This is the tale of a search for a beautiful easel – an incredibly hard task. A tale of two cities, and the price-performance of identical items across different international auction markets.
To begin: I love easels, elegant ones. They are exceedingly hard to find. Leonard Joel once had two elegant Perspex ones, now missing. In our Sydney salerooms we have a rather refined one in black and with a restrained Edwardian feel. I love the way an easel can break out a single work of art and the interest it brings to a room. Any room.
Regularly I trawl Invaluable, the online marketplace, to enjoy, more or less, every auction offering in the world, in real time. Rarely do these searches result in finding an elegant easel. Until August 7th, when I secured an Angelo Lelli style easel at an auction in the USA. Not just an easel, but one with a picture light fitting – ideal for signage and a work of art. Before fees and charges my successful bid was $1,600 (USD).
Coincidentally, and this is a rarity, the exact same lamp appeared in a UK auction house. I couldn’t believe my luck! I thought two would pair wonderfully together at work for display purposes.
But what to pay?
I decided to leave the equivalent $1,600 (USD) as the live auction was taking place well into bedtime and, as I always tell my clients, there is an inherent discipline to the absentee bid. It is devoid of emotional risk – the kind that might lead one to get “carried away” and keep bidding, potentially paying too much (whatever “too much” means – to coin the then Prince Charles’s famously melancholy response to a reporter’s question about love: “Whatever ‘in love’ means”).
I left £1200 (GBP) thinking it would be ample. But I woke up to the news, via automated email, of course – that I had been outbid. It hammered for £1800 (GBP).
So, what did I take from this collecting exercise, conducted entirely online, traversing two continents, and all within roughly 144 hours. Well, several things.
Firstly, and pleasingly, my lamp had improved in value by almost 45% in 6 days!
Secondly, that identical items can realise different values in different settings. My easel was purchased in a straightforward auction, while the London one came from a named single-owner collection. Yet another small confirmation, for me, that the single-owner model almost always generates an uplift compared to a traditional mixed-vendor environment.
And finally, that I should have asked myself the question: Would I regret not being able to pair the easel, given how difficult it had already been to find even one lovely example? The answer, of course, is yes. I should have applied that filter – and bid more heartily.
But hindsight is a wonderful thing!
By John Albrecht, Managing Director & Head Of Important Collections
Top Image: Angelo Lelli style easel floor lamp. Photo Credit: Uniques and Antiques Auction Sales
October 2025