Masterpieces

by Rachel Meyer

The Internet and television have brought as explosion of growth to the field of antique. Rachel Meyer looks at the fast-rising field of antique and fine art collecting, and provides pointers to those looking to get involved.

Collecting fine art and antiques is a challenge – but it is clearly a challenge that many are willing to take. Sales of fine art pieces and antiques reached $22 billion in the past year. Art and antique collecting is exploding as an avocation, thanks to the awareness brought to the field by the many museum exhibits, art shows and cultural events around the country. Today, the Internet is further boozing the popularity of antique and art collecting. At one time, antique and art buying was dominated by the major auctions houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Certainly, these two giants continue to play a major role in antique buying; in 2000, Christie’s had is biggest year ever, selling $2.32 billion worth of goods. But both the Internet and television auctions have brought millions of new collectors to the table. According to a story in Industry Standard, an Internet industry magazine, new Web technology now permits online buyers to bid on pieces alongside patrons at live auctions. The story also credits “Antique Roadshow,” the PBS series, for adding to the population of collectors. Web marketplaces such as Circline, Inc., provide a global marketplace for antiques and the fine and decorative arts. The Circline site (www.circline.com) allows its clients to search for, find and purchase art and antiques. The site also includes information on the pieces, detailed images, descriptions and prices. Circline also provides a lifetime guarantee of authenticity for every piece. The site now includes more than 1,000 of the world’s most distinguished dealers, and is used by more than 80 percent of the leading interior designers in the United States. Given the prices that many prized antiques garners in auctions, on- or offline, buying an antique or a work of art involves more than simply adding to the décor of a home. It’s also an investment, one that can hold and increase in value far more than contemporary objects. This can be especially true in a slow economy, such as the one that’s prevalent today.

School’s Open
A major factor in the challenge of antiques and art is keeping a finger on the market’s many pulses. The antique world is highly fragmented, with thousands of dealers around the world and a vast store of information that needs to be accumulated. The following tips can help newcomers to the field before they venture into an antique shop or mall:
- Newcomers to antique should begin by studying various pieces, periods and styles, from which they can determine what they would like to own. They should also become familiar with these objects or paintings by visiting local museums and auction houses, and by perusing books. The more newcomers know, the better collectors they will eventually become.
- If possible, newcomers should choose a dealer who is a member of the National Art and Antique Dealers Association (NAADA), the British Antique Dealers Association (BADA) or CINOA, the federation of European art dealers. A first-time buyer may wish to visit a dealer in his/her own town and ask him to show the key points in the constructions and styles of pieces. It is to that dealer’s benefit to help all new antique collectors get educated because they may revisit him or her for a purchase. In making any purchase, the buyer should ask the dealer for a guarantee of authenticity.
- Collectors should look at the prices of similar pieces that are sold at the auctions. However a price for such a piece is a ballpark figure, not an exact price. Like the price a car dealer suggests, a buyer does not have to accept this auction price as a given, and should be able to determine and acceptable range.
- Usually, every object shown by the dealer is negotiable, so buyers need not be embarrassed to negotiate- whether it’s a $300 or $300,000 pieces. However, offering a specific sun that is far below the dealer’s listed price is an insult to the dealer. It’s more acceptable to ask the dealer, “What is your best price?” Collectors can suggest as lower price if they buy more than one piece and/or want the shipping included. Newcomers to antiques must realize that a smart negotiator is a successful collector.
- As an alternative to visiting a dealer, new-comers should try browsing and shopping online. Internet services show extensive collections of art, furniture and decorative arts – all at fixed prices and all of which can be quickly searched. Shopping online carries the same rules as buying in person at an auction or from a dealer. The collector should only choose sites that follow the rigorous standards of NAADA, that offer expertise from a variety of reliable resources, that offer lifetime guarantees of authenticity and that offer policies with full refunds.

Designs for Living
As a start, newcomers to antiques might want to look at what’s hot in the field today. They may want to consider Asian furniture, with its characteristic clean lines and modern touch. Asian pieces are popular because they can be combined with 20th century design. For example, and 18th century Ming Altar table, which sells for $5,000 in today’s marketplace, is worth a serious look.

