Category Archives: News

The Queen’s Portraits

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Throughout history the Crown has used portraiture to define and promote its official image – the image which each successive monarch chooses to portray itself to the Nation. These images, whether they show the monarch as a great head of State, or as a triumphant military leader or even as the embodiment of middle-class values, have eventually come to define the visual culture of each passing generation.

With 70 years on the Throne, Queen Elizabeth II is the United Kingdom’s longest-reigning monarch, surpassing even her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years. Throughout her long reign Queen Elizabeth II has overseen the greatest political and social changes this county has ever seen. She was born into a country which still sat at the centre of a global empire, and during her reign she oversaw the evolution of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The United Kingdom has emerged from a post Edwardian society to a vibrant, modern, multi-culture one. All this in one lifetime.

From Cecil Beaton to Pietro Annigoni, from Andy Warhol to Lucian Freud, and more recently Jamie Reid to Chris Levine – Britain’s longest reigning monarch has been painted by some of the greatest artists of her time, with each image recording the ever-evolving relationship between the Queen and her people. But what is unique about the Queen’s portraits in the history of royal portraiture, is that her face has been appropriated to become an icon of popular culture. She is both a Queen, a Pop icon and a defining symbol of punk subversiveness!

Over her long life and reign, Queen Elizabeth II became the most photographed and depicted person in Human history, and her image has become embedded in the world’s cultural consciousness. Never in the history of Human history has one person been portrayed so.

Cecil Beaton

The fashion designer, Cecil Beaton, was unusually chosen to take the official coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth on June 2, 1954. The image he created came to define the first decade of the Queen’s reign and symbolised the new Elizabethan age she heralded in. At its heart, the image is fundamentally rooted in the tradition of Royal portraiture, with the Queen shown in all the majesty of her Coronation robes – with the Imperial State Crown on her head and the orb and sceptre in her hands. Beaton manages to capture the Queen as both intensely royal but also yet somewhat vulnerable due to her youth.

Interestingly, whilst this is an intensely traditional image, the medium of photography with which it was created, together with Beaton’s visual trickery also makes it a surprisingly modern one. Although the image appears at first glance to be set in Westminster Abbey, the photographer actually employed a theatrical backdrop for the photo, which was taken in a drawing room at Buckingham Palace.

Pietro Annigoni

In 1954, two years after her coronation, the Italian artist Pietro Annigoni painted the first of his two famous portraits of the Queen. Commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers in London, the painting is universally considered the most beautiful ever painted of her and is the queen’s known favourite. The artist shows the beautiful young queen in the magnificent robes of the ancient Order of the Garter and set within a beautiful Italianate landscape worthy of any Renaissance master. The resulting image is a supremely elegant and glamorous one, which has appeared on stamps and currency in British dependencies across the world.

In 1969, at the request of the Queen, the National Portrait Gallery in London, commissioned Annigoni to paint her portrait again. This time, however, the artists decided not to paint her as a glamorous young monarch, but rather as a much more remote Regal figure, silhouette starkly against an almost abstracted background. As the artist said himself, “I did not want to paint her as a film star, I saw her as a monarch, alone in the problems of her responsibility,” said the artist of the striking difference.

Jamie Reid

The 1970s saw Punk Rock explode onto the British scene. Anti-establishment and anarchic, Punk challenged everything the previous generation held dear, and its influence was truly global. How ironic then, that one of Punk’s greatest images is Jamie Reid’s famous Sex Pistol’s album cover showing the Queen superimposed across the Union Jack! The figure head of the Establishment being used to subvert itself. To this day, it is one of the most influential images of the Queen of all time.

Andy Warhol

In 1985, the king of Pop Art Andy Warhol, produced his Reigning Queen’s  portfolio of prints – a set of 16 portraits of the world’s four reigning Queens – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, Queen Ntombi Twala of Swaziland and of course, our Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Warhol chose to depict these female monarchs, as powerful matriarchs – queens who ruled in their own right and were not queens through marriage. These portraits represent independent female authority, a different view on femininity in comparison to Warhol’s portraits of the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Billy Boy.

Lucien Freud

In 2001 one of Britain’s greatest living painters, Lucien Freud, painted his tiny but highly controversial portraits of the Queen. Originally meant to depict the Queen informally without a crown or tiara, Freud had to subsequently expand the canvas by 3.5cm when he decided to include the 1820 Diamond Diadem! Without doubt the most controversial of all the Queen’s portraits, this tiny work has divided audiences since it was first exhibited. Whilst certainly not one of her Majesty’s most flattering portraits, the way that Freud has disregarded the entire tradition of Royal portraits is certainly unique.

Alison Jackson

Whatever next – the Queen taking selfies?! Well not quite! This faux royal family selfie is the work of Alison Jackson, a British photographer who has made her reputation creating convincing personal photos of intimate moments experienced by British celebrities using look alike actors. Alison Jackson’s genius lies in her ability to cast convincing doppelganger actors in the role of her famous sitters in entirely convincing, yet fake situations. One can only guess that Her Majesty must get a kick out of such fun…..the Queen as a social media savvy influencer monarch!

Chris Levine

In 2004, British artist Chris Levine created what can only be described as a modern classic when he produced his, Lightness of Being portrait of the Queen. The work which he produced in various formats, shows the Queen beautifully dressed in white fur and pearls, wearing the 1820 Diamond Diadem. However, what is disarming about the image is that the Queen is depicted with her eyes closed in contemplation. The artist explained how the image came about, “I wanted the Queen to feel peaceful, so I asked her to rest  between shots; this was a moment of stillness that just happened.” The resulting image is indeed peaceful and calm, yet it is also full of gravity and  power – a monarch who has reigned over us for 70 years.

