Terms of Sale
These Terms apply to ALL sales, including those by Auction, Private Sale and Buy Now.
Massachusetts Auctioneer #121.
A. All items are sold as is, where is, with all faults. There are no warranties or representations of merchantability, fitness, nor of any other kind, express or implied. All artists' names and dates recorded in this catalog are not to be taken as unqualified attributions to the artists named. No attributions to any artist or date are made or intended as to authorship or date of execution. Therefore, none of the property in this catalog is subject to any guarantee of authenticity and all of the property is sold "as is".
All items are available for your examination prior to bidding. Your bidding will signify that you have examined the items as fully as you desire, or that you have chosen not to examine them. Written and oral descriptions are opinions and should in no way be construed as a guarantee of any kind as to age, condition, authenticity, materials or any other feature of items being sold. 500 Gallery recommends prospective bidders examine all items in which they have an interest.
In the case of online-only auctions, examination of photographs of the objects may be supplemented with verbal descriptions by calling 500 Gallery at 508-533-6277 with questions.
If you require absolute certainty in all areas of authenticity, and the results of your evaluation leaves uncertainty in your mind, we recommend you not bid on the item in question.
Any statement, written or verbal, made by the auctioneer or any agent or employee of 500 Gallery shall not be deemed a warranty or assumption of liability by 500 Gallery or by any seller represented by 500 Gallery.
B. Bidding will begin at a price determined by the auctioneer at his sole discretion. The Auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw a lot for any reason he deems appropriate. At the Auctioneer?s sole discretion, no bid of less than one-half the low estimates will be accepted from any source: phone bidding, absentee bidding, internet bidding, or bidding at 500 Gallery. Some lots in this catalog are offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum hammer price at which a lot will be sold. In executing a reserve, the Auctioneer has the right to bid on behalf of the Consignor, whether by opening bidding or continuing bidding in response to other bidders until reaching the reserve. If the reserve is not met, the Auctioneer has the right to withdraw the item from the sale. The Auctioneer may rescind the sale of any lot if a catalog description is in error or if a lot was listed in error.
C. Once 500 Gallery declares that an item is sold, 500 Gallery cannot reopen the bidding. 500 Gallery reserves the right to reject any bids deemed inappropriate or to withdraw any item(s) for lack of appropriate bids. If an item is withdrawn from the auction, it will be offered again only at the Auctioneer's sole discretion.
D. RETURN POLICY: The Buyer has the right to rescind a sale of Property for any reason, so long as Buyer provides notice (email to be sufficient) of such rescission within forty-eight (48) hours of receipt of the Property and promptly returns the Property to 500 Gallery in the same condition it was sold. Refunds will be made for the Hammer price, plus the Buyer's Premium of the returned item(s). Shipping charges are not refundable, and return shipping cost is the responsibility of the buyer.
PAYMENT
Payments are due within 4 days of the auction.
If you have a credit card on file, we may attempt to charge your invoice to it after 4 days.
Payment for amounts under $1000 may be made by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, and American Express). Larger amounts must be made by cash, check, money order or wire transfer. All payments are due within 4 business days from the sale date. 500 Gallery reserves the right to require bank checks or wire transfer for purchases over USD$1,000. Buyers not known to 500 Gallery, who wish pay by check, must provide a current letter of credit from their bank guaranteeing funds for that account.
SHIPPING TERMS
Buyer agrees that packing and shipping is done at the Buyer's risk and that the Buyer will pay in advance all packing expenses, materials, carrier fees and insurance charges. At 500 Gallery's discretion, items will either be packed by an agent (such as a packaging store) or by 500 Gallery.
Please allow two weeks for shipping after payment is received. All items not picked up by Buyer immediately following live auctions, or within five (5) days of internet auctions, will be stored at Buyer's sole expense and risk of loss, incurring a $10 per lot/per day storage fee. 500 Gallery is happy to provide names of carriers and shippers if a Buyer so requests. 500 Gallery will have no liability for any loss or damage to shipped items.
BUYER'S PREMIUM
A Buyer's premium of up to 30% will be applied to the purchase price of all items offered at auction. The premium may vary by each auction's host site, will be posted in the auction catalog on the respective sites.
SALES TAX
All purchases are subject to applicable Massachusetts sales tax unless the Massachusetts Certificate of Resale tax form is completely filled out and received prior to time of purchase. Resale tax numbers from other states are accepted. International buyers are responsible for tariffs, taxes, or assessments of shipped items to the Buyer's country. Items shipped out of state are not subject to sales tax.
SEVERABILITY
If any term or provision of this Agreement is found invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other term of this Agreement or invalidate or render unenforceable such term in any other jurisdiction.
