Tuesday 9 February 2010

"Serious collectors", "Recommended dealers"

.
In the previous post I quoted a sales spiel which said that an (apparently - let's wait and see) previously undocumented sawn-off inscription from Larsa in Iraq was:
"a very serious collector's item".
This raises the question what is understood on the market by the term "serious collector". Is a serious collector:
- one that takes their responsibilities seriously and refrains from buying anything for their collection about which there is a shadow of doubt about its legitimate origins (in other words, carefully verifies its legitimate origins)....
or is a serious collector:
- one that is so anxious to get pieces to fill holes in their constantly growing collection that they will buy anything they can get their hands on for what they consider a decent price without bothering to even consider where they came from.
So basically from a dealer's point of view, a serious collector can be one whose eyes and ears are open to the problem of helping counter the continuing unethical commercial exploitation of the archaeological resource, or merely those whose wallets are open.

Related to the question of "serious collecting" is that of "reputable dealers". On what is the reputation of dealers based in the world of the collectors? Apart from purely commercial aspects (whether ordered goods arrive in good time and well-packed, money refund practices etc.), it seems from the forums that a principal division is between dealers that sell fakes as real dug-up artefacts, and those that sell real dug-up artefacts. There are a number of (very long) blacklists of dealers that sell fakes, ranging from the bizarre Luxor and Cairo souks tourist tat to the rather well-done copies of the Chinese. It is apparently more difficult to produce a list of the guys that sell authentic dugups. Recently such a list compiled by Ernest Krumbein was published on one of the forums and I feel it is worth drawing attention to it and making it more widely available here to those that may want a checklist of websites and venues where the workings of the antiquities trade can be examined at first hand. There is a parallel list of dugup ancient coin dealers on Reid Goldsborough's website (a well-designed and fine resource for looking at other aspects of collecting too).

