Featured HOMERUN?! HELP w/SIGNATURE ON OLD BLACK AMERICANA? FOLK ART? PAINTING

just to inform folks........

http://chicagoantiquesguide.com/archives/20060216135609.php

 

Hello all - below is email from Skinner!
Dear Charles:

I hope this finds you well. Although it is difficult to evaluate works of art from digital images, my sense is that the Walker - what a shame about the condition - should be estimated at $3,000-7,000. This is a broad range that I would refine upon seeing the consignment in person. We accept consignments year round, and are currently taking consignments for our January 25th auctions of American and European works of art through November 2nd. Please keep in mind that for marketing purposes sooner is always better, and we do not charge for storage prior to auctions.

Our commission structure is progressive and is based on the hammer price for each lot. The base commission is 30% for works hammering up to $1,000. For works hammering over $1,000 and under $10,000, the commission is 30% on the first $1,000 plus 20% on proceeds above $1,000. For works hammering above $10,000, the commission is 30% on the first $1,000, plus 20% on the next $9,000 (up to $10,000), plus 10% on any proceeds over $10,000. The minimum fee to offer a lot - whether it sells or not - is $40. This fee schedule includes pre-auction storage, cataloging, listing on the Internet, and advertising. Insurance is charged at a rate of 1½ %. Photography is charged at a rate of $50 for an image published both in the catalog and on the website; it is pro-rated to $10 if the lot appears only on the website
Should you wish to consign to Skinner, kindly enclose a copy of this correspondence in your parcel together with your postal address and telephone number, to assist us in expediting the sale of your pieces. You may either make an appointment to deliver the consignment to one of our galleries or ship it. Should you choose the latter, the consignment should be shipped to my attention at the Marlborough gallery (the address is below). Once we have inspected the consignment, we will forward a receipt/contract agreement to you, finalizing the estimates. You will then need to sign and return to us the top copy of this document.

If you have any questions, or if I can be of further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your interest in Skinner.

Sincerely,
Robin S.R. Starr
Vice President
Director, American & European Works of Art

 

Have you made a decision yet?

 

well that beats the crap out of your normal finds.....but still the guy is hedging his bets.......not seeing it in person !
Still...there's meat on the bone there....& he didn't shut you down !!

Nice find !!
Now...whatcha gonna do with it ??? A-Ha !!

 

The response is not giving much away, sort of hedging his bets I think. Still, he hasn't said it isn't a Walker.
What are your feelings?

 

oh, he's called it a walker............."my sense is that the Walker" !!!

 

And Godard auction where I took it in person to said it was a real painting. I put it on eBay for 1/2 of the $15,000 obo I first listed it for (now $7,500 obo) & I would take 1/2 that - the buyer has to certify it and clean it so that's fair. I have till Nov to see if it sells (and the commission is a LOT less!)
BUT! I wouldn't have gotten here without you guys! I am very appreciative; you guys rock!
Thank you

 

the new feebay is scary for higher value items

 

I so very much agree with you Terry!

I'd consign it to Skinner in a heart beat.


Their expertise is worth their commission. It'll get lots of advertising and to the right people.

JMHO of course.

And wishing only the best for you.

 

DITTO.
Listing on ebay could still backfire on you, Skinner's note is based on some photos and shouldn't, at this point, be taken as gospel in terms of verification.
Good luck with whatever you decide and congrats on what seems to be a great find!

 

I had no idea you were so screwed on price when consigning to a major auction house. So they receive 30% of the hammer price, plus another 23% "buyers premium", or close to 50% of what the buyer pays for the item. AND they charge the seller a minimum fee of what, probably $100, on top of that? This puts them OVER 50% of what the item sells for on a less than $1000 item.

Sample item that sells for $1000 to keep the math easy. Item sells for $1000. Skinner takes $300 of that, seller takes $700. Skinner takes $230 as "buyer premium". Skinner takes $100 back from seller as fees.
Total paid by buyer: $1230.
Total to Skinner: $630.
Total to seller: $600.
Wow.

 

Jeff drum nailed it. Skinner has nice stuff and can get your item out there to sell it for you but they do take a nice chunk out of what it sells for. Since ebay does have its new fee where they also take a big amount of what it sells for you might want to take it down. Also you could take it to a local gallery and see if they could sell it for you which I did with mine. Kodner gallery located in St Louis missouri. Check them out that's where I took some of my stuff. Also check around local auction houses and maybe you could put it in a local auction. Just make sure you put a reserve price on it but definitely get it authenticated first.

 

with powerhouse names come high fees............

 

I am sure an Aussie legal expert will have more details, but as I understand it, auction houses have the duty of care to ensure items they have listed are accurately described and genuine. I recently bought a small oil painting auctioned as "Robert Cox". On closer inspection at home, it clearly wasn't and it was obvious the signature had been added. I went straight back to the auction house and they accepted my comments. No questions, no arguments, I was given a full refund including all charges. In the following catalogue the painting appeared as " a small painting of flowers, signed", but no attribution. It was sold that week, so I guess everyone was happy.

 

The fine print for auction houses I see is strictly caveat emptor. They make a point of saying they do not guarantee anything; would be bidders are advised to come inspect items in person & form their own opinions.

This is also on the thread I started about a line of faux marble plaques with (probably) faux bronze medals on the back. You would never know from description & price achieved that this was one of them:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/4999306_032013-madame-leon-bertaux-oval-marble-relief-plaque

This is typical boilerplate:

Condition reports are provided as a courtesy and are based solely on opinion and observation and are not a guarantee of an item's quality, as well as reflect expectations subject to the given age of the given lot. Condition reports carry no guarantee, implied or otherwise, of their correctness. Existence of a condition report for a given lot does not presume that all aspects of a particular lot have been analyzed. While every reasonable effort is made to respond to all requests for condition, due to the volume of requests, DuMouchelles cannot guarantee that all requests will receive a response.

 

Their reach into the markets that desire a item is undeniable. But waiting till Jan 25 for the auction and then a few weeks more to get paid is hard for me.
I have someone coming tomorrow who is offering $4,000 - the box of paintings cost me $40; I'm happy if he buys it.
AND when he sees how much & what kind of stuff is packed in that house. I'm hoping he'll end up buying more things!
Plus - there is a vault auction on Sat! lol