NOTICES
All notices, consents, claims, demands, waivers, and communications hereunder ("Notice") shall be in writing and addressed to the parties at the addresses set forth herein or to such other address that may be designated by the receiving party in writing. All Notices shall be delivered by personal delivery, nationally recognized overnight courier (all fees pre-paid), facsimile (with confirmation of transmission) or certified registered mail (return receipt requested, postage prepaid). A Notice is effective only upon receipt of the receiving party, and if the party giving the Notice has complied with the requirements of this Paragraph No. 7.
ARBITRATION
Any and all disputes or controversies arising out of, or relating to, this Agreement or the breach thereof, shall be settled by way of Arbitration in accordance with the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 251 and judgment on the award rendered by the Arbitrator may be entered in any Court having jurisdiction thereof. Arbitration shall be before a single arbitrator sitting in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and any award or decision shall be binding and conclusive upon all parties. As part of the decision, the arbitrator shall assess the costs and expenses of arbitration, including the fees and expenses of the arbitrator and the reasonable fees and expenses of the prevailing party (including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses) to the non-prevailing party.
GOVERNING LAW
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without regard to its rules of conflict of laws. Buyer submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Commonwealth of Massachusetts and of the United States of America located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (the "Massachusetts Courts") for any litigation arising out of or relating to this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby (and agrees not to commence any litigation relating thereto except in such courts), waives any objection to the laying of venue of any such litigation in the Massachusetts Courts and agrees not to plead or claim in any Massachusetts Court that such litigation brought therein has been brought in an inconvenient forum.
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED IN OUR CATALOG
Original
The term Original means that an artwork is not a copy. Original artworks are usually made by hand. However, Original does not have the same meaning as Authentic.
Authentic/By/Authenticated
Authentic, or By, indicates that an artwork is by the artist named. When these terms are used, it is because there is historical documentation, or full provenance.
Examples: Authentic Andy Warhol; By Andy Warhol
Authenticated indicates that the artwork has been deemed authentic by a recognized authority, or as the conclusion of scholarly research.
Examples: Authenticated Andy Warhol; Andy Warhol, Authenticated
Attributed/Attr.
Attributed (Attr.) is the term we use when we believe that there is a strong possibility that the artwork is by the artist whose name is on it, but unfortunately there is no provenance or conclusive documentation to prove it. Further research by scholars, or opinions of experts, may confirm or conflict with our opinion. Attribution is not authentication.
Examples: Famous Artist (1900-1999) Attributed; Famous Artist (1900-1999) Attr.
In The Manner Of
In The Manner Of, or simply Manner Of, is used to qualify an artwork which strongly resembles the work of a master artist. It is often used on artworks bearing the name of a famous artist, but not believed to be by that artist's hand.
Examples: Famous Artist (1900-1999) Manner Of, or, In The Manner Of Famous Artist….
Attributed/In The Manner Of
The combination term Attributed/In The Manner Of is used for artworks which show significant possibility of authenticity, combined with an element of doubt. It is most often used on works bearing the names of artists whose work has historically been the subject of forgeries.
Example: Famous Artist (1900-1999) Attributed/Manner Of
After
After is the term used in two ways:
To denote that the work is a copy of a known artwork by another artist;
To indicate that the artwork is a mechanically printed reproduction of an original artwork which exists in another media. Sometimes reproductions are hand-signed by the artist.
Examples: Famous Artist (1900-1999) After, or, After Famous Artist (1900-1999)…
School Of /Follower Of
School Of and Follower Of are terms with similar meaning to In The Manner Of. It suggests that the artwork is strongly influenced by the work of a master artist. Both terms are usually applied to unsigned works which cannot be attributed to the master artist.
Examples: Famous Artist (1900-1999) School of; Follower of Famous Artist; Etc.
Signature/Signed in the Plate
Signature refers to a hand-written legible or identifiable mark attributed to an artist.
Signed in the plate refers to a mechanically printed signature.
Historically, the term comes from hand-made etching or engraving plates which contain the signature of the artists who created them.
Contemporary use of the term also includes signatures in photo-mechanical and digitally made reproductions, when he signature is not a hand-applied addition to a print.
Provenance
Provenance is an artwork's chain of ownership. Full provenance is a list of ownership from the time that an artwork was created. Broken provenance is a partial list, with gaps of ownership. Artworks with broken provenance are listed as attributed.
Limited Edition/ Open Edition
Limited Edition means that a documented, finite number of examples of an artwork were produced. Limited editions are often marked with the total number of examples, but some editions, especially older ones (pre-1900) may not be marked. Some common markings for an edition of 100 pieces may include: ed. 100 (edition of 100); 62/100 (the 62nd example from an edition of 100). These indications are usually hand applied to the lower margin, or hand-written on the image. Some other terms may include: A.P. or E.A. (Both mean Artist's Proof); P.P. (Printer's Proof); H.C. (Hors Commerce =Sample, Not For Sale); B.A.T. (Bon a Tirer = Artist approved print to be used by the printer as a guide when making an edition.)
Open Edition means that there is an unknown number of examples, and, if the printing plates exist, there is the possibility that more prints may be made in the future.
