Advice for selling a very small print collection

My brother and I inherited a collection of prints from my mother who collected them over her lifetime. After dividing up the ones that we both wanted to keep we still have about 6 very old unframed prints (from the 16th-18th centuries) that we don't want to keep. Ideally, we would sell these and divide up the profit and also donate a nice amount to my mom's favorite art museum.

Can anyone advise me about the safest and least expensive way to sell these prints? Is ebay the best way these days?

Thanks!

 

Christie’s certainly has print auctions and if yours are that old they *may* have enough value to be something they are interested in.
GL!

 

I would approach an auction house first.

Debora

 

Could you post pictures, I would really like to see them. In addition knowing what category they are in helps with selecting an appropriate auction house or online venue.

 

Yeah me too!!

 

St. Paul and St James Minor by Lucas Huygensz van Leyden (1494-1533)


"Hope" and "Temperance" after Raphael, engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi (1480-1530)


"Ceres and Flora stiften den Früling" After Antonius Pomerantius engraved by Luca Ciamberlano (1580-1641)


"The Capture of Carthagena by Scipio and His Troops" by Georg Pencz (1500-1550)



"The Entombment" by Martin Schongauer later printing ca 1600 AD

 

Wow! Those are fantastic. I have to admit they are a little out of my league. I would send pictures to Christie’s in New York, they should be very receptive and happy to help you make good decisions on how to proceed.

 

Yes, I agree with that. Once they’ve seen the photos, if they decide it’s worth doing a detailed valuation then they’ll need to have the engravings in person. Working out the engraving state is often based on paper, watermarks in the paper and very tiny changes to the plate. Good luck! I particularly like your ‘Capture of Carthagena’ because of the huge detail and it looks like a particularly fine impression. If Christies or equivalent aren't interested then come back here for Plan B!!!

 

Wow great collection-- your mother had great taste! As others have said, these are something that the big auction houses would be interested in looking at closely. You have a long way to go before you need to resort to ebay. Good luck!

 

You can search the artists online and get some sense of what people are asking for at least some of them. You might have some pricey stuff there, more than I could afford. You need advice from someone who knows the printing history of the images, as others have said before me.

I like the Carthegena as well, very dramatic, but probably the best known names are Schongauer and van Leyden. But the better known the name, the more likely that re-strikes and re-works and reproductions are out there.

 

One thing you could start doing @macrofossil, if you are up for doing some research, is to hold the paper up to artificial light and take a picture of the watermark if there is one. There are a lot of academic resources out there to help identify age, state and whether it is a later restrike based on the watermark or absence of one. Also, any expert is going to want to look at a back lit image.

 

Thank you!

 

Thanks! Do you think it would be better to try to sell the whole set at once or just do one or two at a time?

 

An auction house would want them for an upcoming sale featuring prints. That's how they garner the most collector interest. Because of that, you'd likely do better consigning them all at once.

Debora

 

Update: After trying Christie’s (they weren’t interested) I spoke with a place near me and decided to work with them to sell my prints. You can see how well (or not!) they do here if you’re interested: https://auctions.dallasauctiongallery.com/auctions/1-56ETQG/the-fine-decorative-art-auction

Thank you all for offering your advice and expertise! I still have so much to learn!

 

Thanks so much for posting, I was wondering how things went. I am curious as to Christie’s reasoning for not taking them? By the way Heritage Auctions is a good place to use too.

 

They said something about the expense of sending the items being high enough that it would significantly reduce the amount we would get for them. In the end that’s why I decided to go with a local place— so I could hand deliver them.

 

I'd be interested in seeing them but cannot find them in the auction at the end of the link. Lot #s?

 

183-186, 182?

 

Thank you.