproduction furniture at a design center. It’s a shame the industry, both dealers and auctioneers can’t be united on this point. Along with the “Antiques are Green” concept, the public should be made more aware and educated as to antique furniture’s possibilities and value.

As a dyed-in-the-wool antiques aficionado, I want antique furniture to thrive and be lived with and used. It is a special experience of look, touch, and time; it’s a fun, pleasurable pursuit. Money is the means to the end, but not all the time and sometimes when you least expect it. The money issue should only be an excuse for something you can enjoy. Whether it’s a car, watch, or a home, it’s not in stock or bond certificate form. These items only pay the dividends of an emotional attachment to a certain time and place.

Americana was the historical theme of the Winter Show. Years of diversification of styles have taken its toll on the home made wares. The place now to see more and better Americana is at the The American Antiques Show (TAAS). If this is what you like, this is the place to see it. Auctions aside, it had great diversity, quality, and ambiance for an intimate look at this specific field. No mid-century modern distractions.

What was a smaller, focused show made it a collector’s delight. It was almost like going to a grand Sotheby’s or Christie’s Americana sale in the 1990’s, when the catalogues reminded me of telephone books. The success of those sales was a combination of diversity, quantity, and quality. It is also something that this duopoly can’t quite do so easily anymore. It helps to be able to sell merchandise for a fair price when you don’t have to deal with a secret reserve or buyer’s premium . At a show like this, good dealers should not just explain what he is selling, but listen carefully to what the buyer wants, including price flexibility.

In thinking about this year’s newest form of the Winter Antiques Show, there should have been something for everyone. Whether it was figures from Antiquity or sleek 2nd half 20th Century furniture, this show had some samplings. However the biggest void now in this show use to be one of its hallmarks outside of Americana, great Continental 18th Century decorative arts. Where were all of those dealers whose inventory reeked of opulence and wealth? My friends, times in this industry are moving at light speed, and it doesn’t make a difference anymore if you’re a dealer or auctioneer. The buying public is fair game for everyone.

The great question now facing the direction of the antiques business is where now? Is the mid 20th Century style intractable in its grip on current taste, or is the English Arts & Crafts Movement now ready for a rebirth? Is it now chic to mix Contemporary Art with classical antiques or is there need for any furniture at all? As one dealer mentioned to me at the Show, “what should I be buying, I haven’t a clue” and another pondered is this show English furniture’s Waterloo? My only thought on the matter is, just let them buy anything.