Art Deco is another popular style, especially in furniture. For example, one pair of chic Art Deco armchairs is considered well priced in today’s market at $6,800. European paintings, starting at less than $1,000 in the current market, and Lucite and early plastic pieces are also possibilities.

The rewards of antiques are also not just for collectors. They make distinguished gifts, especially for weddings, and are prized not only for their immediate value but also an investment. Buyers can consider gifts of early 18th and 19th century salt cellars, old glass decanters or silver wine labels. In the recent market, all of these are available for less than $500.

Buying antiques and fine art is not only about preserving the past. By examining the construction, form and shape of antique, collectors learn about proportion, material and a sense of scale. In turn, these lessons can be applied to contemporary furnishing. Participating in antique collecting offers valuable information that can be used in buying quality in contemporary pieces as well. In antiques as well as in life, history becomes the best teacher.

Global Investing

by Alison Beard

Although the season was described as a solid one, Sean Mast, co-founder and president of Circline, an online exchange for high-end art and antiques dealers, said he noticed hints of the economic downturn in the auctions. The total amount raised this year was Dollars 360m, well shy of last year's Dollars 535m take.

"Overall, there has probably been a migration to the higher end of the market, the really high quality pieces and to the lower end, the more affordable things," he said. "In these uncertain times, there's a desire to hold on to your assets, and not splurge on anything too extravagant, but there's also a flight to quality"...

The New York Times Magazine
Style

Connoisseur
Gifts, Travels & Toys

ANY PIECE. ANYTIME. ANYWHERE.
From the passionate art collector to the more casual antique admirer, Circline has something for everyone who enjoys the beauty of fine art and antiques. With an online inventory of more than $500 million, nowhere else can you browse and buy the finest art, antiques, and furniture from more than 900 of the world's premier dealers - anytime. Searching is complementary and purchases are backed by Circline's satisfaction and quality guarantees.

Life & Arts
Masterpieces a la Modem

by Gaile Robinson

A couple with ties to Fort Worth makes the rarefied business of antiquities and collectibles easier for dealers, designers and buyers to navigate on the Net. There is a bathtub in a Dallas apartment on Travis Street where someday a historical plaque might hang, "Circline, est. 1997."

The bathtub was the only place Rachel Meyer could put the filing cabinet in the small apartment she shared with her husband, Sean Mast. The spare bedroom had become the main office for their start-up business, www.circline.com, a Web site that pairs high-end art and antique dealers with interior designers and collectors.

Since that day in 1997, Mast and Meyer have moved to New York and Circline has grown out of the bathtub and spare bedroom and into offices in New York City, Paris and London.

The small start-up is going full throttle, and has survived the recent downward spiral that consumed so many Internet businesses.

For sale: a Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait, 1757-58. $112,900. Circline item \ AT26926

Shortly after Meyer and Mast were married in 1996, they were working in Dallas _ Rachel as an interior designer for Emily Summers and Sean at McKinsey & Co. as a business consultant specializing in emerging technologies. At night, the young couple planned. He wanted to establish an Internet business, a site that could facilitate a fractured, inefficient market. He considered used aviation parts. It seemed to fit the bill, but the numbers didn't crunch with a satisfying sound. Nothing seemed just right, until Meyer suggested he look into art and antiques. It was purely selfish, as she spent most of her time hunting down just the right painting or the perfect period dining room chairs. She figures a good 80 percent of her time was spent on fruitless missions. Dozens of telephone calls and futile shopping trips were her daily routine.

What Meyer mentioned in a moment of frustration turned out to be the perfect answer to Mast's search. The business of selling art and antiques was as it had been for centuries _ small, family-owned shops that depended on the patronage of designers who represented a limited, but well-financed, clientele.

When Mast presented the idea of an Internet clearinghouse where dealers' wares and designers could cross paths, interior designers were skeptical. At the time only 5 percent had computers.

Buy something without touching it? Without close personal inspection? It seemed iffy, rife with disaster.

Mast realized he would have to use dealers whom the designers trusted.

