Classical antiquities auctions: Catawiki Expert or not?
DONT TRUST ALL EXPERTS BUT BE YOUR OWN BY KNOWING THE MARKET WHERE YOU WANT TO INVEST
When you want to buy archeologic items coming from the Web you have to first know the market and underlying history. Be skeptical regarding provenance, self-proclaimed experts...
I will just take some current examples coming from Catawiki to show you prooves that things aren't really what self-proclaimed experts say:
This one is interesting because it is said to be from 9th to 11 AD Viking era, however for having some in my personnal collection and after having done some research i know that it is typical Koban culture bracelet (late bronze age / beginning of communication with scythians tribes) from Caucasian area so about 10th to 7th century B.C.
The funny thing is that Catawiki had listed another one in 2015 with a quite good description! (sehttps://encheres.catawiki.eu/kavels/21639033-periode-archaique-grecque-ancienne-bronze-lance-14-8cm
Typical Luristan bronze arrowhead (not spearhead and not coming from archaic greece!) circa 1000 to 800 B.C.
Once again it was right in 2018 on this below auction
There are a lot (and when saying a lot it is the major part of bronze spearheads / arrowheads / daggers...) of switch between ancient greece / archaic greece / mycenian and Luristan zone... and the latter are far less expensive... Would it be a means to raise fees (since this is linear to settled prices both on the buyer's and seller's side)?
I don't know but from my own point of view site like Catawiki should give a better expertise than Ebay (they sit between real auction houses and Ebay with commission just in between)... from my point of view it is the only point that could give them a chance to preserve their rank on Web auctions... a key success factor that tends today not to be preserved when you see the number of inaccurate listings.
Even axes...
Typically coming from Luristan... and as far as i know this region isn't in Europe as stated on the listing...
Daggers...
Still from Luristan... Mycenaean daggers are far differents from this kind of daggers and scarce.
I could multiple these examples and you can find a lot more examples on current listing...
The other part is sourcing of items... well it is said to be from private collections and so on... sometimes it is true but some sellers (i won't tell their names here) seems to sell too much pristline potteries / thousands of luristan bronzes (when you check you will find hundreds or even thousands of Indu Valley / Luristan bronze sold in a year by the same seller!!! beware). As far as i am concerned, i think either loots or fakes...
Never forget that when investing you need to know the underlying, you will be at time your own expert and will be able to better assess items.
I hope that this will help people deal with such sites and warn them to better know their segment before investing.
I have been an active collector for more than 20 years. I would personnaly advise you to check:
- Major auction houses
- Museum collections (lots of items are visible in virtual galleries)
- Archeological studies / Excavation reports
- Books on specific subjects
Try to concentrate on specific subjects and then enlarge your global knowledge of civilizations.
You can also use forums and if you need help try to find friendly people who can help you (i often have to speak with scholars / researchers).
I would be glad to help people follow their path by advising them when i have spare time. Just PM and i would do my best to answer your questions.