On May 2012, French auction house ADER sold a table by Dominique but failed to provide any kind of documentation. We fixed this!
At DOCANTIC, we investigate the proper identification of 20th Century furniture, and provide accurate documentation. Here’s an example from our case files!
ADER NORDMANN got pulled over by DOCANTIC PATROL for calling in a weak witness violation: Poor Literature!
On May 25th, 2012, French auction house ADER listed and sold a Dominique (André Domin & Marcel Genevriere) wooden table for approximately $11,700. Even though they correctly named the designer as Dominique, and attributed the date to circa 1932/1935, ADER did not supply any documented references for the table. Because most antique furniture is not signed or inscribed by their original designers, estimators rely heavily on references to properly identify the right artist, and the piece’s honest value.
Through a simple search of our wide antique database, the investigative team at DOCANTIC successfully uncovered photographic evidence of the same Dominique table reproduced in four different catalogs from January to June 1932. Find below an image from one of the catalogs in which the table appeared, including on its cover. This piece of information does substantiate the name of the table’s designer.
The true price of a piece of artwork depends heavily on several tangible criteria: 1. The Condition; 2. The Provenance; 3. The Time period. Still, the art world relies on the identity of the artist and the work’s legitimate photo reproduction in period books and magazines as benchmarks for valuation. ADER did correctly attribute the wooden table to Dominique. However, if ADLER had supplied multiple items of evidence from literary references, the wooden table would have undoubtedly sold at a higher price. Mistrial!
DOCANTIC patrols the market to make sure that 20th Century furniture and works of art receive proper attribution and accurate documentation, so that collectors may sell and/or purchase works at the correct price. To protect and to serve the art community, that's out job!
Book ’em! The auction house or the art dealer provided little or no corroborating evidence in the form of documentation for this item.
Time Off! The expert made a significant mistake on this item. His attributed period came in way off. No early parole!
Missing persons alert! The auction house or the art dealer failed to uncover and identify the artist for this item.
Identity theft! They’re guilty of the worst crime of all: mislabeling the artist with another alias. And Picasso painted the Mona Lisa, right?!
The obsessive, nitpicky and no-holds-barred investigative team at DOCANTIC maintains an unparalleled database of original documentation for 20th Century, Art Nouveau, and Art Deco & Design furniture and works of art.
At DOCANTIC we believe that designers deserve proper identification for each work they have created, and that any art lover should confidently pay the right price for his or her purchase. We see the art world filled with both talented artists and con artist and, therefore, also riddled with innumerable attribution errors and outrageous pricing mistakes. By supplying authentic period photographs, DOCANTIC catches and apprehends the undervaluation (or overvaluation) of furniture and works of art. That’s our mission. We stop errors dead in their tracks. We serve and protect 20th Century furniture’s reputation.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, DOCANTIC sets the bar for the identification of 20th Century furniture, and shares with every art lover the information that has been kept under wraps by a handful of experts for far too long!
