In recent years, Lyon and Turnbull’s Asian art sales generated a certain buzz among collectors and dealers alike. These sales were known for featuring lots from various private sources, providing an opportunity to purchase period and fresh pieces. Lyon and Turnbull’s team worked tirelessly behind the scenes to source fresh items for their sales, often featuring private old collections offered for sale without reserve.
These sales were a must-attend event for dealers looking to source new stock. I met dealers who had travelled from all corners of the world to attend these sales. Lee Young, the former head of department, was instrumental in building Lyon and Turnbull’s brand as a respected Asian art auction house. However, he left the company, and rumours suggest he was pushed out in favor of staff that could speak a certain Asian language, I do not know why he left personally and no doubt ever will. During the tenure of Lee Young, Lyon and Turnbull began to establish a reputation and gain momentum in the realm of Asian art auctions. Although not vying for direct competition with the leading three auction houses, it adeptly seized upon missed opportunities overlooked by the latter, thereby leveraging them to its advantage. In doing so, Lyon and Turnbull successfully fulfilled a significant market gap created by the internal politics, academic hierarchy, and haughty attitudes prevalent among the aforementioned “big three”. This resulted in many instances of the general public or dealers being unduly snubbed despite possessing remarkable Chinese treasures, which were later recognized and sold for large sums by Lyon and Turnbull.
However, things have gone down hill drastically. Many dealers and individuals on the grapevine are saying that Lyon and Turnbull’s reputation as an Asian art auction is on the line. The last Asian art sale held on the 15th of March 2023 was a complete disaster. The catalogue descriptions lacked confidence, with most lots seeming to be described in the same vague manner. The descriptions seemed to be covering their backs rather than providing clear details about the items for sale. Dealers are losing faith in the auction house, I know of a few that are angry having wasted time and money attending sales only to be disappointed by the misleading descriptions and sheer number of fakes on offer.
Lyon and Turnbulls must turn things around, and they need to do it quickly. They can no longer rely on one item to save an entire sale. If they want to restore their reputation, they need to take bold steps. One possible solution would be to bring in experts who can provide clear and accurate descriptions of the items for sale. This move could help Lyon and Turnbulls regain the trust of dealers and individuals who have lost faith in the auction house.
In my professional opinion, I would recommend replacing any department personnel, regardless of their language proficiency, with individuals possessing the requisite expertise to effectively describe the subject matter at hand.
Qianlong mark but later, Guangxu mark but 20th century, Possibly 19th century, Ming mark but this or that, old but maybe modern, these types of descriptions instil no confidence and quite frankly are getting boring and off-putting.
Come on Lyon and Turnbull you can do better than this – Get your roar back.
