Wealth and Safety
If you’re worried about what your pension fund is doing, now could be an ideal time to invest in antiques, says Jane Lewis
One antique Persian rug at $87,784; one George IV chair at $18,468; one French early 18th century commode for $35,115; a parchment wastepaper basket at $1,405…
The inventory of furniture adorning the office suite of Wall Street boss John Thain provided one of the more piquant vignettes of the financial crisis. Critics slammed the Merrill Lynch banker’s antiques habit as greedy and ill-judged – it certainly hastened his downfall. Connoisseurs, however, took a different line. At least Thain had chosen quality over tat; a welcome change from the glitzy excesses of former disgraced bosses like Dennis Kozlowski, who famously paid $6000 for a shower curtain.
Antiques and collectables have certainly demonstrated their worth as safe havens in recent months. A quarterly survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors describes a “dramatic turnaround” in the market – particularly among goods priced under £5,000. Jewellery and silver have done especially well from the jitters, notes RICS member, Mark Dalrynple. “There is clear evidence that investors are looking for top quality arts and antiques as safer investments due to the lack of confidence in financial markets.” Not all assets have fared well. Clocks, for some reason, are being shunned; and the market for contemporary art has ground to a halt. So where’s all the cash going? Sotheby’s and Christie’s report that Old Masters are outselling contemporary art for the first time since 2004, “The old,” says one maestro “is the new, new.”
The nostalgic revival will find fertile ground in the UK, which – thanks to our obsession with ‘antiques porn’ TV shows such as ‘Flog It!’ and ‘Cash in the Attic’ – probably boasts the best informed general populace in the world. The odds of finding a Constable in your attic might be thin, but uncovering an unloved piece of Clarice Cliff at the back of a forgotten cupboard, or a pristine 1950s train-set is still a possibility. One Dorset family lucked out big time last year when an everyday bowl turned out to be a £199,750 14th century Ming dish.
Rarity, of course, provides the best store of value – and prices of ‘best of class’ pieces appreciate considerably faster than the mainstream: a single piece of good Chippendale can make double-digit millions at auction. But there are still opportunities for those of us further down the pecking order. Expert Jonty Hearnden of ‘Cash in the Attic’ believes “the most buoyant market today is in 20th century collectables”. The clean lines of Art Deco are always in demand, but the briskest market is in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s pieces.
Finding treasure is one thing. But should you be buying? Caveats abound, not least because antiques are not a “liquid” investment that can be resold easily for profit. This is a high-risk market, in which fashions change rapidly and fakes abound. However expert you might consider yourself in your chosen niche, you should never contemplate investing more than 15 per cent of your portfolio. That said, a little knowledge can go a long way, says Eric Knowles of the ‘Antiques Roadshow’. “If you know a little bit more than someone else, then you can find a bargain.” Information reduces risk. The best advice, then, is to limit the field to a genre, period or name that really grabs you – and buy the best quality you can afford. However much fashions swing, pieces that encapsulate a historical or artistic movement – Arts & Crafts, say, or Art Nouveau – are always good bets.
Of course, if the current revival follows the same path as similar markets like art and wine – where investment funds now proliferate – you might soon be able to bet on the rising price of antiques without having to go anywhere near a tin of beeswax. Chippendale futures, anyone?
