The value of patina on the antiques market – Affinities and relationships between conservation theories and buyers' taste. (original) (raw)
Culture Unbound, 2019
This article examines how notions of patina are conveyed by experts in the antiques trade. How do antiques experts convey perceptions of patina to their clients and audience? How do they explain, persuade, and put forward their standards of condition? Three examples are analysed, a conversation about a sundial from the Swedish Antiques Roadshow, a conversation about a toy car from the British Antiques Roadshow and a vintage watches collecting guide from Christie’s auction house. Different persuasive strategies and styles used by the experts to convey their norms are identified. A change towards higher appreciation of patina can be discerned. Furthermore, the article analyses patina in regard to the relationship between surface and core of an object and in regard to use and usefulness. It is suggested that objects with patina are popular because we as humans feel an affinity with them. If things have a life trajectory, it will also involve ageing, and by surrounding ourselves with ol...
The Possibility of Patina in Contemporary Art or, does the 'New Art' Have a Right to Get Old?
2000
The following article discusses contradictions arising in the conservation of con - temporary art. As theoretical, philosophical and material value judgements in conservation are referred to traditional art, we are facing a basic dilemma: how far can we still apply these criteria to the conservation of contemporary art, con- sidering its different characteristics, which have dramatically changed its percep -
Motives For Purchasing Artwork, Collectibles And Antiques
Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 2011
Art is disaggregated into tangible and intangible offerings. Intangible art is one-time experiences of aesthetical and nostalgic products with no post-consumption exchange value. Tangible art preserves post-consumption exchange value. While psychographics of the consumers of intangible art are well-established, consumers of tangible art are under-researched. This research identifies and measures 16 different motives that underlie the purchase of artwork, collectibles and antiques. Heavy-consumers are found to score significantly higher than light-consumers on 8 of these motives: expected price fairness (economic); social acceptability and group identification (normative); aesthetics, pleasure and immersion (hedonic); culture (intellectual); and harmony. Findings are discussed and implications and limitations are also included.
The role of conservation in the preservation of the authenticity of furniture
ICOM-CC Triennial Conference Lisbon, 2011
Based on the author’s Ph.D. dissertation entitled L’authenticité du mobilier français de la période classique : interprétation, évaluation et préservation (Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV), the aim of this paper is to discuss the concept of authenticity of furniture in the context of conservation. After reviewing the meanings of authenticity and its semantic field, its evolving interpretation in the conservation world will be explored. Based on the discussions developed during the Nara Conference on Authenticity in 1994, evaluation criteria of the authenticity of furniture will be suggested. Selected case studies will illustrate the use of these criteria while underlining the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach in the understanding of the authenticity of furniture.
The Poetry of Antiques: Trade and/in Knowledge among British Antiques Dealers
Etnologia Actualis, 2017
This article considers the role of information, communication, and knowledge in processes of exchange and value creation in the British antiques market. As such, it positions itself between the long-standing anthropological interest in the cultural construction of value (see APPADURAI 1986; GRAEBER 2001), and the equally long-standing interest in how asymmetries of information affect consumer behaviour (see AKERLOF 1970). Drawing on ethnographic material gathered over three months of fieldwork amongst antique dealers in the Notting Hill and Kensington Area of London, I aim to through light on what it is that dealers 'know' and how this knowledge is translated into profit within the trade. I argue that dealers' knowledge of objects is encyclopaedic, discursive, and tactile at once and it is gained mainly through many years of handling of objects. Dealers must also keep abreast with the market movement of objects and their prices using this information to gage the potential profit they may accrue from a deal. Both forms of knowledge, I argue, are mobilized at once when a dealer is investing in stock and when he or she seeks to sell an item, in a ritual of show-and-tell that serves to both to verify the quality, condition and authenticity of a piece and to simultaneously negotiate its price.
2014
This paper discusses the aesthetical aspects of ageing and focusses on the use of the terms ‘patina’ and ‘damage’ to decide on the cleaning of historical facades and the application of artificial ageing. Conservation campaigns can be characterized by the wish to preserve an object, building or building complex as a coherent piece of Cultural Heritage. This paper discusses the professional debate on balancing between preserving values, i.e. represented by patina and the need to intervene from a technical point of view. Cases on cleaning of limestone and sandstone together with replacement of natural stone and the application of artificial ageing are used to illustrate the debate. The perception of professionals is compared with the perception of laymen.
01/03/2018 - Conference: "Conservation Ethics Today", ICOMOS, Florence
Art historical research needs to consider the materiality of artefacts, but the character of the material and the state of preservation of any object change over time. Today‘s restoration and conservation sciences provide the basis for present research in the field of history of art and architecture. Following this premises and with some examples from current research projects our paper tries to show how much the contemporary academic Art History can benefit from the material and technical knowledge of conservators.
