Job Title: General Valuer and Cataloguer

Reports to: Head of Interiors, Homes and Antiques

Responsible for: None

Purpose of job: To carry out valuations of property for Interiors, Homes and Antiques sales and Design sales in line with the business’s year-on-year growth objectives

Main contacts:               

Internal: Head of Interiors, Homes and Antiques, Interiors team, Managing and Executive Directors, other specialist departments, client liaison and other business functions especially marketing and communications, photography and the art handlers

External: customers, members of the public, collectors, dealers, galleries, other auction houses

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time

Location: Based at Chiswick Auctions 1 Roslin Square W3 8BL

 

Chiswick Auctions is a privately owned, well-established London auction house which is fast becoming a major player in the international art market. With 20 specialist departments, regular dedicated and themed sales are held across a breadth of specialisms. In addition, monthly Interiors, Homes and Antiques sales contribute to a busy calendar of 80 auctions per year.

The main headquarters is based in the Barley Mow Centre off Chiswick High Road, with Interiors, Homes and Antiques housed in nearby Roslin Square. Chiswick Auctions employs around 50 staff.

The monthly Interiors, Homes & Antiques sale offers a range of modern, mid-century and antique furniture and furnishings for the home and garden. The sale features a wide range of lifestyle categories including jewellery and watches, ceramics, glass, British and European works of art, sculpture, rugs and other collectables. 

The Design and Modern Contemporary sale is held three times a year. The sale offers furniture, lighting, studio ceramics and sculpture from the most influential design movements of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

 

Areas of Responsibility

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

General valuations, cataloguing and condition reports

  • Analyse and respond to incoming written, phone, photo and direct enquiries from regular clients and members of the public:
  • Work alone and with colleagues to determine provenance, authenticity, value, condition, and marketability of property
  • Write and respond to condition reports, along with other members of the team
  • Write and prepare catalogue descriptions
  • Work with the Head of Department to assign property to either the Interiors sale, the Design sale or a specialist sale hosted by another department
  • Ensure that property is handed over to the photography team in a timely manner
  • Ensure that all paperwork is completed in full and items receipted on the system for all departments
  • As appropriate, work with the Interiors team and Head of Department on the monthly sale, assisting with:
  • Online catalogue production and layout
  • Coordinating pre-sale exhibition set-up
  • Assisting buyers during the viewing and sale period to market and sell the sale
  • The full after-sales analysis, and implementing any agreed changes

 

Valuation days

  • Participate in Chiswick Auctions’ external valuation days and other relevant events, as required by the Head of Department

 

General

  • Ensure compliance with all internal policies and procedures and any relevant external bodies or processes
  • Participate in organization-wide meetings, activities and processes, and develop internal contacts, networks and interactions as appropriate
  • Actively participate in events and other functions to represent Chiswick Auctions e.g. local events in Chiswick
  • Carry out other duties as required by the Managing Director and Executive Directors

 

Person Specification

Essential skills and experience

  • Extensive experience in the field, either at auction, within the trade or at another relevant institution e.g. gallery or own business, in appraising and valuing the full range of property that the business deals in
  • Superior customer service skills, follow-up skills and attention to detail
  • Ability to work by oneself and within a team
  • Ability to learn Chiswick Auctions’ systems, coupled with high IT literacy, including excellent knowledge of Microsoft 365
  • Ability to thrive within a fast-paced team environment, and to work to tight auction deadlines
  • Proven ability to develop relationships with the major collectors, dealers and galleries
  • Excellent writing skills in English, and ability to combine an understanding of the material with a commercial sense of marketing and promoting value
  • Excellent verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including first class spoken English
  • Experience working with on projects of all sizes, long- and short-term; demonstrated ability to prioritise a variety of concurrent projects
  • A full UK driving license

 

Desirable qualifications

  • A qualification relevant to the field
  • A second modern foreign language, e.g. French, Italian or Spanish

 

Please send your CV and cover letter to Nick Greenwood nick.greenwood@chiswickauctions.co.uk