He approached the dealers. They were hesitant. Why should they use Circline? It meant more work for them and less commission, in the hopes of broadening a relatively small market. It was a hard sell.

For Sale: Quaker-made American star quilt, 19th century, from Missouri, $5,000 Circline item \ TE22498

French Aubusson tapestry, France, mid-18th century, $78,500, Circline item \ RU6281

The West Coast antique dealers were the first to come on board; soon after, the more staid East Coast establishment began participating, slowly. Mast and Meyer sought the European market.

They went after the British dealers by attending the Grosvenor House art fair. "They're fussier, stuffier and more old school than the New York dealers," says Meyer. The couple sent each fussy, stuffy dealer a hot apple pie, with the announcement, "The Yanks are coming." The steamy pastries won over the Brits. The French followed, and soon Asian and South American dealers were added to the rolls. "Now we have dealers from Hong Kong, east across the U.S., to Moscow," says Mast. Some of the more famous names on Circline's roster of dealers include Richard L. Feigan in New York and Ariane Dandois in Paris. Meyer says Dallas-based Loyd-Paxtonis also on their list.

With the global expansion came an unexpected client base _ collectors. Mast and Meyer hadn't counted on them, but they were more avid than the designers. Dealers found their client bases were expanding as collectors were thrilled to use Circline as their search engine.

Here was a place where they could plug in their desires. Try "18th century French rococo furniture," for example, and voila, there were 50 examples of bergeres and fauteuils, the feminine, curvy chairs with wide seats that are some of the most comfortable _ and attractive _ styles in the antique chair world.

"We do standing requests," says Meyer. If there is a particular collectible being sought, Circline will notify the collector as soon as one is posted. The site is also used by schools as a research tool, and Circline employees' opinions are often solicited.

For sale: Pair of chairs made by Charles de Lenoncourt, France, mid-18th century. Each has carved floral motifs on the chair rails, the aprons and the knees of the cabriole legs. They retain their original greyish-light green paint. $18,900. Circline item CH3017

Circline represents more than 825 dealers, more than half of them based outside the United States, which, in the art and antique business, is quite beneficial, as some of the world's most respected dealers and valued antiquities are in Europe.

The dealers send photos of their pieces to Circline for posting. When a piece sells, Circline takes a 10 percent cut: 5 percent from the buyer and 5 percent from the seller. To ensure that the buyer is happy with his purchase, Circline holds the buyer's check in escrow, giving him three days after receiving the object to decide if he definitely wants it. If it is a love match, the check is then forwarded to the dealer. With such high-dollar items, it is not uncommon for buyers to go and see the piece before making the purchase. So, often, the business of the business has not changed.

What Circline offers is the marketplace.

"We don't try and change the way people buy, just the way they find it," says Mast.

Instead of trudging from shop to shop looking for the perfect George III breakfront, and wondering what the stores in London might have, Circline shows the variety of breakfronts available from numerous dealers _ at the top, there is one for $86,000, another _ the real deal _ is priced $28,000, and for $8,100, there's a breakfront in the George III style.

So obviously, the prices among similar objects can vary tremendously.

There are several pieces of museum quality on the site, some costing $1 million and up. Another piece with a similar description can be priced for much less. "The reason is because of the cabinetmaker, or the provenance, [or] it might have been owned by someone important. Many aspects affect the price," says Meyer. On a recent tour of Regency sofas, mid-19th century with single cushion seats, high sides and sinuous, highly decorative arms and legs, there was a $6,800 model, a pair for $70,000 and a third priced presumably so high that it could only be expressed as "upon request."

For Sale: Pair of ormolu mounted, white marble cassolettes by Matthew Boulton, England c. 1775, $32,600. Circline item \ LI34668

Mast and Meyer look entirely too young to have such a serious, successful business. They have barely broken into their 30s and they represent an inventory of fine and decorative arts worth more than $400 million.

The two, who are both from Texas, met at Oxford. Mast, who passed through Fort Worth during his Wonder Bread years, was studying modern British travel writers and Meyer, who was born and raised in Fort Worth (she graduated from Arlington Heights High School), was studying English. She had a degree from Parsons School of Design, he had degrees in business and arts from the University of Texas. And there they were in England, meeting for the first time.

