Art: Summertime, and the auction bidding is easy

It's that time of year when the art auction houses traditionally take it easy, pausing for a break before the season starts again.

But behind the scenes there is plenty of activity, planning, acquiring new stock and, in the case of Peter Webb Galleries, completely stripping and renovating its Manukau Rd premises in preparation for a big year.

A good time, then, to introduce prospective new customers to some of the strange ways of the auction world. Buying art (or antiques, silver, ceramics, furniture or old books, for that matter) at auction can be forbidding for first-time participants.

Scratch that itchy nose at the wrong time, they fear, and they'll end up owing $60,000 for a Goldie.

Not so. Good auctioneers know who is bidding and who's just restless.

They pick up the tiny nod or shake of the head or the minute lift of the finger of the regular buyer whereas first-timers may have to do more. It's no sin to make your intentions clear by waving your buying number card (never try to buy without a number, issued at the desk before the sale) or even by calling out if you think you are being missed - even if the hammer has fallen.

A call of "I was bidding," if made promptly on hammer-fall, means most auctioneers will reopen the sale. It's a myth that the fall of the hammer is always final. The auctioneer wants to get the highest price he or she can for the vendor, so speak up.

Seasoned auctioneer Norman Young illustrated the point at Cordy's last month. "You can't do that," said a buyer who thought an item had been knocked down to him. "Oh yes I can, sir," said Young. "I'm the auctioneer" - and took the fresh bid.

Which illustrates that the auctioneer is supreme in deciding whether to accept bids, at what level, and when bidding has come to a close.

The auctioneer also decides, in the light of the vendor's instructions, whether the lot has been sold, passed in (meaning the last price has not met the vendor's fixed reserve) or sold "subject to vendor's approval."

That means that the offered price has not quite reached the seller's expectation but the highest bidder, whose number is recorded, has first option if that price is accepted by the seller. The buyer doesn't have to negotiate. That's done by the auction house.

So it is sometimes useful to offer a price that you know is unlikely to be accepted first up but may be in the end (or just a bit higher), depending on how desperate the vendor is to sell. Remember that the price guides or estimates in the printed catalogue are no more than that, although they may be an indication of a possible reserve price.

Remember, too, that you buy on your own judgment and never buy without inspecting the item beforehand. Catalogue descriptions must be truthful, and auctioneers can be held to account if they are wrong. But it's your judgment whether or not the portrait "attributed to Goldie" is truly by that artist, or the "believed to be" bowl is genuine Sung.

Similarly, most auctioneers will point out faults or flaws, but it still comes down to your judgment. It's no good remarking afterwards that it's cracked unless the auctioneer or catalogue has described it as in perfect condition.

If you can't get to the auction, you can leave a postal bid which will be lodged on your behalf by the auctioneer. Having decided what you want to pay, it's often useful to specify "plus one" - which means that if someone else bids your amount, you are prepared to go one unit higher to get the item. Of course, you may still get it for less than your offered price - auctioneers don't cheat on that by taking your maximum as the minimum.

So what's a unit? On a McCahon or Goldie it might start at $5000, or $10,000, it's up to the auctioneer. And as bidding climbs higher, units get smaller.

If you don't want to go up by the amount the auctioneer is asking, you can offer less - seasoned buyers move their extended hand, palm down, fingers together in a small, horizontal side-to-side gesture to indicate they are offering half the unit - $50, say, instead of $100. It's up to the auctioneer whether the bid is accepted.

Don't bid at the first price, since auctioneers usually start high. Don't leave the cellphone on. Don't talk so loudly that you disturb the auctioneer and other buyers, and don't go to sleep - auctioneers often move through the items briskly and you may find that desired item went three lots ago while you were wool-gathering.

And don't take it too seriously unless you're in the big league. Recognise that you'll win some, and lose some, and enjoy yourself.

Coming up: Cordy's have a general catalogue sale on February 20, with some art.

Webb's first jewellery and antiques sales are on February 21 and 22, and the new rooms will be opened with a major sale on April 3 (art), 4 (jewellery) and 5 (antiques).

Dunbar Sloane have a 600-lot sale at the White Heron, Parnell (the contents of Basil Nix's Waikato antique shops), on February 28, with the first major art and antiques sale early in April.

The International Art Centre, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has a big art sale planned for March 29.