The Queen’s Handbags

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“Following the devastating news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we are rerunning some articles printed earlier this year. As a fashion icon, and loyal servant to our country for over 70 years, we pay tribute”

Walking down Regent Street on a sunny afternoon during the Platinum Jubilee week, one cannot forget how important 2022 is for Her Majesty the Queen. 70 years doing any job is virtually unheard of so a celebration to mark
the occasion is certainly befitting.

Whilst we look forward to not only an extra bank holiday, many celebrations around the United Kingdom and the world, Queen Elizabeth will no doubt take it all in her stride in a simple and understated manner, much
like her handbags.

The Queen has always been known for supporting and almost endorsing Launer Handbags. The Queen Mother had purchased one in the 1940s after Sam Launer had relocated to the United Kingdom after Nazi persecution
in Czechoslovakia during The Second World War, and it is rumoured that the Queen still owns these pieces that date to before she came to the throne. The brand was awarded the Royal Warrant in 1968.

The royal collection of Launer handbags now comprises over 200 individual pieces though, with the favourites reportedly being the Traviata, the Diva and of course, the Royale. It is said that she orders around five pieces per year with custom elements to each, and no doubt Launer will have made sure to make something special for this year’s celebrations.

The values of these bags are almost insignificant compared to many others that we see on a day-to-day basis, with values usually being less than £3000, but they are all hand made in Britain and command a strong following with Lady Margaret Thatcher having been a fan of the brand.

It is hard to imagine, but a considerable amount of time and effort has been placed in providing the Queen with the perfect bag. It must have long handles so it doesn’t get in the way when she is meeting people, it must also
be fairly lightweight as she doesn’t keep much in there during the day – apparently only a pen, spectacles case, lipstick, hand cream and mints make it into the royal handbag.

If you ever wondered why the Queen always had her handbag, even when carrying out Royal duties at home, this was because it served an additional purpose. If she placed her bag on a table and looked around the room,
this gave her staff a five minute warning that she was ready to leave and to prepare!

As we pay tribute to Her Majesty for the 70 years of service, we also appreciate Lauren’s 70 years of being a true British Icon.

Reflections on Her Majesty

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At this time of national mourning, I think it is important to reflect on the many happy moments in the life of Her Majesty. My younger sister, Amanda, has a sweet photograph of her late and much-lamented husband, taking The Queen to inspect the Guard at Balmoral. They are laughing as they chat.

The year is 1982 and Major (as he was then) Ian Chant-Sempill, my brother-in-law, was on his second stint at Balmoral, one of the cushiest three month postings in the army! The Guard is always drawn from Highland Regiments, in Ian’s case, The Gordon Highlanders. He became their last Colonel before they amalgamated with the Queen’s own Highlanders to form The Highlanders. The officers of the Guard were invited stalking, shooting on the estate and to fish the River Dee. Ian was a very good fisherman and caught 27 salmon during his tour of duty, which I believe is a record.

One night at dinner at Balmoral, poached salmon was on the menu. The Queen leant across the table and said: “ I think this is one of yours, Ian”. Amanda sat next to Prince Andrew, who had just returned from the Falklands, and Koo Stark was there, too. Charles and Diana were newly-weds and the days seemed carefree.

Note: My dear brother-in-law, Ian, had very good Artworld credentials. He was the Great Grandson of Sir John Lavery, R.S.A., R.A., R.H.A. Christie’s currently holds the world record for a Lavery at auction, with “The Croquet Party”, sold on March 22nd this year, for £2.922m (inc. premium).

Footnote: Amanda and Ian also dined on several occasions with HM The Queen Mother at Birkhall, her residence on the Balmoral estate.

On one famous occasion they were asked to arrive early for drinks and sat down promptly at 8pm for dinner in the dining room, which contained no fewer than nine grandmother clocks! At 8.19pm, having consumed three courses, the Queen Mother said “shall we have coffee in the sitting room?” She didn’t want to miss the start of “Dad’s Army”! She turned to Amanda and said “I do so love Arthur Lowe”.

When the programme was over, they all played racing demon on the floor.

The Light of the World

The last version of the Light of the World by William Holman Hunt o.m. (1827-1910)

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This famous painting, ‘The last version of the Light of the World’, nearly life size, hangs in St Paul’s Cathedral, where it is admired by thousands of visitors every year. Sales of postcards and bookmarks of it also run to thousands annually. Very few people, however, will know of its peregrinations before it arrived in St Paul’s.

The painting was commissioned by Charles Booth, a rich ship owner and friend of the Hunts in 1903, by which time Holman Hunt was virtually blind, a combination of glaucoma and working in that minute painstaking Pre-Raphaelite way had taken its toll. So most of the painting was done by E R Hughes under Holman Hunt’s instruction, but this fact was not made public and Hunt took all the credit. When the painting was finished, it was decided that it should go on exhibition to the Christian parts of the Empire.

After a brief exhibition at the Fine Art Society in the Spring of 1904, ‘The last version of the Light of the World’ and its vast frame, together they weighed just under a ton, were crated up and sent to Glasgow. They set sail for Halifax, Nova Scotia in February 1905. In Halifax, where frame and canvas were reunited, it was exhibited in the York Theatre Assembly Rooms. Booth had already employed two men to accompany it and a third was hired here with the sole task of removing it from its frame in under three minutes in case of fire. Percy Fennell, one of its custodians, gave lectures about its symbolism during day and took up station in a hammock beside it at night, with a loaded revolver at the ready. From Halifax the painting went by train to Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg. It reached Vancouver in September.

