How to Sell with VALÉORINE

VALÉORINE creates and conducts its own auctions. Property is not listed by owners; it is submitted for specialist review, accepted or declined, catalogued by us, and offered in a sale of our own making. The process below is deliberately unhurried, because good cataloguing cannot be rushed and because it is what produces a good result.

1. Submit the object for review

Begin with an enquiry through [Submit an Object](/submit), enclosing photographs, measurements and whatever you know of the object's history. There is no charge and no obligation.

2. Specialist review

A specialist in the relevant field examines what you have sent, and will usually respond with an initial view and a request for further images or information. We collaborate with independent specialists in particular subjects, so a manuscript, a photographic archive and an early printed book may each be considered by a different reader.

The review concludes with a recommendation: to offer the property at auction, to defer it to a later sale where the timing would serve you better, to seek external authentication, or to decline. We decline politely and with a reason. Not every object is suited to auction, and saying so is more useful than an optimistic estimate.

3. Estimate and terms

Where we recommend sale, you receive a proposed estimate range, a suggested reserve, and a statement of terms: the commission, any charges for photography, conservation or shipping, and the sale in which we propose to include the property.

Terms are set out in writing before anything is committed. Ask about anything you do not understand; a consignment agreement is a contract, and you should sign it knowing what it says.

4. Mandate and delivery

Once terms are agreed, a mandate is signed. Title, ownership and, where relevant, export position are checked at this stage. You will be asked to confirm that you are entitled to sell, and, for material of certain kinds, to provide evidence of lawful provenance.

Property is then delivered to us or collected, and is insured while in our care.

5. Cataloguing and photography

This is the stage that most affects the outcome. The specialist collates, compares against the standard bibliography or catalogue raisonné, examines the condition, and writes the entry. The object is photographed properly, which for paper-based material means even, controlled lighting and limited exposure.

You will be shown the catalogue entry before publication. Corrections of fact are welcome; the wording of a condition statement is ours to determine, because buyers rely on it.

6. The sale

The lot is published with the catalogue, and the sale opens on the announced date. You may follow bidding on your lots through the client portal. Reserves are confidential and are not disclosed to bidders.

7. Settlement

After the sale you receive a statement showing the hammer price, the agreed commission and any charges, and the net sum due to you. Settlement follows once the buyer has paid in full and any clearance period has passed; the timetable is stated in your agreement.

Where a lot is unsold, we will discuss the options with you: a later sale at a revised estimate, an approach to a known collector or institution, or the return of the property. Nothing is done without your instruction.

Confidentiality

The identity of a consignor is never published. Provenance is described in the catalogue only in the form you have approved — a named collection, a discreet phrase such as "the property of a private collector", or nothing at all.