THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS AND ITS AIMS

Roy Davids Ltd has no small-print.

It is a relatively simple business of buying, researching, cataloguing and selling, with valuations, sales of archives, expert witness work, and some sales and purchases on behalf of congenial clients. These aspects, along with contact with clients, are the pleasurable and rewarding sides, the most satisfying of which, for me personally, are the research, the cataloguing and dealing with people. I am glad too to make a living, though you may take some comfort from my not being entirely dependant on it.

Then there is administration and accountancy - these are homework, and only managed by turning them into games or passing on as much as possible to professionals.

My research and descriptions are my selling tools. They also give purchasers full accounts of items for their collections [it is my experience that many clients are often too busy to do this work themselves; others may not have the resources available to them]. In the descriptions, I endeavour to give an accurate account of any item in terms of its authenticity, physical characteristics, content and, in as much detail as possible, of its condition. I then try to bring out the significance of any item in terms of its importance in the writer's life and in his field of endeavour, both in the short and long terms. Real connections with the writer's work will be identified if possible. In all this I try to provide a well-written, enthusiastic (if warranted), but balanced view. Good things don't need puffing: my job is to extrapolate their qualities.You will rarely find the word 'interesting' (which tends to mean the cataloguer thinks it must be but does not know why, or is not prepared to do the work to find out). I do not seek to lead purchasers on with empty remarks like 'will reward further research'. Unlike some auction houses I only describe an item as being 'about' a subject if it genuinely and substantially is about it or its conception, otherwise I will say it is about 'the publication of', the 'performance of', or whatever. The mention of a subject does not, in other words, mean for me that the letter is about it.

I do not indulge is other forms of salesmanship over and above my descriptions. I rely on them and my reputation, not on psychological games or other persuasive techniques. I like clients to be pleased with what they buy and do not want them to feel that they have been talked into it. Nonetheless, if you want my opinion verbally, to ask further questions or discuss any other aspect of a purchase, I shall be delighted to speak to you.

The authenticity of all items is absolutely guaranteed.

I will always accept it back should anything prove to be other than I have said (which in almost all cases is always in writing), and I should suffer considerable self-mortification to have found myself mistaken. This applies absolutely in matters of authenticity, but not to statements of opinion if they are in line with scholarship at the time I prepare the descriptions. Because I do give so much information in writing I am not very receptive to people wanting to return things merely on a whim or because once they have secured something their interest fades. I prefer dealing with genuine enthusiasts rather those more interested in a deal. I am always happy to have items offered back to me after a period of time.

All manuscripts are kept in acid-free conditions while in my possession and the transparent folders in which I dispatch them are also of conservation quality. All pictures that I have reframed are affixed and mounted with acid-free materials.

Although I accept complete responsibility for the pictures, medals and other objects in which I deal, I do have access to scholars and experts in all the fields I cover and invariably take advice whenever I feel it is needed. Having collected portraits in numerous media for some 25 years I do feel, however, that I have acquired a pretty wide-ranging expertise in them myself.

So I endeavour to run a straightforward, above-board, relatively uncomplicated business. I don't want to play games with my clients, behave as if I would rather be at Westminster, or to mislead or gull them into doing things for the wrong reasons. I want to deal in and research and describe 'interesting' material (and I virtually only buy things I like myself) and make a reasonable living.

It is within the letter and spirit of these aims and principles that I endeavour to run the business and to conduct my relationships with clients. I thought it would be helpful to state them and hope that I have avoided any more pretension and pomposity than is inevitable in such statements.

Roy Davids

2006