From Canada, it travelled to Australia. In Sydney it was seen by 25,000 visitors a day. People thought they had seen Jesus. They prayed in front of the painting, fainted and had profound religious experiences. The crowds in Sydney were pushing through turnstiles at the rate of one person every 2.99 seconds, ‘ladies had their hats crushed, sashes torn and blouses deranged’, to quote a local journalist and the Police struggled to keep order.

“The Light of the World” visited Adelaide, Broken Hill, Melbourne and Sydney and then arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on the morning of Easter Day, April 15th, 1906. After Auckland, it spent a day in New Plymouth and then went by train to Wanganui (I once sold to the National Gallery of New Zealand some drawings made by a Scots doctor of his house and garden which was the first building in what became Wanganui. I hadn’t a clue about the importance of what I was selling and completely under-sold them. I’m happy they found their way home, however!)

In Palmerston North it was displayed in the Opera House, where 15,000 people came to see it. Then on it went to Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and finally Invercargill. After a terrifyingly stormy crossing of the Tasman Sea it arrived in Hobart. Artificial lighting in Hobart was a problem, but the Tasmanian Woolgrower’s Association had a vast and well-lit warehouse, which they offered as a venue. “The Light of the World” was exhibited there, propped up on sacks of wheat, surrounded by bales of wool and seen by over 11,000 visitors in the first two days.

It made a return trip to Adelaide. The Director of the Museum there wrote a letter to Booth thanking him for the loan and telling him that 104,000 people had seen it in eight days. After exhibitions in Brisbane and Rockhampton, it set sail for Capetown and was shown there. It was also exhibited in Durban, Pietermaritsburg and Johannesburg, where, just as in Australasia, it drew vast crowds, 25,000 in Johannesburg alone.

By the time it returned home in 1907 after two years abroad, it had been seen by more than seven million people. It is extraordinary to reflect on what an impact this old fashioned, latter-day Pre-Raphaelite painting made on Britons and their empire when one considers that Fauvism was raging in France at the same time and Impressionism was dead.

But what of the model for Jesus, then one of the most recognisable images on the planet. He was called Domenico Mancini (b.1873) and he was a handsome, athletic lad who stood over six feet tall. He and six or seven siblings left Picinisco, the highest village in the Abruzzi mountains in central Italy and settled in Hammersmith in the late 1880s. They became barrow boys, often defending their pitches with their fists. Domenico’s nephew, Alf, in fact, became a professional boxer and had a career of 148 fights, between 1920 and 1931, starting as a featherweight and ending up a middleweight. The Golden Gloves pub in Fulham Palace Road, owned by the Mancini family, was a famous local landmark, when I first arrived in London.

It was in 1889 that the good-looking Domenico was first approached by Sir William Blake Richmond to model for him. Richmond had settled in Hammersmith after his second marriage and was an Italian speaker, having worked for some years with Nino Costa and the Etruscan school. He was also an old friend of Holman Hunt and may well have introduced the two.

It wasn’t long before Domenico suggested to his brothers that they, too, could make a decent living as models, posing in the studio in the winter and keeping costermongering for the summer months.

In the end, Domenico gave up the street life and became a professional model for the rest of his days. Amongst others, he posed for Alma Tadema, Sargent, Frank Brangwyn and Sir Jacob Epstein. He is the boy riding the horse in G F Watts’s magnificent sculpture “Physical Energy” in Kensington Gardens. He wore Edward VII’s robes for a state portrait of the King. Whilst posing for this, they had to slice the King’s patent pumps to accommodate Domenico’s bunions! Getting models to pose for portraits, notably full-length ones, is a tradition going back centuries. Grandees, and especially monarchs, have better things to do than stand for hours in heavy clothing. John Evelyn described going into Van Dycks studio and seeing, propped up against the wall, countless eight foot canvases of men in armour. This work was carried out by assistants. The portraits had no hands and their faces were blank ovals waiting for the great man to paint the important bits from life.

Last, but by no means least, his legs were used by Alfred Drury for his sculpture of Sir Joshua Reynolds, completed in 1931 and now in the courtyard of the Royal Academy, most of us will have seen them. Domenico Mancini died in 1958, the year I went to prep school.

NB

This article was only made possible by the brilliant, scholarly research done on the painting by Jeremy Maas, an old friend of mine and father of Rupert, who entertained our Wednesday Club in his gallery in the Summer. Jeremy published a 240 page book on this one painting in 1984. I dedicate the article to his memory.

Female Silversmiths

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Does this title sound a little niche? One would hope not in the 21st century, but what about the preceding generations? If you have the slightest interest in silver, it is likely that you will have heard of the prolific maker and great matriarch Hester Bateman. She certainly deserves the recognition. She led the Bateman firm during the second half of the 18th century, during which time the company flourished, innovated, and was eventually taken on by her sons, daughter in law and ultimately her grandson, when, in 1800 the mark of Peter, William and Ann Bateman was registered.

It is often assumed that female silversmiths, goldsmiths and other prominent female woman in trade and industry acceded to prominence by association with their husbands, or families. In the case of Hester Bateman this is true, she married a gold chain maker called John Bateman and it was his death which catapulted her into the running of the firm. However, there were many women working in trades during the 18th century and earlier and not all of them were there by matrimonial or familial association. Although men dominated in commerce, and both the law and custom gave men precedence in most areas, there were successful woman who pursued business in their own right.