Looking through the sales offers indexed in these lists, one is struck by the absolute poverty of any sort of provenance details offered (or even hinted that the successful buyer will receive). Rarely are any export licences mentioned either. It should be noted that these are the "recommended dealers", [dealer recommended to collectors of dugups by other collectors of dugups - I do not in any way endorse any of them]. Goodness knows then what those that are not "recommended" are doing. Here is the list (called by some a "White List", though for obvious reasons, that is a term I will not use here). It was compiled by Ernie Krumbein, a small time US dealer and collector. It is entitled "GOOD DEALERS":
Aaron Gallery Manouchehr and Simon Aaron   http://aarongallery.com/
Alexander Ancient Art, Alexander Biesbroek  http://www.alexanderancientart.com/adm/about.html
Amiguet's Ancient Art Gallery: http://www.antiquesandart.net/
Amphora Coins: http://www.amphoracoins.com/
Ancient Art  (Guy Clark): http://www.ancient-art.com/
Ancient Artifacts: http://www.ancientartifax.com/
Ancient Artifacts & Treasures:
http://vcoins.com/ancient/ancientartifacts
Ancient Artifax: http://www.ancientartifax.com/ Many beautiful restorations
Ancient Auction House: http://www.ancientauctionhouse.com/
Ancient Caesar  http://www.ancientcaesar.com/
Ancient Coins and Antiquities: www.trocadero.com/PBJI/
Ancient and Gothic  http://www.allthegalleries.com
Ancient and Oriental: http://www.antiquities.co.uk/
Ancient Relics: http://www.ancientrelics.co.uk/
Ancient Resource: http://www.ancientresource.com/
Ancient_treasures: http://myworld.ebay.com/ancient_treasures
Andrew Hayler
Angel Ancient Art: http://www.angelancientart.com/
Angloantiquities
Anthropos Gallery: http://www.anthroposgallery.com/
Antiquitydealer
Arte Primitivo: http://www.arteprimitivo.com/
Artexibalba: http://www.artexibalba.com/
Artemis Gallery: http://www.artemisgallery.com/
Artifact Man Ancient Coins (mike_n_laurie on eBay)
Aton-gallery
Barry and Darling Ancient Coins https://www.vcoins.com/barry_and_darling-
Harlan J. Berk http://www.harlanjberk.com/
Alexander Biesbroek
Jacques Billen at Galerie Harmekki
Bimueller http://www.ostracon.ch/
Bonhams
Brigantia Ltd.
Brondavid
Buyancient http://www.buyancient.com/
Calgarycoin
Cameleoncoins
Charles Ede Ltd.
C.J. Martin
Coincraft
Collector Antiquities Dr. Bron Lipkin: http://www.collector-antiquities.com
Commonbronze http://www.commonbronze.com/
Coolcoins http://www.coolcoins.com/
Delvechio www.trocadero.com/stores/galleriadelvecchio
Dic.caesar
Henk Dijhkstra http://www.artcollecting.com/
Roswitha Eberwein http://www.antike-kunst-goettingen.de/
Et tu Antiquities http://ettuantiquities.com/
Explorer Ancient Art
Faustus Ancient Art & Jewelry
Fernandez Leventhal Gallery
Fragments of Time http://www.fragmentsoftime.com/
Galerie Harmekki
Galleria Delvecchio www.trocadero.com/stores/galleriadelvecchio
Gaukler’s Antiquities
Vincent Geerling http://www.archea.nl/
Hail-Cesare http://myworld.ebay.com/hail-cesare
Heliosgallery: http://www.heliosgallery.com/
Henty & Jackson: www.romulus2.com/henjack/
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art (Hixantiquitatis on eBay)
Glenn Howard Ancient Art http://www.egyptianantiquities.com/
Howard Nowes http://www.howardnowes.com/
Imperial Coins & Artifacts http://www.imperialcoins.com/
Janus Antiquities
Keith Lloyd http://homepage.ntlworld.com/keith.lloyd/
Kent Art & Antiques
Kent Bond Gallery
Khronos Ancient Art http://www.khronosgallery.com/
Kini Products Kim Ghobrial
http://www.kimghob.com/imports/home.php
Lands Beyond Pre-Columbian Art Gallery
Lodge Antiquities
Lost World Artifacts http://www.lostworldartifacts.com/
mdry
Maltergalleries http://www.maltergalleries.com/
Medusa http://www.medussa-art.com/
Minerva Ancients http://www.minervaancients.com/
New Empire Antiquities http://myworld.ebay.com/hail-cesare
Nomisantiquities
Ostracon Gallery http://www.ostracon.ch/
PBJI Ancient Coins and Antiquities
Pars Antiques
Parthenon Gallery
Passage to Antiquity (Passtoantiquity on eBay)
http://www.passagetoantiquity.com/ (Ernie Krumbein)
Petronius_ii
Gunter Puhze www.galeria-puhze.de
Relics of the Nile
Riyhahi Ancient Art
Romanrelics http://www.romanrelics.com/
Royal Athena http://www.royalathena.com/
Steve Rubinger http://www.antiquainc.com/
Rupert Wace http://www.rupertwace.co.uk/
Sands Of Time http://www.dcancientart.com/
Sasson Ancient Art
Seaby Antiquities
Six Bid http://www.sixbid.com/
Stevenjohn03
Stormboek http://myworld.ebay.com/stormbroek
Tetragon Harrisâ's Arcade
Timeless History http://myworld.ebay.com/ timelesshistory on eBay
Time Machine Co. http://www.timemachineco.com/
Trinity Antiques http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TRINITY-ANTIQUES
Tuppennyblue http://stores.ebay.com/tuppennyblue
Vcoins (many dealers) http://www.vcoins.com/
Wallis Gallery www.trocadero.com/buyancient/catalog/html
Windsor Antiquities http://www.windsorantiquities.com/
World Artifacts www.trocadero.com/worldartifacts
Zeus_gallery
Mieke Zilverberg www.artonline.nl/zilverbert/
Zuzim Judaea http://www.zuzimjudaea.com/
Even though several of those names are duplicates, this very selective list gives an idea of the size of the market, if each of them has to shift enough items per month to make a living (and keep a staff and shop running in several cases), it is clear that large numbers of dugup artefacts are changing hands on a daily basis. To that we can add ebay sales of metal detected items and sales that are made through less public venues. Most of this trade is as we know carried out entirely "no-questions-asked". So where, in fact, are all these objects coming from? Yes, some are items that have been on the market since the early decades of the twentieth century, but with the increase of the market since the 1970s and the explosion in the 1990s (advent of the metal detector and advent of Internet sales respectively) this source is insufficient to fulfil the demand. How many of these dealers if asked could provide documentation proving irrefutably that all the items they are selling had verifiable legitimate origins (eg out of the ground and out of the source country before 1970)? Well, until responsible collectors start asking that question of the dealers, I guess we will never know - though I for one have my suspicions about what the answer would be if it was available.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

What about arte-mission. Owner Anton Located in England?

