When you entrust your works of art, paintings or collection to an auction house for appraisal, several types of qualified people are involved: auctioneers, clerks, experts and specialists, rightful owners, committees and market authorities.
1. Auctioneers
Thanks to their training in art history, auctioneers have the general skills to recognise the styles, materials and period of production of the works of art, furniture and paintings that are offered to them. They can establish authenticity by examining the work, and also detect accidents and restorations.
They are able to draw up condition reports to accompany the works of art, furniture or paintings. The condition of these objects influences their value or estimate.
In a way, the estimate is the ultimate aim of the valuation. One of its components. It establishes the price range, between a low value and a high value, which reflects the potential of an object of art, a painting or a collection on the art market.
An auctioneer's appraisal, like an auction, offers a legal guarantee of the substantial qualities (i.e. the DNA of the work, its authenticity and its provenance) of the work appraised or auctioned.
2. Study clerks
Thanks to their experience in the field and in the art market, research clerks offer generalist appraisal skills comparable to those of auctioneers. They are able to identify and appraise works of art.
If they deem it necessary, the auctioneers, of whom there are a record 15 in the MILLON auction house, can refer you to the 30 experts or specialists in the auction house.
3. Art experts and in-house specialists
In contrast to the generalist skills of auctioneers and law clerks, experts and specialists have developed in-depth knowledge of a particular field of art and have made it their speciality.
Art experts are usually independent and have insurance, which they obtain by joining an art experts' union. There are more than a dozen in France. Others may also choose to remain within the fold of an auction house by becoming a "house specialist", in which case they may take charge of the auction house's art departments.
The association of an auctioneer and an independent expert offers a double guarantee that gives the work a very high level of appraisal security, perfect legal cover and unquestionable objectivity in the estimate.
This principle, which focuses on the work before it goes to public sale, is one of the founding principles of MILLON Auctions in order to fulfil the auctioneer's 2 main missions: protecting the seller and guaranteeing the buyer.
More than 30 experts or specialists work closely with MILLON, creating the largest network of expertise in Europe.
Department heads are generally specialists in the art department they head. On behalf of the auction house, they carry out the valuations and appraisals themselves. They are able to draw up condition reports establishing the precise condition of the work. It is they who decide whether or not to call in an expert or to consult the rightful owners or authoritative committees on an artist in case of doubt.
4. Committees, rights holders and market authorities
These various people, who sometimes form a single entity that has generally published a catalogue raisonné on the artist or creator they are defending, are at the end of the expertise chain. They are the last resort, usually for a fee, with the power of life or death over a work. It is they who will "attribute" the work presented to the "presumed author or creator". For example, they may :
- Issue a certificate of authenticity
- Confirm the work's inclusion in the next catalogue raisonné
- Reject the work and, in some cases, order its destruction as a fake
- Issue a "duplicate" if the original certificate is lost