Why you shouldn't trust an auction house condition report
October 21 2011
This was the condition report on a head and shoulders portrait of a gentleman, which we recently bought from a prominent regional UK auctioneer:
Fine craqueleure in areas, several deep scratches to lower half that require retouching, some old restoration, would benefit from a clean.
You wouldn't guess from this that the scratches (actually rips in the canvas) were in the face, the most important part of any portrait. And not least because the face was in the top half of the painting!
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