Kind regards

Giovanni

That's an interesting overview of the state of play in Australia. Thanks for sketching it out for us.

You are right to say that Bonhams London are choosy - more choosy, even, than Bonhams New York, it would appear, and they're supposed to be choosy too; this is something I have further evidence of, but it would be another day's work to go into it. Could we say, choosy to a fault in London's case? In conversation with one of the staff there (though I must name no names for the sake of discretion), I heard that they had been known to turn down items that were in fact scientifically demonstrable to be authentic! What I will say is that the reasons for their doing so were driven by purely commercial considerations. In that same conversation, incidentally, I put it to the said staff member that they were so absolutely terrified of getting something wrong, of making a mistake and the word getting out, that they were sometimes guilty of throwing out babies with bathwater. The staff member agreed.

The point, I think, remains persuasive, that outfits operating under the same title, Bonhams in this case, should take great care to ensure the consistency of their brand if they seriously want to present themselves as world leaders. I've considered having a word with the London branch about my own particular case, though as I've much else going on, I may or may not get round to it. But in any event, Bonhams might do themselves, not to mention their clients, a favour by keeping their operation in this regard under tighter review. The necessary consequences of their not doing so are too obvious to list.

All the best,

Alan

Same company but London can be very choosy unlike Australia where they are imo struggling to get decent consignments.

The Australian market is small when compared to London. Very small.

Christies departed our shores years ago and the Sothebys license wasnt renewed by Smith & Singer for what ever reason a few years ago.

Leonard Joel has taken up most of the offerings with 3 or 4 Asian Art auctions yearly and is aggressively seeking new consignments.

Artvisory Gallery ( fornerly owned by the bankrupt auction house Mossgreen ) is trying to make a mark, however its former head Luke has joined Joels. Interesting they have two asian art auctions this month.

All the other auction houses here are literally full of fakes.

Mark

Dear Alan, 

I agree with your thoughts on public forums, more so on the Bonhams staff involved during this process.
Your ethical stance regarding such is admirable …

Rather interesting that no reason was provided for declining, yet ‘some notes’ had apparently being taken on both pieces! One wonders if ‘said notes’ found their way to Bonhams, Sydney …??

I viewed three sales Friday, and hope to view most of the others over the next two weeks …

With regards, 

Stuart 

I'm happy to answer you, though in a public forum such as this, you will forgive me if I do not do so in granular detail, because I do not wish to embarrass certain Bonhams personnel who were involved in the process whose views I respect.

As to when this all happened, the process started about two or three years ago, and no, I was given no reasons at all as to why the items were ultimately rejected. I was told in a phone call that Bonhams had, I quote, 'some notes' about them, but whatever was contained in those notes was something I never got to see.

Best wishes,

Alan

ps I hope you and all the other members of the Forum enjoy looking at the various offerings in the current Asian Arts week sales. The next two weeks will be quite busy in the UK.

pps Sharon - your mention of the shoe-boxed item. If that's a reference to that extremely rare Qianlong famille rose vase that surfaced some while ago in Paris, I heard on a grapevine that it wasn't originally presented in a shoe box at all, but the shoe-box bit was an addition to give some extra romance to the story!

Hi Alan - 

Just out of curiosity, may I asked when did you offered these bowls to Bonhams London and, more importantly, the reason they gave you for rejecting both pieces? …

If you would rather not comment, I totally understand …

Stuart 

Alan, touche and good advice. 😂 I should be so lucky to find anything good enough to worry myself with getting on the train to Paris with a shoe boxed item.

When I came across this today, it raised a wry smile, so I thought I must share it with you all. There may be a cautionary tale here that everyone can profit from.

Have a look at this café-au-lait bowl, Yongzheng mark, sold recently by Bonhams Sydney:

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/32228/lot/16/a-cafe-au-lait-glazed-shallow-bowl-yongzheng-six-character-mark-and-of-the-period/

I formerly owned it. I decided eventually to sell it, so I took it to Bonhams London for assessment. They turned it down. I took at the same time a second bowl to Bonhams London, pretty much identical to the one you'll see in the link, so that a pair could be made, a more attractive proposition for potential bidders; indeed, this second bowl is actually referred to as a close comparator in the Bonhams catalogue note that the link takes you to. I had bought this second bowl in Sotheby's Paris in 2019. When Bonhams London had turned down both bowls, I sold them elsewhere. Now, I see that one of them has turned up in Australia where it was accepted for sale by Bonhams Sydney. How things travel.

So here's what can be concluded from all this: Bonhams London do not agree with Bonhams Sydney. Nor, incidentally, do they agree with Sotheby's Paris, while Bonhams Sydney, on the other hand, do. So who is right? Whoever's side we may choose to come down on, it is at least clear that there isn't consistent coordination between the various Bonhams Asian Art departments (this isn't the first time that I've experienced this sort of thing from them, by the way, but it's the most recent). Even if we were to make excuses for Bonhams and say, well, let's be fair, Bonhams is a big enterprise, so you could hardly expect such coordination between all its various branches, my answer would be, fair enough, but also not good enough, not, that is, when you hold yourself out to be a world leader in the field, cherishing a reputation that many of us lowlier mortals have put our trust in. 

Perhaps on that day when I went into Bonhams London, had my surname been Marchant, there would have been a different outcome?

The opening line of a poem by an Irish poet who moved to Australia (appropriately enough in this instance) come to mind: 'Doctors differ, and patients die'. His words provide a useful motto for anyone seeking an appraisal from even the most reputable of auction houses.

Alan