We’ve just concluded a sale-less dialog with a prospective buyer who seemed genuinely interested in part of our stock, who then purchased something similar from someone else. This happens, of course, and the prospective punter was, I hasten to add, not part of our regular clientele. A spot buyer, he did however, point out what he ultimately purchased and from whom. While we offered something of what I would term collector quality, what was purchased was a revivalist piece of much later period and, not surprising, a whole lot cheaper. Decorative, but not collector quality, or what an old dealer colleague of ours would have termed ‘cheap and cheerful’.
Mind you, not everyone who darkens our real and/or virtual door is stamped ‘connoisseur’ and as I’ve written before, my partner Keith McCullar has often over the years interceded when my own dialog waxed a bit loquacious. Not everyone wants to know about fire gilding, or the trading history of 18th century Yorkshire cabinet maker Wright & Elwick. It is perhaps that I am obtuse in my manner, that I don’t always notice the glazing over of eyes when I’m on a roll. Keith does, and can quickly say something to lighten the mood, like ‘Isn’t it pretty?’
Still, whether or not it enters the sales banter, we nevertheless bring a collector’s eye to what it is we stock, and what is now repeated by me aphoristically, everything we’ve got has some compelling reason for being here, and we try to offer a combination of quality, condition, and rarity. Of course we price our stock to sell, and witness our annual sale soon to be concluded, we are still a commercial enterprise and must make room for fresh stock. Even our loyal-est of loyal clients will give us the go by if, after several browses on our website it is the same inventory.
A commercial enterprise, yes, and after a cumulative 60 years in finance, Keith and I can’t just shrug this off. But at bottom, we’re collectors and that’s what we bring to every acquisition we make. I’ve written before that what disappoints me, well beyond the buyer as noted above who makes a less good purchase from another dealer, is selling a piece in our stock too quickly- before I’ve had a chance to enjoy it myself.