Terms and Conditions of Sale
CONDITIONS OF SALE AND TERMS OF GUARANTEE
The following Conditions of Sale and Terms of Guarantee apply to all property offered for sale or at auction by Clark's Fine & Art Auctioneers Inc or Clark Cierlak Fine Arts (either hereafter known as CFAA). This includes catalogued, non-catalogued, consigned or inventory property offered for sale or at auction. All property descriptions, whether listed in the catalogue or not, may be amended by us by the posting of an addendum, erratum, notice, or by oral announcements made during the auction or sale. All consigned property is offered by CFAA as an agent for the Consignor(s). By bidding, purchasing, or agreeing to purchase at auction or sale, you warrant that you are bound by these Conditions of Sale and Terms of Guarantee. All bids and agreements to purchase are contractual and intentional. Under no circumstances will any bids or agreements to purchase be recognized as accidental or unintentional.
A. All property is available for inspection. We recommend that everyone personally inspect any property before bidding on or agreeing to purchase it. Although reasonable efforts have been made to describe the property, it is the buyer's responsibility to inspect the property prior to the auction or sale (see paragraph J). Unless specifically requested, none of the property has been inspected by CFAA for a condition report, no assumption of condition is made or suggested by a description or the lack of description in the catalogue, addendum, online listing or verbal announcement. We do not open frames for inspection.
B. A buyer's premium will be added to the successful bid or sale price and is payable by the purchaser as part of the total purchase price. The buyer's premium is 30 % of the successful bid or sale price.
C. Online, telephone and absentee bidders as well as bidders not known to CFAA are required to supply us with a valid credit card (in their name) or a bank letter of credit prior to the auction. Bids may not be honored if such arrangements are not made before the auction. Bidders not known to CFAA who would like to pay with a business or personal check are required to supply us with a bank letter of credit prior to the auction. We will then hold the purchases until the check has cleared our bank. Credit cards are only accepted in person with valid photo identification unless otherwise agreed upon by CFAA. Other approved electronic payments will be subject to processing fees.
D. Property is offered in lots for the auction. All bids are per lot as numbered in the catalogue unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer or listed as such on the catalogue's addendum.
E. We reserve the right to withdraw any property from the auction or sale for any reason whatsoever and shall have no liability for doing so.
F. The auctioneer reserves the right to reject any bid for any reason whatsoever and shall have no liability for doing so. This includes, but is not limited to, opening bids below the reserve, insufficient advances or increments, or bids from a questionable bidder. The highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer will be the purchaser. In the event of any dispute between bidders, or if there is doubt on our part as to the validity of any bid, the auctioneer will determine who is the successful bidder. The auctioneer may cancel the sale or re-offer and resell the article in dispute. If any dispute arises after the sale, our sales record is conclusive. We are not responsible for any errors or omissions in connection with absentee, Internet or telephone bids.
G. If a lot is offered with a reserve the auctioneer may bid for the consignor up to the reserve. The auctioneer may open the bidding and or place consecutive bids on behalf of the consignor. In instances where the auctioneer may have an interest in the lot other than the commission, the auctioneer may bid up to the reserve to protect such interest. Any lot that is consigned to us without a reserve may be assigned a reserve, which in our judgment is appropriate.
H. Unless exempted by law the purchaser will be required to pay the combined California state and local sales tax, any applicable combination use tax of another state, and if applicable, any federal luxury or other tax, on the total purchase price. Out of state shipments must be made by a qualified carrier. Dealers new to us will be refunded the sales tax upon our verification of a valid California resale number issued specifically for the type of property purchased.
I. The authenticity of the Authorship (creator, period, culture, or source of origin, as the case may be, as set forth in the Bold Type Heading of a catalogue lot or as described on the Sales Agreement) of property is guaranteed for 30 days from the sale date. If within 30 days the purchaser returns the property in the same condition as when purchased and gives us written proof from a recognized impartial expert which establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the returned property is in fact a counterfeit or a forgery intended to deceive and that this was not indicated by a fair reading of the auction catalogue, sales agreement or auctioneer's comments at the time of sale, then we and the consignor will rescind the sale and refund the purchase price. This is a non-assignable guarantee and applicable only to the receipt-bearing original purchaser. The guarantee does not apply to (a) property with a heading or description which includes the word or words "after", "attributed", "manner", "style", "school", "circle", "follower", "collection", "bearing", "bears signature", "complimentary signature", "signed artist's name" or "inscribed artist's name" (b) property sold as or listed under the heading or section "Decorative Arts" or "Fine Decorative Arts", (c) lots with a low estimate of $500. or less, (d) lots offered without an estimate, (e) property offered in a weekday auction.
