Silver

The Peartree Collection letter published in the ATG, 23rd July

ATG letter: Why I waved bye-bye to Online Galleries

MADAM – I wanted to add to the discussion (ATG No 2344) on the recent fee increase by Online Galleries (Anthony Bernbaum of The Peartree Collection writes).

I chose not to continue with Online Galleries (or its parent, 1stdibs) as a result of a subscription increase that, in my case, was from £175 per month to £400 per month and in the middle of what I considered an annual subscription agreement (a case of ‘always read the small print’, it seems).

Coming off Online Galleries will, without doubt, cost me valuable referrals, and according to Google analytics, has already reduced traffic to my own website. When I Google relevant search terms like ‘Archibald Knox silver’ I have the galling experience of seeing my images as previously listed on Online Galleries linking to their home page.

My analysis of the direct value of Online Galleries to me is that it is indeed worth over £400 per month, generating well over £10,000 of sales per year.

Squeezed on costs

So why come off it? Well, I believe that the internet will become an increasingly dominant channel for antiques and design galleries and so control of that channel is critical.

With this in mind, I cannot envisage partnering with an internet site for the long term when there is such a breakdown in trust. When my sales are, say, 50%, not 5-10%, through Online Galleries, what then?

Will I be asked to pay £4000 per month, or, as for 1stdibs, well over 10% of sales?

Physical galleries are being squeezed by increasing rents and now we have intermediary listings providers trying to recreate an online equivalent.

More than this though, it is important to ask what is the valueadd of an intermediary like Online Galleries? Just 10 years ago the answer was ‘quite a lot’.

Building workable websites was expensive, listings sites even more so, and that warranted high fees. With the emergence of HTML templates however, it is inexpensive and easy to create very effective websites.

Longer-term gain

So, what are we, as dealers, paying for? The reality is we are paying an intermediary to promote itself at our expense. My images on Google from Online Galleries are there for a reason, indirectly I have paid for it. So why would I pay to become more and more dependent on an intermediary whose value-add is to a large degree a function of my expertise, my products and, in fact, my money?

So, it’s bye-bye Online Galleries and hello to BADA and LAPADA, who have created listing sites empathetic to both the consumer and industry, and also to Instagram.

With increased investment in my own site I am confident that what I may lose in the short term will be more than gained in the longer term.

Anthony Bernbaum
The Peartree Collection, London

The Peartree Collection joins LAPADA

I am delighted to announce that the gallery has become a member of LAPADA.  A selection of items for sale can now be found at both BADA’s and LAPADA’s listing websites. The Peartree Collection no longer lists items with 1st dibs or its subsidiary, Online Galleries.

Major new pieces to be showcased at BADA Fair – Catalogue available

Major new pieces to be showcased at BADA Fair
Catalogue available

We will be exhibiting a number of major new pieces by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co at the BADA Fair. Highlights are in the attached catalogue and will include a rare Cymric clock, a large enamel and stone set tankard, two great Knox inkwells and enamelled vase.  Overall fifteen new Knox Cymric silver pieces from a private collection will be for sale, together with other items from the Wiener Werkstatte, Charles Ashbee, Christopher Dresser, Gilbert Marks, Kate Harris and Ramsden & Carr.

The BADA Fair, London, opens on 14th March. Please contact me if you require a ticket.

View the Peartree Collection Catalogue

The Peartree Collection will exhibit at BADA Fair, 14 – 20th March

The Peartree Collection will be exhibiting at the BADA Fair, Stand C28,  from 14-20th March, Chelsea, London.  Please contact me for a further details and a ticket. I will be exhibiting a number of new pieces from private collections, most notably an exceptional collection of Cymric silver by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co.

New research on Voysey’s auminium clocks published

I have just published new research into Voysey’s aluminium clocks. It can be found in the Research section of the website.  Published in The Orchard, the Voysey Society Journal, it provides further insight into the provenance of these rare cloccks.

Exhibition in Madrid now open

The Fundacian Juan March opened its new British arts and crafts exhibition on Friday evening to resounding success, queues were sighted around the block.  It’s a phenomenal exhibition with exhibits from major private collectors (present company excepted – Jimmy Page being one) and strong support from the V & A and Hunterian.  My paltry images capture a small flavour only. Well worth a trip if you are looking for a weekend away.

 

 

Details on Spanish arts and crafts exhibition released

Details for the the arts and crafts exhibition to be held at the Foundacion Juan March in Madrid have been released and can be found by clicking here.

Opening on October 17th it promises to be a major exhibition on the British arts and crafts movement with over 300 exhibits by all the leading participants in the Movement including Morris, Voysey, Ashbee, Mackintosh, Baillie Scott and Gimson.

Exhibiting at Stand E3, The Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia

The Peartree Collection will be exhibiting at Stand E3, as for last year, at The Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia from 26th June.  Please contact me for tickets.

We will be exhibiting over 70 new items purchased since last year, many of which are not on the website, including a wider selection of jewellery.

Bernard Instone necklace

Comte Enguerrand du Suau de la Croix pendant

Peter Behrens tribute to Knox

This caddy has just featured on ebay and is by Osiris with Peter Behrens workshop mark. Without doubt a copy of a Liberty piece by Knox.

Two new forthcoming arts and crafts exhibitions

The Peartree Collection is delighted to support these two forthcoming exhibitions and will be loaning a number of pieces to each which can now be seen on a new “MUSEUM LOANS” section of this website.

From March 7th April to 9th July, The Court Barn Museum, Chipping Camden, is holding a special exhibition “Cockneys in Arcadia; C R Ashbee in Chipping Campden” focussing on The Guild of Handicraft’s work from 1902, after they had moved to the Cotswolds.

http://courtbarn.org.uk/whats-on/next-exhibition/cockneys-in-arcadia-c-r-ashbee-in-chipping-campden

Secondly, the Fundacian Juan March, will be hosting the first ever arts and crafts exhibition in Spain, “William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain”. This runs from October 6th to January 21st, 2018 at the Foundation’s museum in the centre of Madrid. It then moves to Barcelona from 22nd February to May 20th, 2018 at the impressive Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.

http://www.march.es/arte/proximas_exposiciones/?l=2

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