They traveled, they shopped, they returned to Fort Worth and they were married. They moved to Dallas, to the apartment with the soon-to-be-famous bathtub.

For Sale: Antique Sultanabad, 23' 10" by 14' 10", West Persia, last quarter of 19th century, price available upon request. Circline item \RU34557

Circline is not a site for timid or naive shoppers. The average sale is $27,000. Beginners might want to check out the merchandise in Circline's "Under $10,000" category. Mast and Meyer are beginning collectors, so they know the intimidation factors that can swirl around art and antiques. They made their first purchase to celebrate their winning over of the British antique dealers. They bought a Salvador Dali etching. They have found that other people, even those close to the business, are often intimidated, too. One example is client Alexa Hampton, daughter of designer extraordinaire Mark Hampton, who admitted she felt insecure buying art, too. Meyer and Mast try to dispel the hautiness and cool reception often found in high-end art circles. They are approachable, and they want their business to be as well, even though the prices can soar.

The highest ticket item Circline has sold was "a European Savonnerie," says Meyer. It fetched close to $500,000. The large, old Persian rugs are "huge for us," she says. "They're hard to guarantee, and they're hard to find, especially if they have certain muted colors without a center medallion." But the public rooms in manors and large houses require enormous rugs; to find one in good shape is a rarity.

Other items that sell quickly are art deco andirons, chinoisserie cabinets and impressionist art for less than $30,000, says Meyer. On the down side, the 20th century French furniture that has been quite popular is beginning "to go downhill quickly," she says.

Meyer and Mast have a stable of Texas-grown talent on the payroll. Kent Bradshaw of Fort Worth is the company's director of finance. Jill Trenchard, director of sales, grew up in Odessa. All Circline employees are given a percentage of the business. "Ownership helps people's drive to be more successful," says Mast. "This is not a 9-to-5 job."

As for working together, Meyer says, they'd have it no other way. "We work seven days a week, and weekends and nights. If we weren't working together, we'd never see each other."

NetShopper
How to be a savvy online consumer
(excerpt)

Q. I'm a novice art collector but am intimidated by the whole scene. What sites showcase quality paintings and photos for sale?
A. circline.com The Net's largest purveyor of fine arts and antiques, from more than 900 international dealers.($200 - $1 million)

Charlotte's web
Glamour to go
The Web's quickest ways to style
(excerpt)

Case in point: www.circline.com and its jaw-dropping collection of furniture and home accessories, like the carved and painted Louis XV sofa discovered on one of Charlotte's recent fact-finding missions. (Cross your fingers and hope it's still there - pieces are unique, and the selection changes daily.)

The fine art of buying Asian fine art

by Rod Hirsch

Despite higher gas prices, lower stock prices, and a slumping economy, sales of fine art and antiques eclipsed $22 billion last year, according to Rachel Meyer, co-founder of Circline, a network of 1,000 global dealers whose clients include interior designers, art advisors and serious collectors.

Buying an antique or piece of fine art today is as much an investment as an indulgence.

"This can be especially true in a slower economy like the one we're seeing now," she said.

Asian art, furniture and tabletop pieces are drawing increased attention from collectors, as well as European paintings, Lucite and early plastic pieces.

Meyer offers the following suggestions to those looking to purchase antiques or fine art:

• Educate yourself: Before you buy, study the pieces, periods and styles you prefer. Get familiar with these items by visiting local museums, auction houses, reading books or going online.
• Reputable dealer: If you are a first-time buyer, spend some time with a local dealer, with a good reputation, someone who has been in business for a long time, even at the same location. Ask the dealer to show you key points in construction and the style of the pieces that interest you, whether it be furniture, sculpture, picture frames, porcelain or silver. Most dealers will be happy to do so; you may come back and buy from that store.
• Negotiate: Most pieces shown by a dealer don't have a fixed price; don't be afraid to negotiate, but don't insult the dealer by offering a specific sum far below the listed price. You might want to ask the dealer, "What is your best price?" Negotiate from that point, but don't haggle. You can suggest a lower price if you buy more than one piece.
• Gifts: Antiques work well as gifts, for weddings and other special occasions.