Women were occasionally apprenticed to learn a trade and although the majority of female silversmiths and goldsmiths would have learnt their trades through a family connection and without formal indentures, 14 woman silversmiths have been identified in the registry of London makers whose names appear to bear no connection to any male counterparts.

In her work ‘Woman Silversmiths 1685-1845’ Philippa Glanville writes of Welthian Goodyear, a Bristol spoon maker, Ellen Dare of Taunton and Elizabeth Haslewood of Norwich acting as ‘autonomous agents’ with their own workshops and selling their pieces locally. She goes on to say that this is known about as there are records of them being fined for sub-standard work by the Goldsmiths Company, taking apprentices and buying insurance for their shops, workshops, and stock.

The work of silver smithing is physical. Silver is beaten out with heavy hammers; female silversmiths would have needed to be fit and strong to undertake the process. They would undoubtedly have had to do this themselves, especially if they hoped to enter their touch mark at the Goldsmiths’ Hall.

Although women had far more obstacles to overcome to succeed, this sometimes gave them an edge. Hester Bateman’s work is elegant and has been thought of as delicate, even feminine. This is not wholly justified, as those attributions might easily be ascribed to many of the neo-classical pieces produced at the end of the 18th century, including furniture and ceramics. Hester Bateman was, however, instrumental in producing the first machine for flattening or as it was then called ‘flatting’ silver. In contrast to the ‘feminine’ style of Hester Bateman, her near contemporary Elizabeth Godfrey championed a heavy Rococo style, influenced by her first husband, a French Huguenot. Elizabeth outlived two husbands and ran a successful and business in Norris Street, where her prestigious clientele were served by beautifully mannered staff, who were courteous and bilingual, able to converse in both French and English. Her elaborate card shows that she was no shrinking violet, rather, an astute businesswoman.

Rebecca Emes was the most commercially successful female silversmith of the 19th century. She, with partner Edward Barnard formed the formidable firm Emes and Barnard, which in turn became the Barnard Brothers whose pieces turn up in almost every silver auction in the country on a regular basis. Their skill was in producing high quality domestic silverware, a prerequisite in every household of substance in the 19th century.

Happily, today women silversmiths are not a rarity or an anomaly. A quick Google search on the topic reveals the following as the top two results.

  • Women in Silver smithing at the V&A (an exhibition in 2018).
  • Meet the 10 emerging jewellers and silversmiths who are set to shine at New Designers One Year In – (sponsored by The Goldsmiths Hall). This is particularly interesting as the category is not gender specific, it just happens that of the ten artists featured 9 are women.

In selecting examples of contemporary female silversmiths, I am spoilt for choice. This is as it should be. Jocelyn Burton who died in 2020, was originally rejected from the Sir John Cass College in London when she applied for their silversmithing course in 1966, on the basis she was a woman. Instead, she enrolled on a jewellery course and studied silversmithing a night school. Such was her eventual success that she was commissioned to produce pieces for the Fishmonger’s Hall, The Butcher’s Company and Lichfield Cathedral.

Rauni Higson is a particular favourite of mine. Her candelabra for the Weavers’ Company and The Goldsmith’s company rosewater dish show an affinity between nature and silver that is intrinsic to much of her work.

Today we should not need to differentiate male and female silversmiths, we should instead concentrate on the craft of the silversmith. It should be remembered however, that this owes much to the female forebears who forged their trade against the significant obstacles of the day.

The importance of professional valuations for HNW clients

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Up to date valuations of assets are becoming ever more important – and the quality of that valuation can be critical. The last time anyone wants to discover it is missing or out-of-date is when a claim comes in and there are coverage issues.

Valuations are key for policyholders to:

  • Prove ownership
  • Describe the item, with a photograph
  • Give a current true replacement value for insurance purposes

Professional and up-to-date valuations are also key for brokers, AR’s and insurers because:

  • They help an underwriter correctly assess and price the risk – reducing the risk of underinsurance
  • They make policy negotiation conversations easier – e.g. clarity over what is owned, how much is actually worn vs. kept in a safe

  • Jewellery setting checks reduce the risk of loss/damage, and therefore claims
  • Should an item be lost/damaged, it is easier and quicker to assess the loss and handle the claim with a detailed description and accurate valuation (reducing claim management costs for all)
  • Better claims management = happier policyholder = higher retention (where you want to keep the client!)
  • Indicative of a “good insured” – they have invested in, and take care of, their property.

So what’s the problem with “valuations” in the industry at present?

There are many issues that can arise:

  • No valuation at all.
    This could be because the item was a gift or has been recently inherited, or because the receipt or valuation has been lost/mislaid.Surprisingly, on visits to clients’ homes by valuers, high-value assets that are not specified (and therefore not covered) are often identified – simply due to oversight by the client. This could be a painting, a Hermes handbag collection, or jewellery the client has forgotten about. Many policyholders do not realise that a piece of furniture, a tapestry, or some books or antique ceramics are actually very valuable (hence the popularity of “Antiques Roadshow”!)Brokers are sometimes unable to visit clients’ homes due to time-pressure – which means this is a real but unrecognised risk. A home visit by a valuer can mitigate this.
  • An out-of-date valuation.
    Prices for HNW assets can fluctuate dramatically, but at different levels over different time periods (see below). An out-of-date valuation will mean the item is underinsured, leading to underpayment at the point of claim.
  • A simple purchase receipt.
    This may state that £10k was paid for a diamond ring, but does not give enough information to replace it easily. It can also lead to underinsurance – as some collectible items can increase in value immediately after purchase.
  • Unreliable valuations and receipts.
    At the point of claim, an insurer may accept a receipt from Goldsmiths or Sotheby in the UK as evidence of an item having been purchased and owned. They are reputable companies, and the receipt will be in £’s sterling.What if there is an issue or error with a valuation? Does the company providing it carry PI in the UK? Do they have the expertise to correctly value an item? Do they follow industry best-practice standards e.g. FSQS? Are they GIA registered?A receipt or valuation may be from a company in Russia, or India, or Hong Kong. It may be written in that language, with no easy way of knowing whether the company is reliable and trustworthy. Is this a genuine purchase receipt, or could it be a fraudulent, inflated valuation? Even if genuine, it is still an issue for claims teams at the point of claim.