Paul Barford said...

http://howtobuyantiquesandcollectibles.blogspot.com/2008/03/ancientartifacts-re-new-list-of-good.html

New list of good dealers

In Ancientartifacts@yahoogroups.com, "Ernie Krumbein"
wrote:
After several emails for changes to my listing yesterday I have a
new list of "good dealers" to forward to you.
>
GOOD DEALERS
Aaron Gallery
Alexander Ancient Art Alexander Biesbroek
Amiguet's Ancient Art Gallery www.antiquesandart.net
Ancient Art Intn'l. (Guy Clark) www.ancient-art.com
Ancient Artifacts www.ancientartifax.com
Ancient Artifacts & Treasures http://vcoins.com/ancient/ancientartifacts
Ancient Coins and Antiquities www.trocadero.com/PBJI/
Ancient and Gothic
Ancient and Oriental www.antiquities.co.uk
Ancient Relics www.ancientrelics.co.uk
Ancient_treasures http://myworld.ebay.com/ancient_treasures
Andrew Hayler
Angloantiquities
Anthropos Gallery www.anthroposgallery.com
Antiquitydealer
Arte Primitivo www.arteprimitivo.com
Artexibalba www.artexibalba.com
Artemis www.artemisgallery.com
Artifact Man Ancient Coins (mike_n_laurie on eBay)
Aton-gallery
Harlan J. Berk www.harlanjberk.com
Alexander Biesbroek
Jacques Billen at Galerie Harmekki
Bimueller www.ostracon.ch
Bonhams
Brigantia Ltd.
Brondavid
Buyancient www.buyancient.com
Calgarycoin
Cameleoncoins
Charles Ede Ltd.
C.J. Martin
Coincraft
Collector Antiquities http://www.collector-antiquities.com
Dr. Bron
Coolcoins www.coolcoins.com
Delvechio www.trocadero.com/stores/galleriadelvecchio
Dic.caesar
Henk Dijhkstra www.artcollecting.com
Roswitha Eberwein www.antike-kunst-goettingen.de
Et tu Antiquities http://ettuantiquities.com
Explorer Ancient Art
Faustus Ancient Art & Jewelry
Fernandez Leventhal Gallery
Fragments of Time www.fragmentsoftime.com
Galerie Harmekki
Galleria Delvecchio www.trocadero.com/stores/galleriadelvecchio
Gaukler's Antiquities
Vincent Geerling www.archea.nl
Hail-Cesare http://myworld.ebay.com/hail-cesare
Heliosgallery www.trocadero.com/stores/wwwheliosgallery
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art (Hixantiquitatis on eBay)
Glenn Howard Ancient Art www.EgyptianAntiquities.com
Howard Nowes www.howardnowes.com
Janus Antiquities
Keith Lloyd http://homepage.ntlworld.com/keith.lloyd/
Kent Art & Antiques
Kent Bond Gallery
Kini Products http://www.kimghob.com/imports/home.php Kim Ghobrial
Lands Beyond
Lodge Antiquities
mdry
Maltergalleries www.maltergalleries.com
Medusa www.medussa-art.com
New Empire Antiquities http://myworld.ebay.com/hail-cesare
Nile Art
Nomisantiquities
Ostracon Gallery www.ostracon.ch
PBJI Ancient Coins and Antiquities
Pars Antiques
Parthenon Gallery
Passage to Antiquity (Passtoantiquity on eBay) www.passagetoantiquity.com
Gunter Puhze www.galeria-puhze.de
Relics of the Nile
Riyhahi Ancient Art
Romanrelics http://www.romanrelics.com
Romulus2 www.romulus2.com/henjack/
Royal Athena www.royalathena.com
Steve Rubinger www.antiquainc.com
Rupert Wace www.rupertwace.co.uk
Sands Of Time www.dcancientart.com
Sasson Ancient Art
Seaby Antiquities
Six Bid www.sixbid.com
Stormbroek http://myworld.ebay.com/stormbroek
Tetragon Harris's Arcade
Timeless History http://myworld.ebay.com/timelesshistory on
eBay
Time Machine Co. www.timemachineco.com
Tuppennyblue http://stores.ebay.com/tuppennyblue
Vcoins (many dealers) www.vcoins.com
Wallis Gallery www.trocadero.com/buyancient/catalog/html
Windsor Antiquities www.windsorantiquities.com
World Artifacts www.trocadero.com/worldartifacts
Zeus_gallery
Mieke Zilverberg www.artonline.nl/zilverbert/

Unknown said...