Art & Antiques/Art Online
Circline.com

Viewed as "the marketplace for the world's finest art, antiques and dealers," circline.com houses what may be the largest online collection of art and antiques. Use the search engine or browse through categories such as American Art and Antiques or Modern and Contemporary Art and Design. Other sections offer art- and antique-related news articles, previews of exhibitions, and reference information on periods of style, chronologies, bibliographies and more.

Circline
www.circline.com

Collecting: 20th Century Design
"Circline is the design world's Internet marketplace."

R.O.B. Web site of the month

by Judith Pereira

WWW.CIRCLINE.COM Founded in 1997 and headquartered in New York with branches in London and Paris, Circline is an on-line vendor offering more than $300 million (all currency in U.S. dollars) worth of fine art and antiques. Browse by style, country of origin or price range. All prices are guaranteed for authenticity by the more than 700 dealers listed on the site.

Arts and Antiques Prices are steep, making this a fantasy site for most. Average price is $33,000, although 50% of the items are $10,000 or less -- vintage American war posters were in the $700 range.

Dealer Network
An international collection of dealers participate by invitation only and sign certificates of authenticity for all items listed. Canadian content exists; we found a 1920 Birks diamond and platinum brooch at $7,500.

Education If you have a historical query about, say, Russian cabinetmakers or Chinese enamel vessels, e-mail the Circline information staff.

Request Circline searches its list of dealers according to your interests (as general as American photography; as specific as mahogany Hepplewhite sideboards from 1810). The site will e-mail you when a certain piece is available.

Portfolio Sign up; registration is free and entitles you to frequent updates on pieces, featured collections and special offers.

New Yok, New York

BOWLED OVER BY ART FILM

edited by Emily DeNitto

The upcoming Merchant Ivory film The Golden Bowl has taken New York's art world by storm. First, the adaptation of the Henry James novel, starring Uma Thurman, Nick Nolte, and Angelica Huston, was featured in Architectural Digest because it was filmed in some of England's grandest country homes. Now the film has caught the attention of Manhattan-based Circline Inc., an on-line marketplace for fine art and antiques.
For a promotional tie-in to the movie, Circline missioned luxury glassmaker Steuben to create a replica of the most prized possesion depicted in the film: the golden bowl. Made of crystal and gold, the replicas are priced at $14,000 a piece.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Merchant Ivory Foundation, which supports emerging artists and film preservation. The tie-in will coincide with the film's U.S. release this month. Collectors, film buffs and Henry James fans may need to act fast. Only 50 bowls are being made.

A Bowl Costing More Than Its Weight in Gold

By CANDACE A. WEDLAN, Times Staff Writer

What a golden opportunity. Steuben has created a crystal and 22-karat-gold bowl to celebrate the release of Merchant Ivory Production's film of the Henry James story "The Golden Bowl."
The Merchant Ivory Foundation, which promotes the visual and performing arts, and Circline, a New York-based retailer of antiques and fine art, commissioned the limited edition of 50 bowls, which stand 8 inches high and measure 6 3/4 inches in diameter and sell for $14,000. Steuben will display one at its flagship store in Manhattan on April 16 through the film's New York premiere April 24. One bowl will be auctioned at the premiere party, with all proceeds going to the foundation; a portion of profits from the rest of the bowls also will benefit the foundation.
Available exclusively through Circline, the Steuben "Golden Bowl," can be ordered.

Steuben commemorates 'The Golden Bowl' film

Steuben crystal, already world-renowned for its quality and artistic beauty, has made it to the big time, Hollywood style.
Steuben has been asked by Merchant Ivory Productions to create 50 artist renderings of "The Golden Bowl," the centerpiece of a movie based on a novel by Henry James. Steuben's "The Golden Bowl" - available for $14,000 each at Circline.com - marks firsts both for Steuben and the movie industry.

If "Dogtown" is grassroots, "The Golden Bowl" is upscale. The latest Merchant Ivory film, due out April 27 via Lions Gate, deals with a billionaire American art collector (Nick Nolte) in Europe during the early 20th century.

