Attribution is carefully worded
Bidders know the difference between an instrument by a maker, attributed to one, or of their school. Labels, brands and body length are stated, and opinion is not presented as fact.
Markets · Musical Instruments
Instruments and bows, catalogued for players and collectors
Instrument bidders read the maker attribution, the condition and the paperwork before anything else. Auctionomy gives every lot the fields for each, on a website that carries your own name.
How your bidders buy
What your bidders read for
Condition is structural
Cracks, repairs, replaced parts and the state of the neck, top and bow hair matter to players and collectors alike, and they expect them listed.
Regulated materials need paperwork
Ivory, tortoiseshell and Brazilian rosewood are controlled. In the UK a pre-1975 instrument with less than 20% ivory by volume can be sold only once registered, and Brazilian rosewood is listed under CITES Appendix I.
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 French violin, Mirecourt, circa 1890, bearing a label of the maker
Two-piece back of medium curl, the top of fine to medium grain, varnish of golden brown colour. Length of back 35.8cm. With a later bow and case.
Estimate £1,500–2,500
- Condition
- Repaired crack to the treble side of the top below the f-hole. Some retouching to the varnish. Set up and playable.
- Provenance
- Played by the consignor's grandmother; by descent.
Your sale on Auctionomy
Run the way your house runs it
Room for registrations and certificates
Record an ivory registration or CITES certificate in the condition note and the instrument's history in provenance. Both show on the lot page.
Every angle photographed
Add the front, back, scroll, label and any repairs. As many images as an instrument needs.
Sections a player recognises
Define categories for violins and bows, guitars, woodwind and brass, and keyboards. Bidders filter and search by them.
Live or timed
Run a live sale with absentee bids left in advance, or a timed sale that extends its close on late bids. Live video streaming is in development.
Your trade, your house
Fluent in the trade, and unmistakably yours
Ashdown & Rooke Musical Auctions is a demonstration house: fictional, built on Auctionomy to show how a house specialising in musical instruments 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.