Services

Examination of the object and of the documentary, stylistic, technical, and historical evidence bearing on its authorship, dating, and place within the relevant body of work. The deliverable is a written opinion setting out the evidence considered, the weight given to each element, and the conclusion the evidence supports.

Where the evidence does not support a conclusion, the opinion says so. An inconclusive finding is a finding, and it is often the correct one.

Reconstruction of an object's ownership history, including research into periods of wartime displacement, forced sale, and wrongful taking. Work proceeds in two phases: a scoping report identifying the relevant archives and the likely limits of what can be established, followed by the research itself.

The two-phase structure exists because archival research is genuinely open-ended. A holding either contains the file or it does not, and that cannot be known before it is examined.

Written commentary on the market context of an object, including comparable transactions and the factors bearing on its marketability. This is a non-binding observation and not an appraisal.

Advisory engagements for foundations, estates, and private collections cover acquisition, cataloguing, interpretation, and long-range planning.

Case review, expert reports, deposition, and testimony, on a separate schedule. Litigation rates apply from the point at which a proceeding becomes contemplated.

Every engagement opens with a preliminary review. Images and documentation are examined and a written assessment returned, setting out whether a full engagement is warranted and what it would involve. No opinion is rendered at this stage, and the review is charged at a fixed fee.

Research and opinion work is charged hourly against a written estimate and a not-to-exceed figure that is not passed without authorisation. Provenance research is scoped in a fixed-fee first phase before any open-ended archival work begins. Litigation support and expert testimony are charged on a separate schedule.

Fees are never contingent on the conclusion reached, the attribution, the value, or the outcome of any transaction or proceeding, and are payable whether an opinion is favourable, unfavourable, qualified, or inconclusive.

Rates and the terms of engagement are provided on request. Standards of practice.