Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group

^{Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group Services: Initial Assessment}

Depending on the location of the property, Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group team will offer a complimentary walk-through of the collection or a preliminary review of available listings and photographs in order to assess the scope of the collection.

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Julian C Manuszewski

^{Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group Services: Strategic Advice on Disposition}

Sotheby’s has over 270 years of experience in assisting our clients in appraising, selling, moving, and storing collections of all sizes and categories. As such, we are uniquely qualified when it comes to devising the most effective sale strategies in order to maximize the value of each item in a collection and at all levels of the market. Whether items in the estate are best suited for auction, private sale or sale through a secondary venue, Sotheby’s will provide our best and most qualified advice and ensure a seamless client experience along the way.

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^{Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group Services: Collection Management}

Sotheby’s Fiduciary Client Group can provide exceptional personalized service in instances when auction is not on the immediate horizon. We offer services to lawyers, bankers, family offices, and fiduciaries who are involved with art and collectibles to craft and spearhead proactive sale and disposition strategies, and assist with planning, charitable giving needs, and consignment management.

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^{Sotheby's Valuation Services}

The world’s top private collectors, corporations, museums and institutions entrust the appraisal of their collections to Sotheby’s. We substantiate our valuations and stand behind our appraisals, which are accepted around the world by entities such as the Internal Revenue Service, her Majesty’s revenue and customs and regional and international insurance brokers. The Fiduciary Client Group works closely with the Valuations team to anticipate and accommodate the many specific needs of lawyers, bankers, family offices, and fiduciaries.

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Julian C Manuszewski

^{Sotheby’s Valuation Services}

Members of our Valuations Department and the Fiduciary Client Group are certified in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and Sotheby’s valuations follow USPAP Guidelines to provide the most comprehensive, compliant appraisal documents. Working with our top specialists in over 70 different collecting categories, this team provides qualified appraisals for a variety of purposes including following:

·      Estate Tax
·    Charitable Donation
·      Gift Tax
·      Collateral Loan
·      Insurance
·      Auction Estimate

A completed appraisal includes detailed property descriptions accompanied by color illustrations and itemised values in a bound document with an affidavit and summary page and is finalized only when the client is satisfied with the format and content.

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ZENG FANZHI THE LAST SUPPER SOLD FOR $23,273,151 A RECORD FOR CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART SOLD AT AUCTION AND A RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION SOTHEBY'S HONG KONG 40TH ANNIVERSARY EVENING SALE, HONG KONG OCTOBER 13.

^{Sotheby's Auction Sales}

Sotheby’s reaches every point of the global art market, with 80 offices in 40 countries. We conduct auctions in 10 salesrooms around the world and handle over 70 collecting categories. This remarkable breadth enables Sotheby’s to offer each work in the most advantageous sale to ensure the maximum financial return.

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^{Auction Estimates and Reserves}

Every item offered for sale at auction through Sotheby’s is presented in our sale and online catalogues along with a pre-sale estimate. This estimate is determined by our specialists in advance of the sale and is based on such factors as the recent performance of comparable items at auction, the overall art market, condition, rarity and provenance. the estimate ranges from a low figure to a high figure and is meant to be a guide for prospective buyers. Prior to the sale, sellers also set a reserve on each item, which is a confidential minimum price below which the item will not be sold. By law, a reserve cannot exceed the published low-estimate of the pre-sale estimate range.

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^{Global Reach}

More than ever, the key to success in the auction room is dependent on attracting the greatest number of bidders on the day of the sale. Sotheby’s first objective is to place objects for sale in the most appropriate international selling location, but we then extend that reach even further to ensure that we are presenting the works on offer to every possible bidder around the globe. Sotheby’s state-of-the-art iPad App ensures that every collector, regardless of location, can view works for sale by reading complete cataloguing and examining high-resolution images. Sotheby’s Bidnow program further allows clients to view all auctions live online and place bids in real-time from anywhere in the world.

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^{Auction Fees}

The costs involved with offering property in a Sotheby’s auction generally include a seller’s commission, as well as sale-related expenses which cover property handling, property administration and liability for loss or damage while works are on our premises and through the time of sale (referred to as a Property Management Fee), the cost of catalogue photography and any charges associated with property transport. We approach each consignment opportunity with a consideration of the unique aspects of the property being consigned, as well as the competitive nature of the marketplace and are eager to work with you to tailor our terms to fit each individual consignment.

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PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF DAVID WHITNEY SOLD TO BENEFIT THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION TO MAINTAIN THE GLASS HOUSE, ITS SITE AND ITS COLLECTION SOLD FOR $13.9 MILLION, NOVEMBER 2006.

^{Sotheby's Historic Estates}

Sotheby’s excels at orchestrating single-owner sales that celebrate the creative vision of a private collector. For nearly a century, we have been the premier auction house for the world’s most distinguished collections. From our sale of Napoleon’s famed library in 1893, to the Estates of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Brooke Astor, Sotheby’s has held the most memorable auction events on behalf of the estates of renowned individuals, philanthropists, artists, statesman and royalty. Through our elegant presentation of an individual’s lifestyle and taste, customized to each occasion, we attract international attention and draw thousands of buyers into our salerooms.

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^{Property from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney}

Beginning in 1990, Sotheby’s was entrusted with selling property from the Estates of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, which comprised Modern and impressionist Art, Decorative Arts and Jewellery. Presented in five separate sales over a fourteen year period, the collection included such highlights as Pierre-Auguste renoir’s Au Moulin de la Galette which sold for $78.1 million in 1991 and set the auction record for Impressionist Art at the time. The 1999 sale featured a single-owner group of 50 paintings and set three new artist auction records, and in 2004, Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la pipe set a world auction record at $104.1 million, marking the first time in history that a work sold at auction exceeded $100 million. The entire Whitney collection realized over $440 million, but perhaps its greatest legacy remains the group of incredible paintings gifted by the estate to institutions such as the National Gallery of Art and the Yale University of Art Gallery.

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^{The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis}

In April 1996, Sotheby’s offered over 5,000 items from the Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in one of the most widely publicized auctions in history. At the conclusion of the four-day sale not a single item from the former first lady’s vast estate was unsold. A 40-carat diamond engagement ring from Aristotle Onassis brought in the highest price of the sale at $2.5 million, followed by the desk upon which President Kennedy signed the 1963 nuclear test Ban treaty, which sold for $1.4 Million. The entire Estate achieved over $34.5 million, soaring high above the pre-sale estimate of $4.6 million.

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^{Property from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon}

The Property from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon sales series totaled an outstanding $218.1 million. The three-day Interiors auction – offering fine art, furniture, porcelain, silver, glassware, decoration and more from Mrs. Mellon’s residences in the United States and abroad – finished the series, more than doubling expectations to achieve $14.3 million. Sotheby’s auctions of the Mellon Collection offered 1,551 lots in total – an exceptional 98.1% of which were sold – and together had been estimated in excess of $100 million. Proceeds from the sales will benefit The Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, a charitable entity established by Mrs. Mellon in memory of her father. The Foundation supports horticultural and educational endeavors.

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