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<p>[QUOTE="Bronwen, post: 510509, member: 5833"]Hello, Blues. Without at least a general idea of the sort of thing you are talking about, we are extremely limited in any guidance we might be able to give. From the hints you threw out, I'm starting to envision the furnishings of a well-known bordello.</p><p><br /></p><p>Are large items requiring special packing/shipping furniture, artwork, Egyptian mummies, what? Is the historical interest international, national, local only? Would any of the items be highly valuable without provenance, e.g., a Tiffany diamond necklace, or is a lot of the value in who has owned them/what they have been used for?</p><p><br /></p><p>It is in fact the case that museums out & out buy very little. If you read the signage anywhere you will see this piece was the bequest of A; this one given in memory of B; another donated in honor of C. Occasionally, in an institution large enough to have such things, you will see that something was the special purchase of an affiliated society or committee formed - typically by wealthy patrons - to encourage acquisitions in a specific area of interest & they ante up the money themselves.</p><p><br /></p><p>I understand that most of us are not in need of the sort of tax breaks that give wealthy collectors an incentive to make major donations to museums, but your notion that somehow a museum is going to be a whole lot richer if they acquire your collection is strange. Unless it is something so fabulous that it is going to significantly increase their revenue through increased numbers of visitors, now & in perpetuity, it will largely represent an expense for them, just as it has been for your family: they have to create display space; do whatever is required to conserve it; pay more in insurance; etc. If you stipulate that recipient is not allowed to deaccession any of it, ownership makes them no richer than it makes you.</p><p><br /></p><p>And I very much understand reluctance to get mixed up with an auction house; they certainly get a hefty share of the proceeds. However, from the vague idea you're giving us of what you want to sell, doubt eBay is where you will realize the greatest profit; I have seen in my collecting area, engraved gems, that provenance does not impress eBay buyers the way it seems to do with auction house bidders.</p><p><br /></p><p>If this collection is so highly coveted, maybe one or more of the interested institutions can rustle up a wealthy patron who is willing to bid on their behalf on selected items in an auction, if you let them know when & where. See what you can find in past auction results for items that are somewhat comparable to yours just to get starting points on market value.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Bronwen, post: 510509, member: 5833"]Hello, Blues. Without at least a general idea of the sort of thing you are talking about, we are extremely limited in any guidance we might be able to give. From the hints you threw out, I'm starting to envision the furnishings of a well-known bordello. Are large items requiring special packing/shipping furniture, artwork, Egyptian mummies, what? Is the historical interest international, national, local only? Would any of the items be highly valuable without provenance, e.g., a Tiffany diamond necklace, or is a lot of the value in who has owned them/what they have been used for? It is in fact the case that museums out & out buy very little. If you read the signage anywhere you will see this piece was the bequest of A; this one given in memory of B; another donated in honor of C. Occasionally, in an institution large enough to have such things, you will see that something was the special purchase of an affiliated society or committee formed - typically by wealthy patrons - to encourage acquisitions in a specific area of interest & they ante up the money themselves. I understand that most of us are not in need of the sort of tax breaks that give wealthy collectors an incentive to make major donations to museums, but your notion that somehow a museum is going to be a whole lot richer if they acquire your collection is strange. Unless it is something so fabulous that it is going to significantly increase their revenue through increased numbers of visitors, now & in perpetuity, it will largely represent an expense for them, just as it has been for your family: they have to create display space; do whatever is required to conserve it; pay more in insurance; etc. If you stipulate that recipient is not allowed to deaccession any of it, ownership makes them no richer than it makes you. And I very much understand reluctance to get mixed up with an auction house; they certainly get a hefty share of the proceeds. However, from the vague idea you're giving us of what you want to sell, doubt eBay is where you will realize the greatest profit; I have seen in my collecting area, engraved gems, that provenance does not impress eBay buyers the way it seems to do with auction house bidders. If this collection is so highly coveted, maybe one or more of the interested institutions can rustle up a wealthy patron who is willing to bid on their behalf on selected items in an auction, if you let them know when & where. See what you can find in past auction results for items that are somewhat comparable to yours just to get starting points on market value.[/QUOTE]
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