You know you’re in for an interesting day when that’s what your boss tells you the minute he appears in the office.
So, I grab our Nikon and follow him down to the garage where he is meticulously unrolling prints he just received from one of his many sources.
Working for Christopher Wilcox, an art collector and antiquarian, it is all in a day’s work to make morning coffee next to a prehistoric turtle shell sitting on the kitchen counter, manoeuvre around a vaudeville unicycle to get to the weekly meeting, and to trip over a vintage toy firetruck set on my way back to my desk. You never know what new treasure he’ll bring back from a trip or what might be contained in those 6 large boxes that were just dropped off by a sweaty-huffing-slightly-annoyed UPS delivery man.
As Christopher unrolls his new treasures and I’m clicking away on the camera, I hesitate slightly as I look through the lens. Maybe the focus was off, or maybe the caffeine hasn’t kicked in, but…am I looking at a Picasso???
I take a closer look at the signature…
I look at him incredulously, but he’s already gone to get the car. We were heading to Bonhams and Butterfields auction house for their monthly appraisal clinic, hopefully to get answers we want to hear.
Once a month, each of Bonhams & Butterfields’ U.S. locations in San Francisco, Los Angels and New York, offers appraisal clinics where expert specialists can evaluate and appraise individual items of various genres. They review your item and provide a quick history, provenance, and verbal auction valuation.
All sorts of people were in line, from the tweed jackets and trousers to Hawaiian shirts and shorts, all clinging to their valuables. Some were even unloading full trucks of covered furniture!
My initial reaction upon learning that I would be accompanying Christopher to the over-2-centuries-old auctioneering stronghold was, “Shoot, I left my elitist attitude at home!”
But to my pleasant surprise, we were greeted by a very friendly and helpful (not to mention colorful!) staff member who explained the appraisal process to us quite nicely sans upturned nose.
We were given color-coordinated tickets according to the category under which our items fell, along with a corresponding number. Then we took our seat, waiting to be called.
The wait wasn’t too bad, as the efficiency of the appraisers were quite impressive. Of course, it helped to speed up the process when a good portion of the items being appraised were turned down with a swift “unfortunately a reproduction, and of no value. NEXT!”
Soon our time had come. Christopher anxiously showed the appraiser our “Picasso” and watched as she examined the drawing, seemingly stumped herself.
She called a colleague over, who also peered over his spectacles.
Eventually, the consensus came to “not a Picasso” but hesitation still followed, almost as if they were second-guessing their own decision. After a while, they both came to the conclusion that it might be better for Christopher to contact the Picasso Foundation to get a more thorough evaluation.
We ended the visit getting another piece appraised; a small, late 18th century, German landscape painting that proved to be a bit more successful.
Its worth? Let’s just say I was treated to a nice lunch soon after!