J. Aside from authorship, all property is sold "AS IS" without any warranties or representations by us or the Consignor as to the exactness or correctness of the catalogue, index, addendum, oral statement, or online description of the medium, date, state, edition, size, quality, physical condition, rarity, reference, importance, value, provenance, exhibitions, estimate, literature or historical relevance of any property. No statement anywhere, whether oral or written or online, whether made in the catalogue, sales agreement, sales-room posting or announcement, an advertisement, or elsewhere, shall be deemed such a warranty, representation, or assumption of liability. We and the Consignor make no representations and warranties whatsoever as to whether the buyer acquires any copyrights or reproduction rights in any property. Neither we nor the Consignor are responsible for omissions or errors in the catalogue, online description, or any other material.
K. The successful bidder recognized by the auctioneer will take title (subject to fulfillment of all of the conditions of sale) to the offered lot at the declaration of the auctioneer as being sold to that bidder, and (a) will assume full responsibility and risk thereof, and (b) will immediately pay the full purchase price or deposit as we may require within seven days.
A late charge of 5 % per week of the total purchase price may be incurred by the purchaser if payment is not made within 7 days from the sale date. Seven days after the sale date (unless other agreed upon arrangements have been made and honored), we can (a) apply late charges and storage fees, (b) cancel the sale, (c) auction or privately resell the property and apply the net proceeds after our selling commissions and expenses to satisfy the unpaid balance, (d) sell any or all property the purchaser may have on consignment with us without minimum or reserve regardless of previously contracted terms to satisfy amount owed, (e) forfeit the purchaser's eligibility to complete the sale and apply any late charges and storage fees, (f) apply any partial payments to any late charges and storage fees, or (g) effect any combination thereof. Any legal expenses incurred by us to collect any or all of the payment due to us will be charged to the purchaser. All property must be removed from the premises by the purchaser at their expense no later than one week after the date of sale unless other specific arrangements are made with us or shipping arrangements have been requested. Any item held by us after seven days may be stored or sent to a storage facility, without liability on our behalf, for a charge of 5 % of the total purchase price per day or ten dollars per day, whichever is greater. If the storage charges accumulate to an amount equal to or greater than the purchase price we can then auction or privately resell the property or sell any or all property the purchaser may have on consignment with us without minimum or reserve regardless of previously contracted terms to satisfy the accumulated storage charges after our selling commissions and expenses. Items which have been paid for but have not been picked up or arranged to be picked up by the purchaser or their agents will be deemed as abandoned after 30 days, and may be disposed of by us as we see fit without any liability or obligation to the owner whatsoever, unless prior written arrangements have been confirmed by us.
L. These Conditions of Sale and Terms of Guarantee, as well as the buyer's and seller's respective rights and obligations hereunder, shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with laws of the State of California. By bidding at an auction or agreeing to purchase, whether present in person or by agent, absentee bid, online, telephone or other means, the purchaser shall be deemed to have consented to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state courts of, and the federal courts sitting in, the State of California.
M. In-house or referred packing may be available for some items for an additional cost. We are under no obligation to perform in-house packing or refer the purchaser to a third party packer. United States Postal Service is currently not available for most in-house packing. We cannot be responsible for the acts or omissions in our packing or shipping or those of other carriers or packers whether or not recommended by us. Packing and handling of purchased property is at the entire risk of the purchaser. Insurance is available upon request for most items. CFAA will not insure or make insurance claims for glass, damage from glass, or for non-recommended frames or from damage from thereof.