House & Home

SPINOFF
To Hold the Riches of an Heiress
"The Golden Bowl," a Merchant-Ivory film opening in New York in April, is about an Italian prince who marries an American coal heiress for her money, and a beautiful but flawed golden bowl. An odd inspiration for spinoff merchandise, but here it is, $14,000 the embodiment of fins des siècles (both siècles) decadence. Steuben created 50 gold-an-crystal interpretentions of the bowl, though the rim inscription will not be in Greek, as above, but Latin. At www.Circline.com.

Spring Is Here and So Is Stormy Weather; But New Yorkers Can Weather Any Storm When It Comes to Going Out At Night
(excerpt)

The night before I didn't go to Swifty's. I went to dinner at Primola, an excellent Italian restaurant on Second Avenue between 64th and 65th which I've been told is the "secret" favorite Italian restaurant of a lot of sophisticated New Yorkers. I was the guest of Nick Nicholson of Circline.com, along with the distinguished and prolific film producer Ismail Merchant.

Site Specifics news of the
online market (excerpt)

Top Lots for January 2001

Circline.com
$403,200. A Ziegler & Co. central Persian wool-pile and cotton-foundation carpet, circa 1880.Posted on the site and sold offline on December 13 by Circline.com affiliate Beauvais Carpet of New York.

Circline
www.circline.com

Collecting: Fine Art
A recent site redesign means that Circline now has an even more powerful searching capabilities and more enhanced educational content. As always, this site features premium goods at upscale prices. The inventory is huge and there are numerous hand-holding custom services. A search for Victorian era materials from Great Britain yielded some 67 hits, ranging from a Blue Overlay Glass Goblet for $1,900 to a pair of Victoria Walnut Cabinets for $85,000. Still, the category seemed padded with things like a Gothic Breakfront Bookcase for $300,000—hailing from roughly the same era, but reflecting an entirely different aesthetic.

An online antique marketplace for dealers and buyers.

Lovers of antiques can use the search engine to find items by type, style, era, origin and price. The easy-to-read site also breaks down merchandise by culture --- for example, American, Asian or Islamic. Although the antiques are pricey (a 16th-century Ottoman stained-glass window sells for $35,000), browsers can contact circline.com to negotiate. Young collectors will be pleased to know there is a page with items under $10,000.

How the Trade is Surviving
the Internet Shake-Up(excerpt)

by Kelly Devine Thomas

The Burn Rate
New York's Circline-representing more than 600 international dealers in fine art and antiques-sold Sir Joshua Reynold's 1774-76 Portrait of Mrs. Robert Mayne for $415,150 and a Wybrand de Geest painting of an unknown officer for $130,800 last summer. In its second round of funding, in November, Circline raised $13.2 million in venture capital.

Buying art online is easy
fun—and wide open to potential fraud
Don't get fleeced.

by Barbara Pollack (excerpt)

December 25, 2000

Grill the Seller. Check out "feedback" - the comment section of most auction sites, where consumers rate their satisfaction with the seller. You can also check the Web sites of the FTC and Better Business Bureau, which log complaints, and Auctionwatch.com, which flags "problem" auction sites. Secure sites typically provide the consignor's name, e-mail address and telephone number. Moreover, they encourage direct contact between buyers and sellers. An upscale retail site such as Circline.com will even arrange pre-sale meetings between the client and the consignor.

Modern Masters at Minimal Prices

Art and antique sales on the net have yet to fulfill the expectations of investors but there are successes. Circline.com seems to be attracting the support of the very top global dealers, 750 of whom are successfully selling their lower-priced goods at fixed prices - with the possibility of some negotiation. Half the 20,000 works of art available on the site go for less than $10,000.

