In the Style of
Attributed to
By or Documented
What does it all mean and why is it important to you?
You’re considering buying an important piece of furniture, lighting, or decorative object.
You’re going to pay a premium for a genuine work by an important maker. Good documentation is your insurance policy that your purchase is the real thing. If you are buying with an eye towards investment scrupulous documentation is essential.
That’s the 64,000 dollar question, people are always asking. The answer is—and I’m not trying to be coy here—it depends. Determining value is dependent on many factors; condition, timing, reasons for evaluating, location, number available in the marketplace, whether the item is currently being made, auction results and dealer prices. Here are some of the questions that need answered to determine value.
Recently, I contributed a piece to Halstead Property’s fantastic Tumblr Blog. We discussed unsung Italian design leaders, advice for buying and collecting vintage furniture, and trends in the modernism market.
What made you become a modernism dealer?
I started out as an Americana dealer in upstate New York. When I relocated
to NYC I became a modernism dealer. I fell in love with Italy. I learned Italian and specialized in Italian Design. The market for Italian Design was slow in developing. It was thought to be the poor stepsister to French Design. Then in 2005, a glass and oak table by Carlo Mollino sold at auction for almost 4,000,000 dollars. At the time, only the big names, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, Gino Sarfatti, and Ettore Sottsass were well known. As the market has developed our awareness of makers has sophisticated.
Read the entire article on the Halstead Property Tumblr.
It’s cold and damp in Milan. A colleague wants to introduce me to a new dealer.
I’m bundled up in hood and gloves, inside the new dealer’s basement storage, a warren of small spaces, and still freezing. Piles of furniture and lighting are hidden under plastic sheeting and stacked to the ceiling. It’s impossible to see anything. We wait politely and shiver, as the dealer opens each room to these ghostly unidentifiable piles. The dealer apologizes about how difficult it is to see his things. Yet he seems unwilling to unpack his inventory. It turns out to be is a total waste of time.
This is not exactly what many might think life is like for a dealer, filled with elegance and openings. Most dealers sleep on long flights sitting up and spend hours in cold dirty auction rooms hoping to buy something special that will make them a decent profit.
