Christopher Lanigan-O’Keeffe, 33
Auctioneer and valuer at HotLotz
How long have you been auctioning and valuing for?
About ten years. I held my first auction probably four or five years ago in a UK auction house.
How did you become an auctioneer?
It’s in the blood! My father was a painting specialist at Christie’s and a gallery owner, so I spent my childhood growing up around things of age in dusty salerooms. I got my first job at Christie’s, as a viewing assistant for about three months. And then I moved to the valuations counter for another three years. We used to have about £2 million [about $3.9 million] worth of items come over that desk every month.
How do you value, say, a painting?
Paintings are very name-driven. Painters who are hugely talented may have very little market, but others who aren’t as talented may have a great market and their paintings sell for far more at auctions. Then there are good paintings and bad paintings. If you get Picassos, one might be worth $20 million, and another worth a million depending on the age and subject matter. Naked girls tend to sell better than ugly old gentlemen!
The most interesting item you’ve sold?
Around 1910, JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, was presented with a ‘freedom ox’ sculpture made of silver and enamel. After he died, the ox was never seen again. Then one day, a couple walked into my auction house and produced this tatty box. Inside was the same beautiful silver ox, inscribed with the words ‘JM Barrie’. It went online, and we had a lot of interest, particularly from the Peter Pan House in Scotland. The museum purchased it for about £7,500 [$14,600].
Which would you say is more challenging: auctioning or valuing?
Valuing, definitely. Quite often you’re dealing with people’s personal possessions – something they might have inherited or lived with for quite a long time. When you grow up with, say, a table that your parents bought in the ’60s, you have your own idea of its value. Our job, unfortunately, is to put it on a global market and show you what it’s worth. Sometimes those two figures don’t quite tally, and people are often as surprised as they are disappointed.
HotLotz conducts public antique auctions every Saturday at 10am.