Site Specifics news of the
online market (excerpt)

London
"Locate, live, love, learn" goes the advertising slogan for Circline.com, the fixed-price Web site that sells fine and decorative arts. And "locate" is the key for the dot-com's latest accomplishment-securing some $13.2 million in financing at a time when venture capital is harder to find than a Herter Brothers sleeper. Investors in this round, completed in November, were Aberdare Ventures of San Francisco; Bessemer Venture Partners of Menlo Park, California; Brand Equity Ventures of Greenwich, Connecticut; Private Equity Ventures of Fort Worth, Texas; Scripps Ventures of New York and Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park. The Silicon Valley giants Bessemer and Trinity also contributed to Circline's previous round of financing, which had raised around $7 million.

The Art of Survival (excerpt)
With a host of stock-market flotations postponed indefinitely and venture capitalists asking questions about revenue, the dot.com sector has received a timely wake-up call. So who is likely to survive in online art commerce? Tom Flynn reports

One company that fits this third profile is New York based Circline.com, a fixed-price art site boasting $200,000m inventory of art and antiques, which it claims is the largest available online. Circline says that its sales have increased 500% since expanding its two-year-old site two months ago, but its success may be because most of its deals are done in the real world. In this respect Circline acts as a facilitator, bringing buyer and seller together through the net, taking a percentage if a transaction ensues. This "bricks'n'clicks" philosophy is likely to be the way forward for the internet.
Circline's approach has attracted upmarket clients such as London Old Master dealers Colnaghi, French dealer Didier Aaron and Asian art experts Esknazi. The highest priced object sold to date through Circline is a $100,000 rug by the Art Deco designer André Arbus, which compares very favourably with other fine-art sites online.

Circline secure $13.2m in second round funding
GOOD news for what is arguably one of the best dealer sites offering art and antiques on the Web - Circline has secured $13.2m in its second round of financing.

Chief executive Sean Mast, the co-founder of Circline, made the announcement last week, revealing that new investors include Brand Equity Ventures of Greenwich, Connecticut, Aberdare Ventures of San Francisco, Scripps Ventures of New York, and Private Equity Ventures of Fort Worth, Texas. Also participating in the round are returning investors Bessemer Venture Partners of Menlo Park, California and Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park, California.
Circline, founded in 1997 by Mr Mast and Rachel Meyer, now offers more than $300m of some of the finest art and antiques in the world, with every piece fully guaranteed for authenticity. The Site is well presented with first class images and easy to use. The company's published average price per piece is $33,000, with half the pieces under $10,000.
All this quality costs money, of course, and with Circline operating a policy of charging nothing for dealers to upload and display their stock - the firm only makes money on sales commission - ongoing financial backing is essential at this early stage. Sean Mast commented:
"This financing will allow Us to continue to consolidate the fragmented, fixed-price market for fine art and antiques into a centralized marketplace where every buyer can find the piece they are looking for, and every dealer can find the largest number of buyers of high-end pieces."
Rachel Meyer, Circline's chief operating officer, added: "We've reached a point where the top dealers understand that Circline connects them with the top buyers of fine art and antiques on a global level. In addition, our list of premier dealers and the authenticity guarantee give our buyers the security they need to make the relationships work with more satisfaction and success than has ever been possible before."
There's no doubt that Circline certainly does enjoy this reputation but, as with so many businesses on the Internet these days, creating a first class business is only half of the problem - making enough money to keep that business going is the nut that those with a long-term future have to crack.
A prediction: if Circline can maintain adequate funding over the next year and continues presenting dealers' stock at the level it now does, it should emerge as one of the great thriving survivors when many other sites have disappeared.

Circline Nets $13.2 Million


Online fine art and antique marketplace Circline closed its second round of financing this week, netting $13.2 million from repeat investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures. New investors included Brand Equity Ventures, Aberdare Ventures, Scripps Ventures, and Private Equity Ventures.

Founded in 1997, Circline offers more than $300 million in fine art and antiques, with a hefty average price tag per item of $33,000. CEO and co-founder Sean Mast said the cash would help Circline continue consolidating a fragmented upper-crust art market with technology that centralizes the space. His company offers technology that promises to network and "revolutionize" the art world, according to Laura Laterman, a Circline spokesperson.

Circline has offices in New York and London.