    What currency is the valuation in? Sterling, US dollars and Euros are currencies which can be reasonably relied upon. But how comfortable is a claims team with a valuation in Russian Rubles or Venezuelan Bolivars, currencies that can fluctuate wildly. What about a valuation in Bitcoin? What value should go in the policy – who decides?

Poor valuations typically lead to underinsurance, difficult claims handling for everyone (client, broker/AR and insurer), and even claims being rejected.

This underinsurance also means GWP can be left on the table for the insurer, and less commission is earned by the broker or AR.

What should a valuation contain?

A professional valuation will provide a comprehensive document that includes:

  • An overall description of the item, including dimensions and overall condition
  • For jewellery:
    • details of the stone(s), including size and quality. If a stone is certified, the report number and date should be noted within the description, as well as the name of the grading laboratory.
    • the metal and overall setting
    • any marks (such as hallmarks or maker’s marks)
    • a value, which should be dated and confirm the purpose/type of valuation
    • confirmation that the clasps and settings of jewellery have been checked. This will help if a “clasps and settings” clause has been applied. It will also reduce the risk of loss or damage overall.

What’s happening in the HNW asset market at the moment?

Values change all the time. The replacement value for something bought 10 years ago will be different to the purchase price (if known). There is a common misconception that antiques have no value – it may be difficult to sell them, but can prove very costly to replace them if damaged or lost.

The costs of restoration and repair have increased exponentially. If an item of furniture or jewellery has been damaged, it can possibly be repaired – but this is likely to be at a substantial premium. It’s not just the time and skill of the artisan you are paying for, their rates, rents, stock and materials have all increased significantly.

Ceramics and glass from the early 20th Century are often overlooked by clients. These items are achieving record-breaking prices at auction – the owner may well not know this, but this can be spotted and a problem avoided during a home visit.

Paintings and artworks often represent some of the highest valued items in a home, yet little regard is paid to ensuring their insurance cover is up-to-date and adequate. The value of art can change/fluctuate significantly, and sometimes overnight (e.g. death of an artist). The value is often linked to taste and fashion – which artists are most desirable at the time. John Constable’s iconic “Hay Wain” was the Nation’s favourite artwork for generations; it has now been displaced by Banksy’s “Girl With Balloon”. How is a broker/AR to know during a client home visit whether the artwork on the wall is likely to be valuable and needs a proper valuation?

What’s the solution?

Clients should be encouraged to get a professional valuation of all their HNW assets done on a 3 yearly basis. If the client is a collector of watches, they should consider reviewing values annually – makers discontinue styles over time, thereby increasing their values.

For many clients, a home-visit is the quickest, easiest, and safest way to achieve this – as the valuer(s) will come to their home at a time of their choice. This helps ensure no potential HNW asset is left unidentified and unspecified.

Ideally, a valuer should be able to value all items (e.g. paintings, jewellery, watches, guns, clothing/shoes/handbag collections), not just some of them. A one-stop-shop service – with the right expert for each area.

A good valuation service will be FSQS registered – meaning they adhere to finance industry-recognised standards. This provides confidence in the quality of the valuation and the safety of customer data. They should also carry UK-based PI in case of a mistake or error.

Brokers and AR’s are critical in the valuation process. The client may need convincing to invest in a professional valuation – they are often not as expensive as many think.

A good valuation service will be happy to do an initial phone call with the broker/AR in attendance to explain the process, why this is so important, and the risks of not being correctly valued. Having the broker/AR at the site visit is also very useful, as it helps cement their relationship with their client, and helps them more fully understand the needs of their client.

Who are Doerr Dallas Valuations?

This article was written by Rachel Doerr of DDV.

Rachel has spent her career specialising in valuing HNW assets, setting up her own business to do so in 2016. The business is FSQS registered, and carries PI of £5m.

Doerr Dallas pride themselves on their relationships with brokers and ARs, and are keen to support them in many ways free-of-charge, for instance:

  • Quotations, often including different cost options to meet the needs of different clients
  • Training for staff
  • Articles for websites and newsletters
  • Presenters at events e.g. speakers, free valuations at a wine-tasting
  • Joint phone calls to clients
  • Reminders when the market has changed and certain items need revaluing

Doerr Dallas Valuations can help eliminate concerns about the correct valuations of a client’s HNW assets in all categories, for clients in the UK and across Europe. The team includes some of the most renowned and internationally recognised specialists in their areas of expertise – including Fine Art, Antiques, Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Classic Cars, Books and Manuscripts, and other valuable collectibles as well as handbags, wardrobe contents and general household contents.

Rachel can be reached on 01883 722736 or 07876653602 and email [email protected]

Collection care: how to protect your investment

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Collections are usually amassed over years and great love and care often goes into the acquisition of each piece. Whether your motivation behind the collection is financial or whether it is to leave a legacy, it is vital to make the right choices on the display and care of the artwork or object as these factors will impact the condition of the artwork, not only in the short term, but also in the long term. Condition plays a crucial factor when determining the value on the open market. Many owners are surprisingly casual with their artwork, particularly owners who have inherited the works rather than bought them and, therefore, see them more emotionally rather than in terms of their commercial value.

