By WENDY MOONAN
Published: June 8, 2007
Antiques
At a London Fair, a
Helping Hand, a Discerning Eye
Because some people find the
process of acquiring antiques intimidating, Clarion Arts, the organizer of the
Summer Fair Olympia in London, has sought out an impartial team of experts to
accompany visitors around that arts and antiques fair this week.
The service is intended to
help newcomers survey 300 international dealers at the fair
(summerfairolympia.com), which opened yesterday and continues through June 17.
The experts — in
antique furniture, jewelry and 20th-century art — are being provided by a
firm founded by Tim Corfield, a second-generation antiques dealer, and his
partner, Daniel Morris, a furniture specialist at SothebyÕs for a decade. Corfield
Morris Ltd., based in London, normally advises private banks and individual
clients, many of them American. It has previously given tours to select Olympia
visitors, but this year it will try to accommodate anyone who prebooks the
service (by calling 011-44-77-98-88-1383).
ÒWe want to help people who
have never bought antiques before,Ó Mr. Corfield said about his involvement in
this yearÕs Olympia fair. ÒWe demystify the whole process. We take people by
the hand and show them why a given piece costs what it does. We are trying to
make sure people buy the right things, at every price level. We ask: ÔIs this
piece a good example of its kind? Is it a good value? Is it particularly rare?
Is the condition original? Does it have wonderful color? An interesting
provenance?Õ Ó
Or has it been stripped down,
repaired in a hidden way or given a false patina?
Speaking of his firmÕs normal
business, Mr. Corfield said: ÒA typical client might be someone who has just
bought a house and wants to furnish it. A lot of clients donÕt wish their
decorator to choose the actual art and antiques. Our first priority is to teach
the client to become a collector rather than just a furnisher. Working with us
will help him understand furniture and that if he spends his money wisely, he
will end up with a collection, not a bunch of furniture.Ó
The firm makes its money by
charging commissions on purchases. ÒWe work on a sliding scale,Ó Mr. Corfield
said. ÒWe charge about 20 percent of the price of less expensive pieces,Ó he
added. ÒWhen you get to £100,000,Ó about $200,000, itÕs about 10 percent.
The fee scale will apply to
any purchases made at the fair by those using the expertsÕ services.
ÒWe have clients looking for
specific objects and collectors who want us to tell them about anything we see
thatÕs great,Ó Mr. Morris said. ÒWe also help decorators find things.Ó
Recently a client was looking
for a fine 18th-century stool. Mr. Morris contacted his network of dealers in
English antiques, attended the previews of the furniture sales at the auction
houses in New York and London and scouted some antiques fairs.
He was enthusiastic about Lot
20 in ChristieÕs sale on April 20 of English furniture in New York: a George II
walnut stool with cabriole legs, a seat rail with a carved shell, ball and claw
feet and a padded seat covered in colorful antique needlework.
In April a reporter watched
as he turned it upside down, noting that the webbing underneath was 19th
century, that the corner blocks and a pine rail had been replaced and that the
seat rail had some long-ago worm damage that was no longer of concern. (He
confirmed this by shaking the stool vigorously, to see that no new dust came
out of the wormholes.)
ÒIt has a lovely, crusty old
surface and a thick veneer that had been cut by hand,Ó he said. ÒThe legs are
solid, and the brackets do not appear to have been replaced. You rarely see
good walnut furniture in such fine condition.Ó
He bought the stool for his
client for the hammer price of $42,000. It was estimated at $15,000 to $25,000.
ÒAlways buy the best you
can,Ó he said. ÒIt will retain its value.Ó
He was the underbidder for a
George III mahogany triple-chairback settee whose arms had scrolled, carved
eagle heads. Estimated at $5,000 to $10,000, it sold for a hammer price of
$65,000.
ÒOur role is to tell people
when to stop bidding,Ó Mr. Corfield noted.
When the firm buys a piece
for a client at auction, it bases the commission on the hammer price, not the
final price that includes the added buyerÕs premium of the auction house.
ÒWe never charge clients for
our time,Ó Mr. Morris said, adding that they advise people who are collecting
at all price levels. ÒOur bottom line is to offer value. We tell clients what
they should and should not buy and where they might find other possibilities
for less money.Ó
The goal, he said, is to make
the purchasing process simple and transparent. ÒWe have an open-book policy,Ó
Mr. Morris added. ÒWe donÕt take anything from the dealers, and we show all
receipts.Ó
Buying at auction, he noted,
involves not only paying a buyerÕs premium, taxes and delivery, but also the
cost of repairs and restoration.
ÒThe price at auction might
be reasonable or high, depending on who else is bidding,Ó Mr. Corfield said.
ÒIf you buy from a dealer, you know the price before you decide to buy and that
the piece will be in good enough condition for immediate use.Ó
Corfield Morris is one of a
handful of firms that offer such expert advice to collectors of antiques.
Others include Thierry Millerand, a New York specialist in 18th-century French
furniture; Bill Pallot, a Paris expert on 18th-century French furniture; and
Cristina Grajales, a New York adviser and dealer in 20th-century decorative
arts.
Some of todayÕs most renowned
decorators employ such experts, especially when designing residences for
wealthy clients who are serious collectors.
ÒMy role is to protect the
client, particularly the client who wants only the best of the best,Ó said
Jacques Grange, a Paris designer who has done projects with Philippe Niarchos,
Yves Saint-Laurent, Ronald Lauder and the financier Leon Black. ÒSuch experts
are worthwhile, and I use them a lot,Ó Mr. Grange added. ÒWith them we are
secure.Ó
In addition Clarion Arts and Tania Buckrell-Pos, an expert on
20th-century art at Corfield Morris, have organized a program this year for a
group of Americans coming to the fair, most interior designers. It includes a
private dinner with Princess Michael of Kent, president of Partridge Fine Art
in London; a tour of the Wallace Collection with the curator Jeremy Warren; and
a reception at Winfield House, a neo-Georgian mansion built by the American
heiress Barbara Hutton that is now the residence of the United States
ambassador to the Court of St. JamesÕs.