Culture and region, named precisely
A specialist catalogue names the people and the place an object comes from, not a continent. Bidders, and the communities concerned, expect that care.
Markets · Indigenous & Ethnographic Art
Material culture presented with its people, place and history
In this field the history of an object is as important as the object, and the communities it comes from are part of that history. Auctionomy gives your house room to set out culture, provenance and your own due diligence on every lot.
How your bidders buy
What your bidders read for
Provenance is the first question
Field collection, early collection histories, museum deaccession records and old exhibition labels are what bidders look for, and gaps are noted honestly.
Some objects need certification before sale
In Aotearoa New Zealand, taonga tūturu may only be sold through a dealer or auctioneer once they hold a certificate of examination, and only to a registered collector or public museum. Some cultures and items are not appropriate to offer at all, and your house decides with care.
Catalogued your way
Every line of the entry has its place
Description, estimate, condition and provenance are separate parts of every lot on Auctionomy, and each one shows on the lot page. The entry shown here is an illustration, written the way the trade writes it.
Illustrative lot · fictional
A carved wood headrest, Luba people, Democratic Republic of the Congo, early 20th century
The caryatid figure kneeling and supporting the curved rest on her head, the coiffure finely carved in a cross form. 16.5 cm high.
Estimate NZ$3,000–5,000
- Condition
- Age-consistent wear and a dark patina from handling. Small loss to one edge of the base. An old inventory number painted to the underside.
- Provenance
- Collected in the Katanga region before 1935; thence by descent in a Belgian family; private collection, Wellington, acquired 1988.
Your sale on Auctionomy
Run the way your house runs it
Room for the full history
Each lot has a description and a provenance field shown on the lot page, so the collection history and any certification are part of what bidders read.
Registration you approve
Bidders register with your house and you approve each one, so your house knows who it is dealing with before a bid is placed.
Categories by region and culture
Define your own categories, by region, culture or object type, so your catalogue keeps the distinctions your specialists make.
Timed or live, under your name
Run the sale timed with an extended close, or live with absentee bids left in advance, on your own website and domain.
Your trade, your house
Fluent in the trade, and unmistakably yours
Southern Meridian Auction Rooms is a demonstration house: fictional, built on Auctionomy to show how a house specialising in Indigenous & ethnographic art looks on the platform. Its name, colours, typeface and page layout are its own, assembled from the same components every house uses. Yours would carry your name, your logo and your look, on your own domain.
No commission on the hammer price
A flat subscription, agreed with your house. Your bidders register with you, and the buyer's premium you set is yours.