As with all assets, it’s essential to ensure that works of art are cared for properly and that their condition is maintained since good condition is one of the key factors in their financial value.

Working with clients and their collections over the years, I’ve seen certain recurring issues that can be detrimental to the condition of an artwork, so I’d like to share some of the key things to consider when looking after the items in your collection:

Cleaning

When an object stays in a set position, the risk of damage is minimal, however, when it is moved it is instantly put into a precarious position. Broken items are a frequent casualty in the hands of an over enthusiastic cleaner. If an item is broken, it’s vital to pick up every fragment as this will make repairs more successful and, in most cases, less costly. It’s best to avoid gluing things back together yourself, judging from the attempts I have seen, it’s never quite as easy as you might think!

If you have a valuable and vulnerable collection, it may be worthwhile to take the precautionary measure of employing a Conservation Cleaner. A specialist in this area will have the expertise to handle the object with sensitivity, knowing how and where to lift an object. They will account for weak or fragile areas or surfaces to prevent damage from occurring during the process.

Of course, not everyone has the budget for a Conservation Cleaner and speaking from my own experience, I like to clean the fragile items in my own collection. I treat these items differently to someone who doesn’t have the same emotional attachment, however careful they might be.

If cleaning a shelf which displays many objects, find a safe location and transfer the items to this position. Trying to dust around objects, can result in knocking over adjacent items. If you have something with a handle like a jug, it will be safer to hold it in two hands and hold it from the main body of the object. Hairline cracks which can be invisible to the naked eye can be present and therefore breaks can occur at vulnerable points.

Surface dirt and dust can affect an object as it absorbs moisture from the air, into the surface so it is important to clean an item regularly. A cleaner may adopt a method
that isn’t appropriate and can cause more damage to an object than the dirt itself; a duster may have fibres which can snag and cause damage to an item, for example a delicate gilded picture frame. A good solution for this is to use a soft brush, like an artist’s paint brush, if used gently, these can help remove dust without catching on or abrading vulnerable areas.

Specialist firms offer in-house training to domestic staff charged with the day-to-day maintenance of properties and their contents. Bespoke sessions are put together around the individual requirements of the house and collection, identifying those pieces which are safe to handle and how best to approach them, and to identify which pieces require attention from a conservator.

Display/Installation

If an item is very delicate, it is worth considering a bespoke mount or display case to help support it and perhaps to prevent it getting too dusty or from being accidentally knocked over.

Weak picture hangings and mounts are common and are an easily preventable cause of damage. I have seen many an insurance claim following the snapping of a hanging wire. Not only do the pictures themselves become damaged, but they can break items beneath them.

Many owners are so keen to display a new piece, they use the existing fixings without considering whether they are suitably strong. Engaging a specialist to carry out the installation of an artwork can be money well spent.

Pictures should be framed to conservation standards, using non-reactive materials. Works on paper can become foxed – the mottled brown staining which is caused by acids from the backboards or mounts leaching into the surface of the paper. Over time this will cause the paper to degrade.

It also is worth considering changing the glazing for acrylic or glass with a UV filter, this will help retain the colours of the artwork. If acrylic is used, this will prevent damage from occurring in the event of an accident; it will not splinter and break as glass does. However, if you have a pastel artwork, acrylic should not be used as the static charge can draw the pastel to the glazing itself. A good conservation framer can offer recommendations on what will be the best solution for your picture.

Marble and bronze items should be handled and installed by professional handlers, not by general movers who can lift heavy items. People think marble is robust as it is heavy, but in fact its natural veins cause the material to be very weak and prone to damage if handled incorrectly.

The same can be said for bronze as there may inherent weaknesses in the casting. A specialist will know how best to move the item taking weak areas into account.

Environment

Consideration should be given as to where you choose to display artwork, and environmental factors such as temperature and humidity should be assessed when choosing a suitable location.

Air conditioning, central heating, artificial lighting and direct sun light all potentially have a detrimental effect on the composition of an artwork, both structurally and in terms of the surface finishes. Certain walls within rooms can provide a more challenging environment than others due to the way the sunlight falls within the room or if they are an external wall which can increase issues with damp.

There is technology available for monitoring environmental conditions and is one of the most effective means of protecting works of art from short-and-long-term environmental damage. However, the information needs to be looked at and analysed and whilst helpful it cannot replace regular inspection of pieces to monitor their condition. I once saw an Andy Warhol ink sketch of which had completely faded, and this apparently had happened in a few months. The owners of the house had been at one of their other properties and this was missed by the house keeping staff.

Condition Report

A report carried out by a specialist to assess the condition of an object can be vital in some situations. It is often a requirement if lending or borrowing a work of art. If carried out by an independent third party, it acts as a neutral account and helps to protect all parties involved in the transaction.

It is also a useful precautionary measure to prevent a costly mistake when purchasing a work of art (a condition report may reveal areas of damage, details of restoration or materials or processes that aren’t inconsistent with the provided date of a piece), and in situations where there is an increased risk of damage, for example during transit.

Items damaged during shipping are a rarity, but accidents do unfortunately happen, which is why so many collectors are keen to explore solutions that allow them to reduce the number of times they need to ship valuables. Christie’s recently used hologram technology to take a Degas Bronze Sculpture of a Dancer on tour, although can this really be a satisfactory substitute for seeing the real item
in the flesh?