Circline
www.circline.com

Collecting: Fine Art
Blue chip all the way — but expect to pay sky-high prices. Inventory is heavy in old masters and other pricey works, like an early Maurice de Vlaminck canvas ($3.5 million). The quality's high in most media, except photography. Prints include works by Rembrandt, Pissarro and Warhol. Don't miss the Piranesi prints of monumental Roman columns ($41,600) or the lovely series of 17th-century German botanicals ($8,500 each). The rich sculpture area includes a marble Greco-Roman torso ($75,000) and an ancient Egyptian mummy cover ($110,000). You can buy online, but we don't suggest it. Window-shop online but close the deal at least with some phone calls. Checks or wire transfer only; no credit cards.

Shopping: Home Furnishings
Looking for a $141,000 Regency Daybed with its original gilding? Then visit this fine antiques emporium, featuring inventory from the worlds most exclusive antiques dealers. Browse by piece, style, country of origin, era, or price range. Once you've settled on that circa 1790 George III secretaire ($29,8910) and a rare library ladder from the same era ($7,200), create a portfolio of selections with your personal notes. If you don't see what you want, ask them to search for you. Bypass the Learn section's rudimentary info on periods, styles and cabinetmakers, in favor of the calendar of shows, reviews and informative articles from the Art Newspaper. Best help of all: Ask the Education Staff. We received a detailed e-mail response to our question within minutes.

Randall A. Ridless

Kips Bay newcomer Randall Ridless collaborated with Elizabeth Martell on the design of an intimate fifth-floor study inspired by the Metropolitan Museum's Crillon Room. A chic blend of traditional and contemporary elements, the paneled study features a "strict palette" of brown and beige brightened by shots of pink.
The lacquered wall panels and fireplace are enlivened by calligraphic motifs that Ridless derived from African textiles, a Matisse painting, the Villa Krylos, and Japanese lacquerware. The designer located many of the room's antique furnishings--including a set of Jansen Louis XVI-style tables that belonged to the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor-- through Circline, an online dealer-driven marketplace for fine art and antiques.

Circline.com, strong in furniture and Old Masters, is a favorite with decorators because they get a discount off high on-screen prices.

Online companies say their niche is convenience. Art lovers can avoid the uncomfortable feeling that comes from strolling into an oh-so-pretentious gallery. For their part, these small companies get to tap into a vast global marketplace - one not limited by geo-political borders. Artists, meanwhile, can capitalize on that same virtual market.

"We've created an international marketplace for arts and antiques that never could have been done before," says Sean Mast, chief executive of New York's Circline, which caters to designers, art advisors and high-end collectors.

His company, with a network of more than 600 art and antique dealers, allows customers to browse a $250 million inventory of paintings, antiques, sculptures and other items. Circline encourages customers to speak directly with the dealers, figuring they're the best source to field questions about an item. "We're closer to being a clicks-and-bricks-type company," says Mast. Industry officials say the Internet can make the art market more efficient by making it easier for buyers and sellers to meet.

Editors' Note

"We have a unique business model," Sean Mast boasts, "because we serve both buyers and sellers." What he means is that the enterprise he heads, Circline.com, aggregates the inventories of art and antiques vendors worldwide, and presents them - "quickly and efficiently" - to a limitless audience of potential purchasers. Further distinguishing the company is that, "while other people have tried doing something similar," the CEO contends "they haven't been able to maintain a consistent focus on top-tier dealers and/or top-tier objects." Plus, "our brand stands for confidence," he adds; "buyers know they're safe when they purchase from us." All told, Mast sees Circline as "changing the industry for the better," and why not? "We help everyone out."...

All items are pictured on the Web site. Dealers and buyers are charged a 5 percent commission at the time of the sale. Many viewers utilize the site as a shopping resource and actually contact the dealer or Circline directly in order to purchase the desired item offline.

The Venini family sold the company in the 1980's to Royal Copenhagen of Denmark, which continues to produce models, but in different forms. "They change the colors and proportions, so Venini products are quite different from what they were when the family controlled the company," Ms. Oldknow warned.

Happily, the art glass influenced other more commercial sectors of the Murano glass industry. Web sites like antique-glass.co.uk and circline.com offer anonymous 20th-century Murano vases and decorative pieces for less than $1,500 apiece.