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Auction house treasure hunters: one attic had a Paul Henry painting that sold for €50,000-€60,000
Maybe you're looking to downsize and reduce your belongings. Maybe someone close to you has died, and it's time to clear out the house. Or maybe you have inherited something and have no idea of its value – or even whether it's worth something at all.
Step forward the valuers.
Sara Kenny of Sara Kenny Fine Art has been offering valuation advice for some 30 years now, covering antiques, paintings, furniture silver and general household effects.
'I'm always delighted to see new things. My job allows me to pry, to be nosy. It's always great to see into other people's houses,' she says.
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And sometimes there are items of value.
'In every house, you don't know what's behind the front door,' she says. She has had some memorable experiences offering household contents valuations, such as the time she was called to a house on a prominent road in Dublin 4.
'The executor got a skip in advance and I remember seeing Irish 18th century furniture in it!' The furniture was quickly taken out and sold.
Ian Whyte, of Dublin auction house Whyte's, has spent a lifetime in the business, and recalls one notable find.
Some time ago he visited a home where the owner had a painting up in the attic. 'Her father bought it a long time ago and said it was valuable, but her mother didn't like it, so it was kept in the attic.'
He duly went up the stairs to investigate, only to find a Paul Henry painting, which was subsequently sold for about €50,000-€60,000.
'That was a nice find,' he recalls, but adds that such discoveries are 'a very, very rare occurrence'.
Kenny agrees.
'It can be hard to find those little treasures. Houses are more minimalist and nothing is hidden away'.
But how best to go about sorting through the rubbish to find the cash in the attic?
[
How to bid wisely at auctions: 'An emotional decision is rarely a wise decision'
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Make a list of contents
Kenny is a big fan of lists and suggests this should be the first step when clearing a house.
'The start is to quantify what you have,' she says, adding that as a first step, people should prepare an inventory of items in the home, 'whether of value or not'.
In practice, this means going into each room and writing down what is in it. Such an approach can also stop family members taking certain items from the property, without anyone else being aware of it.
'Before you disperse [contents] amongst family, you want to have it all balanced and fair,' she says.
Keeping a list also helps to formulate a plan – what should go to the skip, what should go to the charity shop, what might be kept and what might be sold.
'There are a number of different categories when you're clearing out a house. Knowing where to go and what to do is half the battle,' says Kenny.
Value – at least in sentimental terms – can be subjective. 'Treasures might be memory treasures; they mightn't necessarily be hugely valuable,' says Kenny.
But how do you know whether what is in your home has some monetary value?
Keeping an eye on what's selling in auction rooms around the country (see our weekly
fine arts column
) can help inform you what might sell, and how much it might sell for.
Auction houses will also give you preliminary valuations for free, and advice on selling. For an off-the-cuff valuation, which is subject to inspection, it's unlikely you'll be charged.
The same is typically true if an auctioneer visits your house -although they will probably want some assurance that you will use their services to sell the items. You could also check out valuation days the various auction houses hold, at which you can bring along your item for a preliminary valuation.
'What makes it a lot easier these days is the internet, and mobile phones to take photographs,' says Whyte.
He suggests taking some shots of things that might be of value and sending these on to an auction house.
'Just take photos on your phone and send them in via WhatApp or email,' says Whyte.
You won't be the only one. 'Every day is like the Antiques Roadshow,' he says, laughing. His auction house gets about 20-40 such emails a day, wondering if some item is of value.
'And some of them are.'
People will often have an idea if something is of value if there is a name on a painting, for example. 'But if they don't know a lot about the artist or we don't have a signature and don't have an idea who they are, then a value can be difficult to pin down,' he says.
'Art is like fashion,' says Whyte, adding that a lot of so-called brown furniture is of little value these days. 'But if it's Georgian, you could be on to a good thing'.
Kenny agrees about brown furniture. 'Houses now aren't built for that brown bulky furniture,' says Kenny. 'And people's needs are different.'
Is there any upset when someone is told their beloved Staffordshire figurines have little value, for example?
'Sometimes they're disappointed, but nowadays people are fairly realistic,' says Kenny.
The contents of this home on Royal Terrace West in Dún Laoghaire takes place this week
Where to sell
These days, few house contents are sold in one sale –
an exception
is the Sheppard's sale of the contents of a home on Royal Terrace West in Dún Laoghaire, which takes place this week.
'The cost is too prohibitive,' says Kenny.
Instead, you may have to spread out your items among various auction houses to get the best price.
'Auction houses are limited in what they take, so you need to know what goes where, and what sells best where,' says Kenny. 'Definitely certain items suit certain auction rooms.'
Whyte says your first step should be to get a list of auction houses from the regulatory body, the
PSRA
. You can then check out auction houses' websites in advance, so you know what they sell, how they sell and what prices they get, says Kenny.
Opting for a local auction house – particularly in the case of heavy furniture, which can be expensive to move – might be a good idea.
'You don't want to be down in Tipperary and sending stuff to Dublin if it's not worth it,' says Whyte.
There is a cost to be aware of when selling at auction, covering the cost of carriage of the item to the auction house as well as the auctioneer's fees.
Kenny puts commission at about 17-27 per cent of the sale value of the item. So a painting selling for €1,000, could cost you as much as €270.
'It's pretty hefty,' she says. But, depending on what you have, there might be room for negotiation.
Bonham's, for example, charges a buyer's premium of 28 per cent on the first €40,000 of the hammer price – but this falls to 21 per cent of the hammer price for amounts of more than €800,000, up to and including €4.5 million.
On top of this, you will have to pay VAT at 23 per cent on buyer's premium and charges.
And bear in mind, it might take a while to sell your treasures.
'The process of selling is quite long,' says Kenny, adding that you should factor in two to eight months. 'And hopefully nothing will come back to you then!'