Insurers may like to engage a professional condition report following a loss, a conservator can potentially point out factors such as an inherent weakness in an object such as a manufacturing fault, like a vein in a piece of marble or an area of previous repair which has caused an area of stress elsewhere in the object.

Outdoor

Outdoor sculpture or furniture is an area that is often overlooked, designed in heavy materials, it is easy to assume that materials such as stone and metal are resilient, however this is not the case and pieces do require care and attention to prevent the objects from deterioration.

There has been an increase in rainfall in the UK, so it is now more important than ever to protect garden statuary from excessive water ingress. Weather extremes are also more commonplace, and this can profoundly affect marble or stone as it absorbs moisture, followed by freezing temperatures which can cause the stone to crack due to the fluctuations.

A wax coating can be applied to bronzes to help protect the surface from the elements. Sculptures of stone or metal should be covered during winter; the purpose of a cover is to help maintain a steady condition to help mitigate damaging fluctuations. The covers must be lightweight so as not to damage the sculpture, but robust enough to protect the object. In interest of sustainability and to minimise cost to the client, there are covers available which can be stored during more temperament months and then reused when necessary.

So, you have taken precautionary measures, but accidents can happen and when they do the following steps may just help:

Gather up all of the broken pieces, no matter how small – restoration can often be more successful if all of the original pieces have been saved and this will also help lessen any loss in value.

  1. Collectors should be mindful of the fact that the way an object is restored may play a key part in mitigating any loss of value following damage.
  2. One should always approach a reputable company to undertake treatment. Once an accident has been discovered, or damaged has been identified, contact this company as soon as possible.
  3. Finally, if making a related insurance claim, do remember to photograph and preserve all the evidence. If the claim is due to damage during transit, it’s important to keep hold of shipping documentation, condition reports and packing materials and make sure photographs are taken as a piece is unpacked.

For more information contact Sarah Giles on 07876 147230 or visit www.sarahgilescc.com

The watch markets – Let’s talk about secs… mins, and hours

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Let’s not beat around the bush, one of the most common watches that I have to value is the now almost immortal Patek Phillipe Nautilus 5711 and again one of the most common questions (or statements) is that the value is plummeting but let’s just have a quick look at the facts here – if you bought your watch any time before Christmas of last year, it’s still probably going to have to be insured for more than you bought it for. The timeline of this watch is probably the most extreme, and well known of any of the mid pandemic boomers so let’s just have a look at the statistics;

In November of 2019, these watches were in demand and trading above their retail price, and this flexed around the £50,000 mark with occasional spikes and troughs.

Then when COVID-19 decided to appear, suddenly things started getting extreme with Patek also announcing that they would be ‘Discontinuing’ the watch and around November of 2020 12 months on, they had pretty much doubled in price to a £100,000 watch.

March of 2021 and things had just got to a stage where asking prices were up to nearly £200,000 for what is a stainless-steel sports watch, I even knew of some trading around the £180,000 for sealed examples, which in my opinion is a bit of a nonsense anyway.

Today’s market has changed and now in the summer of 2022 the 5711 has taken a retreat and is currently sitting at around the £150,000 – there are fluctuations and deals being done, so this is a fairly liberal figure so yes, it has lost some value but ultimately those prices could not carry on rising – people were at one stage tipping the Patek to be a £250,000 watch, which quite frankly would have been amazing.

In the same breath, we can also talk about the other big hitter in this market, the Audemars-Piguet Royal Oak – similar style, similar quality and similar demand. A fairly similar course of events has occurred and now a good AP Jumbo can be bought on the secondary market for £90,000 when back in those days of Zoom calls and toilet paper shortages you would be paying closer to £130,000 – still, let’s not forget that this was a £35,000 watch.

So, is the whole market in decline? Absolutely not.

Rolex are still playing the field and keeping their desirability levels at an all-time high…is this because they are slightly more ‘affordable’? possibly. Is it because they are releasing more interesting variations on their ever-expanding roster of watches? Probably.

So why is this happening? The common thought thread seems to be a mixture of the potential economic issues that may or may not be coming into play over the next year, and the other big factor is the massive decline of crypto currencies.

At one time a gold Nautilus went with a large wallet of Bitcoin and Ethereum like it did with a very noisy Lamborghini (usually on The Kings Road) whereas now you are more likely to be heading to your local Casio store.

Whichever way we look at it, the watch market will always be volatile, it’s a luxury item that is really not just a watch, but a collectible, a piece of jewellery, a statement, a piece of art…
it’s everything.

The one that got away…

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In the early 1950s, L.S. Lowry completed a very small number of large industrial landscape compositions, each of which included many, if not all, of his favourite motifs, people, chimneys, dogs, children, houses, lakes, etc… this particular 1953 ‘Industrial’ features another favourite, Stockport Viaduct, seen towards the rear of the composition.

In a letter from Lowry to the Tate about the 1955 large Industrial in their collection, Lowry writes ‘this is a composite picture, a blank canvas, I didn’t have the slightest idea when I started the picture, but it eventually came out the way you see it, this is the way I like working best.’

In fact, there are only four of these monumental Lowry industrial landscapes, all were painted between 1950 and 1955. The picture below, which I first encountered in 1988, dates from 1953 and was at the time, the only one of the four still left in private hands and available to own. The other three were already part of permanent Museum collections.

Then one day in the late summer of 1988 I received a call out of the blue from the director of a kitchen manufacturer in Manchester, he told me that they owned a Lowry ‘industrial’ painting and that for fiduciary reasons the company needed to sell it before the end of the year and could we (Christie’s) help. At this stage, I knew very little about the picture, as back then there was no email or internet, so I was flying blind as to whether it was th one I was thinking it was or a print or something else…

I put the phone down having made an appointment to see it the next day and I made my way up to Manchester, arriving at an unpromising anonymous industrial estate just outside the centre.

