The World Wide Web is awash with information of varying quality and the ancient art market is not alone. Like any academic area of research, test the quality of your sources and favour those prepared by known professionals.
Naturally it is common practice these days for individual dealers to have their own websites, but how do you find them and evaluate their credentials?
The main trade organisations have their own websites and we recommend you identify potential suppliers through these memberships. In the UK many dealers, including auction houses are members of the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) and a list of members is available at http://www.theada.co.uk/
Obviously my comments are aimed at the UK market, but the majority of significant dealers and galleries are located in the USA and Europe. Do not let this put you off - great art is worth travelling for as long as the exchange rate holds up. The main dealers, including some UK dealers are represented by the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA). http://www.iadaa.org/
Royal Athena Galleries are members of both organisations and a major supplier of ancient art to suit all pockets, catering to both the London and New York markets. Their current 'Art of the Ancient World catalogue 2009' is available to download as a pdf at http://www.royalathena.com/media/intropagespics/AAW09pdfs/AAW09.pdf
It is important to remember however, codes of conduct and membership are voluntary regulations, not legal requirements. Not all dealers who are not members should therefore be considered supect, in fact some of the best galleries are harder to identify because they are not affiliated with either organisation.
Dealers who sell exceptional works of ancient art legitimately but are not members of trade associations (as far as we can confirm) are The Merrin Gallery, USA, The Safani Gallery, USA and Barakat Galleries, London, Beverley Hills and Abu Dhabi. http://www.barakatgallery.com/
In the last ten years the IADAA members have developed two significant ancient art fairs in Europe. The Basel Ancient Art Fair is held in November http://www.baaf.ch/ and the Brussels Ancient Art Fair held in June http://www.baaf.be/. For the novice collector this is the ideal opportunity to compare dealers stock in one place and make informed decisions on investment.
Auctions are the other main market for antiquities and details of specialist auctions can be found at http://www.bonhams.co.uk/, http://www.christies.com/ and http://www.sothebys.com/. Other antiquities sales are held by Jean David Cahn of Switzerland http://www.cahnauktionen.ch/
Christie's and Sotheby's both have specialist auctions imminent for New York based collectors. Christie's sales of ancient art and ancient Jewellery are on December 9th and Sotheby's antiquities sales is on December 10th.
Remember, auctions are highly publicised and competetive markets.
We have already mentioned the http://www.trocadero.com/ website for a community of dealers to advertise their stock but be warned this needs experience and knowledge to negotiate.
Antiquities auction results are provided by Carter Horsley at http://www.thecityreview.com/.
Having promoted the market, information on the illict trade can be found at the following websites:
The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC) was a ten year investigative project by the McDonald Institute of the University of Cambridge from 1987-1997. Their website www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/projects/iarc/home.htm still contains downloadable copies of the journal "Culture Without Context".
Saving Antiquities For Everyone (SAFE) http://www.savingantiquities.org/ An American organisation founded by the Lawyer Rick St Hilaire, also has up to date news stories and publications.
In England, the Institute of Art and Law (IAL) http://www.ial.uk.com/ provides relevant publications and conferences.
Finally, try not to rely on Wikipedia, it's not worth it!
Canopus
Naturally it is common practice these days for individual dealers to have their own websites, but how do you find them and evaluate their credentials?
The main trade organisations have their own websites and we recommend you identify potential suppliers through these memberships. In the UK many dealers, including auction houses are members of the Antiquities Dealers Association (ADA) and a list of members is available at http://www.theada.co.uk/
Obviously my comments are aimed at the UK market, but the majority of significant dealers and galleries are located in the USA and Europe. Do not let this put you off - great art is worth travelling for as long as the exchange rate holds up. The main dealers, including some UK dealers are represented by the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA). http://www.iadaa.org/
Royal Athena Galleries are members of both organisations and a major supplier of ancient art to suit all pockets, catering to both the London and New York markets. Their current 'Art of the Ancient World catalogue 2009' is available to download as a pdf at http://www.royalathena.com/media/intropagespics/AAW09pdfs/AAW09.pdf
It is important to remember however, codes of conduct and membership are voluntary regulations, not legal requirements. Not all dealers who are not members should therefore be considered supect, in fact some of the best galleries are harder to identify because they are not affiliated with either organisation.
Dealers who sell exceptional works of ancient art legitimately but are not members of trade associations (as far as we can confirm) are The Merrin Gallery, USA, The Safani Gallery, USA and Barakat Galleries, London, Beverley Hills and Abu Dhabi. http://www.barakatgallery.com/
In the last ten years the IADAA members have developed two significant ancient art fairs in Europe. The Basel Ancient Art Fair is held in November http://www.baaf.ch/ and the Brussels Ancient Art Fair held in June http://www.baaf.be/. For the novice collector this is the ideal opportunity to compare dealers stock in one place and make informed decisions on investment.
Auctions are the other main market for antiquities and details of specialist auctions can be found at http://www.bonhams.co.uk/, http://www.christies.com/ and http://www.sothebys.com/. Other antiquities sales are held by Jean David Cahn of Switzerland http://www.cahnauktionen.ch/
Christie's and Sotheby's both have specialist auctions imminent for New York based collectors. Christie's sales of ancient art and ancient Jewellery are on December 9th and Sotheby's antiquities sales is on December 10th.
Remember, auctions are highly publicised and competetive markets.
We have already mentioned the http://www.trocadero.com/ website for a community of dealers to advertise their stock but be warned this needs experience and knowledge to negotiate.
Antiquities auction results are provided by Carter Horsley at http://www.thecityreview.com/.
Having promoted the market, information on the illict trade can be found at the following websites:
The Illicit Antiquities Research Centre (IARC) was a ten year investigative project by the McDonald Institute of the University of Cambridge from 1987-1997. Their website www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk/projects/iarc/home.htm still contains downloadable copies of the journal "Culture Without Context".
Saving Antiquities For Everyone (SAFE) http://www.savingantiquities.org/ An American organisation founded by the Lawyer Rick St Hilaire, also has up to date news stories and publications.
In England, the Institute of Art and Law (IAL) http://www.ial.uk.com/ provides relevant publications and conferences.
Finally, try not to rely on Wikipedia, it's not worth it!
Canopus
