Doubts about a trinket found at the bottom of the attic? Or on an unsigned painting that could well be a master painting? The eye of an expert could well bring you big returns, and also prevent you from making a mistake by throwing away the object in question too quickly. For more than ten years, the Ivoire group (which brings together 15 auction houses across France) has organized its national valuation days, a free operation which makes it possible to determine the value of all its movable property, at legal meaning of the term: books, wine, old jewelry and toys, vintage automobiles, stamps, paintings from any period, sculptures and antiques or even more recent collectibles like Magic or Pokémon cards… All the specialties of the market art in short can be concerned.
“Collectible objects whose value we would like to know in order to insure our property or to make a fair sharing between our children to plan for the future, in the context of an inheritance for example”, specifies Léonard Pomez, auctioneer from the Boisseau-Pomez auction house in Troyes (Aube).
“It’s like a police investigation”
The Trojan auction house gets the ball rolling on January 13 and 14 by offering two free days of meetings with specialists: the 3 Trojan auctioneers but also 12 Parisian experts who came specially to receive the requesting public. By appointment, “the public can come with their objects or representative photos of their property to find out their value and possibly detect nuggets, treasures, and why not then offer them for auction through our services”, adds Léonard Pomez .
Among the most recent themes, gaming or Barbie dolls have their place. “This is what we call the kidulte trend, young adults who nostalgically rediscover games that they enjoyed playing when they were children,” explains his partner Geoffroy Boisseau, auctioneer.
For the average visitor, estimating the value of an object can seem very subjective. However, this is not the case. “It’s like a real estate agent valuing a house,” says Léonard Pomez. “The auctions are public, so we can trace the history of a sale result already obtained for a similar object. Then, it’s like a police investigation, you have to look for a signature, a mark on the ceramics for example, clues slipped on the objects. »
45,000 euros a collection of 100 Pokémon cards
Without forgetting to have an eye, for example on the material of the object. “Is it earthenware, porcelain, bronze, repel?” There are a set of clues that you have to try to look for, like the rare artist’s signature.” Because more than the age of the object, it is above all its rarity which gives it value or not. “I always take the example of the oil lamp from antiquity. There are plenty of them, but they’re only worth 5 euros. On the other hand, a recent object like a perfectly new Pokémon card from one of the highly sought-after first editions… We have already sold for 45,000 euros a collection of 100 Pokémon cards around twenty years old, in perfect condition. , remembers Léonard Pomez.
Clues to be put together, which can sometimes disappoint those who think they have made the find of the century. “Not everyone has treasures in their attic. However, it can happen and it’s our job to look, research, have an eye… these are open days, everyone is free to come and get a professional opinion, and that’s not the case. “It’s not engaging,” encourages Geoffroy Boisseau. But the opposite is also valid. “Statistically, there is a greater chance of finding a nugget in your attic than winning the lottery,” adds Léonard Pomez. It must be said that every year, experts make finds, “worth more than 1,000 or even 1,500 euros, to the great astonishment of their owners”.
A plastic mirror finally sold for 46,000 euros
And sometimes a few masterstrokes which could have gone completely unnoticed, such as an old unsigned painting, appraised by the hand of Ter Brugghen, the Dutch Caravaggio painter, spotted and sold in Saint-Étienne in December 2024 for 1,437,500 euros per l Marais auction house within the Ivoire group.
In Troyes, Léonard Pomez also remembers in 2024 “a plastic mirror, damaged, covered in pigeon droppings, brought by an owner who was doing work in his kitchen”. Found in an abandoned box, it turned out to be a mirror signed by Line Vautrin, “an artist from the 1950s and 1960s who made talosel mirrors (a material made of superimposed layers of resin, invented by the artist). The owner never paid attention to the signature on the back of the mirror.” A nice find sold for 46,000 euros at auction at the Troyes auction house.
Enough to make you want to go through the doors of an auction room to resolve a doubt or obtain information. “It’s like a pop-up museum, we’re there to buy or sell for clients, but it’s also a place to receive estimates and meet the auctioneers,” recalls Geoffroy Boisseau. These expertise days are taking place in 21 cities until the end of January through my partner auction houses in the Ivoire group, from Troyes to Nîmes via Reims, Clermont or La Roche-sur-Yon (calendar and information on ivoire-france.com). »
The best finds will be auctioned during a major sale co-organized in multiplex and online by the network’s various auction rooms in May. In Troyes, Maison Boisseau-Pomez goes even further by now offering free estimates every Wednesday of the year at the auction house. “There will be no Parisian experts on this format, but we will create the link between our specialists and the clients who wish to meet us,” concludes Léonard Pomez.
The national expertise days of Troyes take place on January 13 and 14 at the auction room 1, rue de la Paix (reservation at 03.25.73.34.07 or on ivoire-troyes.com.
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