The house
Every lot is catalogued by a specialist who has handled the thing. An attribution is stated at the strength the evidence bears and no higher; a restoration is described as a restoration.
01
Painting and drawing from the fifteenth century to the close of the eighteenth. The department catalogues under the disciplines of connoisseurship: an attribution is stated at the strength the evidence bears, and no higher.
02
Painting, sculpture and works on paper from 1900 to the present day. Lots in this department frequently carry the resale-right symbol; where a jurisdiction levies it, the charge falls to the buyer above the premium.
03
Ceramics, bronzes, jade and works on paper. Export licensing is a live consideration in this department; lots marked ※ may not leave the United States without one, and the house will say so before the sale rather than after it.
04
Furniture, clocks and works of art from the seventeenth century onward. Restoration is normal in furniture of this age and the department reports it plainly: a replaced foot is a replaced foot, not a sympathetic later element.
05
Period and signed jewellery, coloured stones and pearls. Every stone above one carat is offered with a report from an independent laboratory, and the department will not catalogue an untested stone by a grade it has not seen.
06
English, Continental and American silver, gold boxes, and the small precious objects that do not belong anywhere else. Marks are read under magnification and photographed for the catalogue.
07
Printed books, manuscripts, autograph letters and maps. Collation is given in full and defects are listed; this department sells at a reduced premium of 25 per cent, as is customary in the trade.
08
Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Near Eastern art. Nothing is offered without a documented provenance predating 1970, and the department declines more than it accepts.
09
Wristwatches, pocket watches and horology. Movements are opened and examined; a watch that has been serviced is described as serviced, and a watch that has not been running since it came in is described as not running.
10
Carpets, rugs and woven textiles from Persia, the Caucasus and Anatolia. Wear is measured against the pile and stated as a proportion, not as an adjective.