Is Pax Romana in London reputable?

Paul Barford said...

Ask them.

Unknown said...

Thank you. I can’t tell if you’re being serious or sarcastic. No one is going to say they are fakes.

Paul Barford said...

Oh, I'm quite openly being sarcastic. you DO see what this blog is about and who I am and what I am doing do you? Or did you not even look beyond what seemed to you to be a single "answers handed on a plate" post taken out of context?

Paul Barford said...

Pax Romana Antiquities, quietly changed their name for some reason from Parthenon Gallery... gone from a Gallery to an auction.

Have a look FOR YOURSELF at their latest auction... I cant be bothered with the Chinese stuff, let's look at "western Asia". Well, the use of THAT euphemism at once should get us suspicious, what's meant are Mesopotamia and adjacent areas. So why not say so? Hmm?

OK, I'm always drawn to the Tell Brak eye idols. And there's one... Lot 79: WESTERN ASIATIC, MARBLE EYE IDOL - RARE Estimate: £300 - £400. No additional paperwork mentioned. Odd, eh? Funny surface. „Provenance: From an old British collection of Asian Art formed in the 1990 (sic) on the UK and European art market”. So, how does that sit with the antiquities legislation of the region? and if it’s „rare” (which it is, because ones of this shape are rare among the ones grounded by coming from the legal excavations on this site) why is it so cheap? What does „reputable” mean?

A bit further down, looky-here: Lot 81: INDUS VALLEY POTTERY FERTILITY IDOL FIGURE Estimate: £200 - £300. No additional paperwork mentioned. I like these too, this one is VERY cheap if real… "Excellent condition”, yes, sort of almost looks made yesterday-condition. „Provenance: Property of a North London professional; previously acquire (sic) on the UK/European art market in the 1970s”. So, again, what does the collector make of that, checking out the legislation of the source countries? It would seem to need paperwork to show it’s legit… where does the dealer mention that? And of course what's the alternative to a licit source for antiquities from precisely this area? Oh, but the previous owner was a „professional”, right? Yet its’s funny that if it's a thing on display in this professional’s collection in his North London home nobody bothered to clean the clingy dirt off, why? Hmmm..

Lot 82: INDUS VALLEY POTTERY PAINTED BULL Estimate: £200 - £300. No additional paperwork mentioned. Oh, innit cute? Those appealing liquid eyes… Look what Bron Lipkin (Collector Antiquities) says about Indus valley bulls, then look at the back end of this one, and all the fakes on eBay (mostly sold by UK dealers, have any of those figures even been with 3000 km of Pakistan?) This one has an unusual – one might even say abnormal – hump, and although its collecting history is „Provenance: Property of a North London professional; previously acquire (sic) on the UK/European art market in the 1980s”, one wonders why this one not only has mud over most of the painted decoration (hiding something?) but the mud has been wiped on.

– And so on.

I’m puzzled where this „reputation” comes from. For a dealer that has pretensions to be counted among the high end dealers of the West End, I’d wonder why they did not try harder to employ somebody with better literacy skills, though I get the impression looking at one recent photo of the staff, bra-size was a more important criterion when hiring. As for the criteria for filling the stockroom, having impecable paperwork seems not to have been among them. The degree to which „looking like a real antiquity” was another criterion depends on what you think real antiquities should look like.

Which is why they tell wannabe collectors to "buy the book before the antiquities", but NOT a book figuring stuff from the antiquities trade (where "The Lie Became Great") but a book that clearly indicates what genuine legally-excavated material looks like.

Paul Barford said...

Or, actually, just keep away from buying antiquities until the dealers have cleaned the trade up and are prepared to be transparent and accountable for every claim made.

 
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