tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972497915033440413.post1138687608062946254..comments2024-01-25T12:21:02.286+00:00Comments on Looting Matters: Egyptian Antiquities at Sotheby'sDavid Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13164794689385933318noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972497915033440413.post-36594660901561303342008-12-23T12:36:00.000+00:002008-12-23T12:36:00.000+00:00LarryA more detailed study will follow. The combin...Larry<BR/>A more detailed study will follow. The combined average annual income from the sale of antiquities at Sotheby's and Christie's (NY) is around US$ 27.6 million (taking the figures for 1999-2008). The annual average for Sotheby's (NY) for the period 1998-2008 (i.e. 11 years) is US $15.3 million.<BR/>Such figures are essentially for Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Near Eastern and Arabian antiquities.<BR/>Best wishes<BR/>DavidDavid Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13164794689385933318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972497915033440413.post-47790399063046805902008-12-23T07:16:00.000+00:002008-12-23T07:16:00.000+00:00Great to have these statistics available!It is a l...Great to have these statistics available!<BR/><BR/>It is a little hard to know what to make of the figures, though, without a better sense of: a) the n (how many pieces were sold); b) the median and mean. One question is whether changes year by year are being driven by a very small number of hugely expensive purchases, or whether there has been an increase at all pricing levels. The former might well indicate anxiety on the part of major collectors about prosecution or restitution claims, leading to bidding up the prices of well-provenanced pieces. Is there a correlation between how well-provenanced artifacts are and the prices they command? Do the 5% that have a recorded find spot generate more revenue per piece?Larry Rothfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525764497697221380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972497915033440413.post-49043037812540762642008-12-23T06:31:00.000+00:002008-12-23T06:31:00.000+00:00Fascinating data. But can you give us the n's for ...Fascinating data. But can you give us the n's for # of sales each year, and the median and mean prices? Otherwise it is difficult to tell whether we are seeing a shift in demand where prices are broadly higher, or whether the increase in total value is driven by the entry into the market of one or two major collectors. As you note, it only takes one Guennol lioness to skew things.<BR/><BR/>Am I right in concluding that the average revenue per annum from Sotheby New York antiquities sales 1998-2008 is $22.5 million?Larry Rothfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525764497697221380noreply@blogger.com