Primer Notes

Storing and showing works on paper from the turn of the century Most damage to works on paper happens slowly and at home. Light exposure, framing materials and where you hang the frame decide what the she Read note → Auction estimates on 1895 to 1905 material: how to read them and what they hide An estimate is written to attract bidders, not to value an object. Understanding how the range is set tells you what the house knows and wha Read note → Restoring hundred year old objects: what is acceptable and what kills the price The difference between conservation and refurbishment is money. Stabilising an object usually protects value, while making it look new usual Read note → Catalogues raisonnes: how to check a turn of the century work against one Sellers quote catalogue numbers because they close a conversation. Opening the book and reading the entry is a different exercise, and it is Read note → Paper and board from 1895 to 1905: how the support gives away a fake Forgers can copy a hand. Copying the sheet is much harder, because the paper industry changed several times in the last hundred years and ea Read note → Art nouveau decorative arts: what to look at when you attribute glass and furniture A signature is the last thing to look at on art nouveau glass or furniture, because it is the first thing a forger adds. Technique, construc Read note → Buying prints from 1895 to 1905: editions, states, signatures and marks Print buying rewards the reader more than the eye. States, blindstamps, collector marks and paper are all checkable facts, and each of them Read note → How to read provenance on objects tied to the 1900 Paris exposition Exhibited at the 1900 Paris exposition is the easiest claim in the trade to make and the hardest to support. These are the documents that ca Read note → How to tell an original turn of the century poster from a later reprint Posters from the late 1890s are still affordable at fairs, and so are the reproductions sold beside them. These are the checks that settle w Read note → When to sell a work from your collection Collectors talk about buying constantly and about selling almost never, which leaves most people improvising when the moment arrives. Here i Read note → Living with a painting: light, humidity and placement A painting in a house sits in a worse environment than a painting in a museum, and no collector can run a gallery climate system. What matte Read note → Shipping and framing a painting you bought abroad Getting a painting from a studio in another country onto your wall involves a crate, a customs form and an insurance policy. Most of the exp Read note →