N. Under no circumstances and in no event will our liability to a purchaser exceed the purchase price actually paid.
Clark's Fine Art generally uses the following bid increments :
$1.- $100. by $5.
$100.- $200. by $10.
$200.- $500. by $25.
$500.- $1000. by $50.
$1000.- $2000. by $100.
$2000.- $5000. by $250.
$5000.- $10,000. by $500.
$10,000.- $20,000. by $1000.
$20,000.- $50,000. by $2500.
$50,000.- $100,000. by $5000.
$100,000.- $200,000. by $10,000.
$200,000.- $500,000. by $25,000.
$500,000.- $1,000,000. by $50,000.
$1,000,000. and above Auctioneer's discretion
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Name of Artist: Subject to the Conditions of Sale set forth in this catalogue, each lot is identified to be the work of the artist whose name appears in BOLD TYPE HEADING. This heading may precede a single lot or a series of lots by the same artist (see article "I" in the Conditions of Sale And Terms of Guarantee. Title: If there is a generally accepted title for the work, that title is given at the beginning of the lot description. If the work does not have a title or the title is not known to us, a descriptive title is given instead. References: Whenever possible, standard catalogues of the artist's works are cited in parentheses following the title. This is done to facilitate identification and to indicate where the reader might seek further information with respect to any of the subjects mentioned below and does not necessarily indicate state or that catalogue was actually viewed by us. Date: Unless otherwise indicated, we believe the date given is the date of execution of the work, plate or master. A date preceded by a "c." (circa) represents our best judgment of the approximate date. Medium: The primary medium is identified following the title, reference or date. The terms used are intended as general description and may not cover all the techniques employed by the artist. Signature: Unless otherwise indicated, a work is described as signed only if it has, in our opinion, a signature of the identified artist. The terms "bears signature" or "signed artist's name" or "inscribed artist's name" or "complimentary" do not reflect our opinion that it is the signature of the identified artist. Edition: Within the limits of information available to us, a reasonable effort has been made to state accurately the size of a numbered edition. Measurements: Measurements are given, in inches, height before width and may be by sight or rounded off. Framing: "Framed" works are usually sold in the frames in which they have been received by us. We do not do condition reports on the frames. Frames are sold as is. We take no responsibility either for the appearance of frames or for their conformity to proper conservation standards. We do not open frames for inspection. Estimate: The range of low and high numbers following the lot description suggesting the expected auction price of the lot.
CFAA incorporates the following terms and combination of terms for describing the physical condition of property to be offered for sale. Unless otherwise requested, artworks are not inspected out of their frames. Some condition issues may be listed in the description in addition to their ranking while other condition issues may not be listed but may be present based on their ranking. We are happy to provide additional property description upon request. The "Conditions of Sale and Terms of Guarantee" apply to all property offered for sale.
Studio Condition
In condition as most likely received from the artist's studio or production facility.
Aged Condition
In good condition as one might expect given the age of the item. African, Ethnic, Tribal and others, especially ritual or ceremonial objects may have cracks and losses, natural or otherwise, which are considered normal and may not be listed in the condition report.
Apparently
Unless otherwise noted no obvious condition problems sighted at time of inspection, framed or perceived studio condition.
A) Good Condition (A condition)
May have a few unobtrusive minor condition issues. For works on paper this may include: Soft handling creases, pale toning or discoloration, light scuffs, minor creases or other minor imperfections that may have not been noticed at time of inspection. For works not on paper this may include: Surface soiling, light surface scuffs or scratches, natural and or hairline cracking, minor wear, or other minor imperfections that may have not been noticed at time of inspection.
B) Generally Good (B condition)
May have more minor to moderate condition issues that are generally more pronounced or more noticeable than "good" condition. For works on paper this may also include: Nicks or scrapes, small edge tears, lightly scattered speckles or foxing, some staining in the margins, some fading, and or similar condition issues. For works not on paper this may also include: Small chips, losses, tears, some repair, and or more similar condition issues.
C) Fair (C condition)
May have more moderate condition issues overall. This may include: tears and or losses and or repairs and or fading of colors, and or more moderate "generally good" condition issues.
D) Poor (D condition)
Less than "fair condition" and in need of repair and or restoration.