As I made my way up to the top floor, I notice there was nothing on the walls anywhere except for a few Lowry poster type prints. I was beginning to think I was on a wild goose chase when as I turned a corner, there in front of me on the director’s office wall was an utterly monumental and glorious 45” x 60” inch industrial landscape oil painting, truly a Lowry masterpiece!!

I was blown away by it but manage to compose myself enough for a conversation with the MD who was charming and easy to talk to. I established that in principle the company was very happy to sell it with me, at Christie’s in our upcoming 11th November 1988 auction with a then world record estimate of £100,00-150,000. Today it would probably be £3-5 million! However, in every good auction tale, there is a wrinkle. In this case the MD had offered the Salford Art Gallery the option to buy the picture before the auction if they could raise £100,000 in time. Back then, Salford City Council’s Lowry collection was housed on the top floor of the Salford Museum and Art Gallery, in Peel Park, Salford. The state of the art ‘Lowry’ Art Gallery and theatre complex was just a twinkle in somebody’s eye.

Let’s step back for a moment and set the scene back in 1988: the Art market, particularly Modern and Impressionist Art, was roaring away. Contemporary Art was 30 years away from being the dominant force it is today and the market for Art and Antiques was at an all-time high, even today some of the prices achieved back then have never been beaten and buyers were hungry for rare pictures. Interestingly, also at this time Donald Trump was in London making his first ‘state’ visit. He and his wife Ivana were in town and appeared as guests on Terry Wogan’s nightly TV chat show, Wogan even makes a rare ‘slip up’ by calling Ivana, ‘Diana’. Donald doesn’t even notice the gaff as he launches into his ideas on how he ‘could make America great again’.

A few days after my visit the Lowry picture arrived safely from Manchester and I was relieved and pleased to see it matched up with all our research so we could get on and prepare our catalogue entry and get it photographed for the upcoming 11th November auction, where it was included as lot 480. The catalogue came out in the second week of October and calls began to come in for the various lots, including lot 480, which was beginning to create a real buzz around it. I remember one major dealer coming in to view it before the public viewing and telling me that he thought it could make £250,000 or more, and that he was prepared to bid up to £350,000, a price well over three times the then world record. This would have set the Lowry market alight which is what I was secretly hoping for…

Of course, I was also hoping Salford would be able to acquire the picture and as the auction day drew nearer this looked increasingly likely and indeed, I think by Wednesday 9th November I had verbal followed by written confirmation that Salford has purchased the piece and the picture was duly withdrawn from sale and later transported up to Salford where it hangs today in pride of place in the Lowry Salford Quays next to the new Media Centre.

This was truly one that got away and looking back I am certain that if it had been offered there was enough presale interest for it to have made a huge price, thus electrifying the Lowry market 20 years earlier. Had that been the case, who knows where prices would be now!!

Reflections on the old master sales

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It is hard to know what to make of the Old Master Sales at the beginning of July. The totals of Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams at under £50m were only just above half of what they were last year at £80m.

The wonderful Lucas Cranach (lot 6 in Christie’s evening sale) of the Nymph of the Spring, a naked girl in a rocky river landscape, sold for £9.4m. More than the whole of the Sotheby’s Evening Sale put together (£7.1m).

There were some strong individual prices, just not enough of them. I’ve chosen 3 pictures from last weeks crop of Old Masters to write about, one from each of the major London salerooms.

What these three have in common is that they are all in beautiful state and, to my mind, are attractive images, but they are all slightly old-fashioned English “Country House” taste. It was going to be very interesting to see how they fared, in a market obsessed with the quirky and the novel.

My Bonhams choice was lot 60, a fine horse portrait by James Seymour. It was described as “a brown thoroughbred”, traditionally identified as “Spanking Roger”. I thought the presence of two foxhounds and a groom who looked as if he was wearing Beaufort Hunt livery implied that he was a hunter, but my brother-in-law, Hamish Alexander, who is in the racing world said the horse was too fine-boned to be a hunter. I take his word for it. He is an expert and Bonhams got it right.

Despite a suggestion that the signature and date were added later, he galloped away from an estimate of £30,000-50,000 to a very respectable £157,000.

My Sotheby’s choice was the star lot, a marvellous Willem van de Velde the Younger of “The Surrender of the Royal Prince during the Four Days’ Battle”. Although the subject was war, there was no gore, not too many burning vessels, nor drowning sailors and the composition was well -balanced and harmonious, but it didn’t find a buyer. I think the problem was the estimate; at £4-6m the top end was already a world record for the artist at auction. At half that estimate, it would have sailed away.

We finish on an optimistic note! Christie’s offered, as lot 12 in their evening sale, a Pastoral Landscape by Jacob van Ruisdael, the great Haarlem landscape painter. There was a panel join in the sky, but it hardly showed and the evening sun catching the sandy bank of the stream in the foreground, was just the sort of touch that appealed so much in Jacob’s work to John Constable. He owned four of them and made copies of others. This painting more than doubled the estimate with the price of £3.4m including buyer’s premium. It was painted in oil on a small oak panel, just over 2 feet wide and it was a very gentle subject, but it struck a chord in the hearts of several bidders.

If there is a lesson to be learned from these sales, it is that good Old Masters still command strong prices, but it is difficult for auctioneers to persuade collectors to part with their paintings in a time of conflict and inflation.