Collecting Histories and the Market for Classical Antiquities
2010
The use of the term “provenance” when applied to archaeological material has been related to previous ownership. The collecting histories of over 120 items returned to Italy from North American collections have demonstrated the need for the careful and rigorous documentation of individual pieces. Such a history would chart the “life” of the object from the moment that it is discovered to the point when it is sold at auction or acquired by a museum or private individual. The impact of the scandal surrounding the “Medici Conspiracy” has led to the withdrawal of lots from a London sale in 2008, and a series of seizures from a New York auction house in 2009. The lack of collecting histories for individual objects suggests that the pieces were removed from their archaeological contexts, such as graves, by unscientific methods. The study argues that the widely used term “provenance” is essentially obsolete when applied to antiquities.
2008
The title Authenticity and conservation state of art works: The market and auction houses mirrors the particular status of confusion and instability in which the auction houses – find themselves – nowadays. It is an international situation of existential and economic crisis in which humanity appears to be excited and schizophrenic. This lecture is part of a series all dedicated to various aspects of art, with a particular focus on the great Italian artist Giorgio Morandi. A good selection of his works is currently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Giorgio Morandi conceived art as a “practice of silence”, where his “still life” functioned as a filter to observe the world outside his small cloistered art studio. By emphasizing the importance of weight and gravity with grace and attention, this artist can therefore teach us how important it is to judge a piece of art not only subjectively – giving greatest relevance to the satisfaction of individual aesthetical standards – but also objectively – where the techniques and the materials utilized assume the greatest significance. This allows the estimator to estimate correctly their economic and financial value. The second part of the lecture consists in the presentation of the historical-technical journal Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage. It represents an emblematic gathering of experts, symbolizing therefore a necessary encounter among people with different cultural backgrounds, experiences and skills. They meet to address and discuss issues related to their common field of study, the Cultural Heritage sector. This jolts, as it can be imagined, American art critics. They often lack social criticism showing them to be too focused on aesthetics and elegance of form. The consequent question arises: is this really true?
Fake originals or authentic replicas? Authenticity and conservation practices of historic vehicles
Authenticity Studies, 2022
The concept of authenticity has been challenged by several authors when applied to cultural heritage. However, little thinking has been devoted to the impact that the shifting concept of authenticity has on conservation practices of mobile heritage (e.g. vintage cars, historic trains, ships, aeroplanes, motorcycles). The topic is explored here through some case studies from Italy and the UK, and will be introduced by a brief summary of the concepts of authenticity and replicas. The paper will highlight a different understanding of the concept of authenticity by collectors and museums, leading to different approaches to conservation practices. The author underlines the difference between “originality” and “authenticity” and suggests that “authenticity” is tied to the perception and experience of cultural heritage, while “originality” is related to the fabric. Even though there is merit in all the different approaches to conservation, conversations on this subject are needed to ensure a streamlining of concepts and vocabulary applied by the different stakeholders.
OBSOLESCENCE, MATERIALS AND AUTHENTICITY. THE OPINION OF CÉCILE DAZORD AND MARIE-HÉLÈNE BREUIL
2014
The French group INCCA met in Marseilles in February 2014. Through this meeting we had the opportunity to talk with Cecile Dazord and Marie-Hélène Breuil, organizers of the event. Both researchers are involved in the conservation of contemporary art for years. Thanks to its extensive experience we could think deeply about some of the most debated issues concerning the conservation of contemporary art.
Paper is Part of the Picture : Connoisseurship and Conservation Practice
2020
Paper Conservators have long relied on a variety of bathing and bleaching methods to reduce discoloration and stains in works of art on paper. Justifications for aqueous treatment, however, are steeped in subjective interpretation, shaped by historic, cultural, and institutional contexts. In her opening presentation, “Paper is Part of the Picture,” Peggy Ellis examined the way in which our sensitivity to the subtle characteristics of historic papers is necessarily limited by our modern experience of what paper is. Cleaning treatments may significantly alter chromatic and tonal values or remove indicators of artistic practice or historical use, potentially changing the authentic presentation of the work to meet the expectations of the viewing audience. Marian Dirda explored the complex decision-making process behind deciding on a treatment designed to reduce paper staining, and the importance of openly engaging with curatorial colleagues to evaluate the impact of treatment in “Connoi...
Rescuing and Preserving Values in Vintage Clothing
Journal of Promotional Communications, 2020
Where previous research into second-hand commodities has focused on dispossession, commodity spheres, and negative contamination, we consider the post-purchase resingularisation and rituals that consumers undertake to preserve invested meaning. Drawing on data gathered from phenomenological interviews with vintage clothing enthusiasts in England and Wales we provide an account of different types of contamination and resingularisation processes. These include new forms of positive and negative contamination where the self becomes a potential pollutant detracting from a good's ability to actualise displaced meanings.