Important Fine and Decorative Art and Antiques, Icons, and Asian Art

By bidding at our auction, whether in person, by phone, absentee bid, or on the internet, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions. As used in the following terms and conditions, "SA," "GSA," "We," and "Us" refers to "Shapiro Auctions, LLC."

1. For lots purchased via bidding in person, telephone bidding, or absentee bidding, the buyer's premium rates are

25% on the first $100,000 of the Hammer Price;
20% from $100,001 to $2,000,000 of the Hammer Price; and
12% on any amount of Hammer Price in excess of $2,000,000,

which the purchaser of the lot agrees to pay along with applicable taxes as part of the total purchase price. The buyer’s premium for lots purchased via third-party auction portals such as liveauctioneers, invaluable, and the-saleroom.com, may differ and will be indicated on those sites directly.


2. Payment for auction lots and premiums must be received withing seven days of the auction date, and can be made by cash, check, money order, bank wire transfer, credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), or paypal. For payments by credit card or paypal, the maximum invoice amount on which payments are accepted is $5,000, and a 3% surcharge to the entire purchase price, including buyer's premium and any other charges, is added to the invoice. We reserve the right to require payment by methods other than credit card or paypal for any reason. All payment must be made in US Dollars.


3. For purchases picked up or delivered in New York State, unless exempted by the law, the purchaser will be required to pay the combined New York State and local sales tax, any applicable compensating use tax of another state, and if applicable, any federal luxury or other tax, on the total purchase price including buyer's premium. Purchases picked up in New York State or delivered to locations in New York State are subject to sales or compensating use tax of such jurisdiction, and SA is required by law to collect and remit the appropriate sales tax in effect in New York State unless appropriate documentation of exemption is provided. Buyers claiming exemption from sales tax must have the appropriate documentation on file with SA prior to the release of the property. If property is delivered to a state where SA is not required to collect sales tax, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to self-assess any sales or use tax and remit it to taxing authorities in that state. SA is not required to collect sales tax for property delivered to the purchaser outside of the United States.


4. Any items bought by phone, absentee bid, or online, or otherwise not picked up in person on the auction day, will be stored by SA and will be made available for pick-up by appointment. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to contact SA after payment to arrange for pick-up or shipment via their preferred carrier.


5. The items offered for sale by Shapiro Auctions, LLC. are offered either as agent for consignors or by us as owner. The contract for sale of the items is made therefore between the consignor of the property and the buyer. In cases where we own the property, the contract for sale is made between us and the buyer.


6. Bidders should personally examine each lot on which they will be bidding, in order to determine condition, size, and restoration or repair. All items are sold as-is and where-is. Shapiro Auctions, LLC. disclaims any express or implied warranties or guarantees as to the authenticity, condition, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, correctness of the catalog or supplemental material, or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of any property. No statement made anywhere, by us, our employees, officers, or agents, whether written or verbal, shall be deemed such a warranty or assumption of liability. Estimates of the selling price should not be relied on as a statement that this is the price at which the item will sell or its value for any other purposes. Photographic images of items being offered, whether provided in print or online, as well as references in the catalogue entry or condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance only and are provided as a convenience to prospective bidders. The absence of any reference in a condition report or photograph does not imply that an item is free from defect or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Neither SA nor its consignors are responsible in any way for errors and omissions in the catalogue, condition reports, or any other supplemental material. All sales are considered final with the following exception: SA will agree to a refund of the purchase price if within twenty-eight (28) days of purchase, the purchaser obtains and sends to SA a signed written letter from a mutually recognized expert or authority on the artist stating unequivocally that the work is a forgery or not by the represented artist. The purchase date is the date of the auction. The choice of expert or authority must be mutually agreeable to SA and the purchaser. This exception will only apply to a work signed by the artist and not to an attribution, manner of, school of, circle of or follower of a particular artist. The letter must be signed, and on letterhead of the recognized expert or authority. Any exceptions to this rule must be specifically approved by SA.


7. A prospective buyer must complete and sign a registration form before bidding. SA reserves the right to require bank or other financial references for participation in the auction or bidding on a specific lot. SA has the right at our complete discretion to refuse any individual bidder's participation in any auction. When making a bid, a bidder is accepting personal liability to pay the purchase price, including the buyer's premium and all applicable taxes, plus all other applicable charges, unless it has been explicitly agreed in writing with Shapiro Auctions, LLC. before the commencement of the sale that the bidder is acting as agent on behalf of an identified third party acceptable to us, and the we will only look to the principal for payment.


8. We reserve the right to withdraw any property before or during the sale and shall have no liability whatsoever for such withdrawal.


9. Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer, all bids are per lot as numbered in the catalogue.


10. Shapiro Auctions, LLC. and its auctioneer have the right at our absolute and sole discretion to refuse any bid, to advance the bidding in such a manner as we may decide, to withdraw or divide any lot, to combine any two or more lots and, in the case of error or dispute, and whether during or after the sale, to determine the successful bidder, to continue the bidding, to cancel the sale or to reoffer and resell the item in dispute. We reserve the right to reject any bid. Subject to our discretion, the highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer will be the buyer and the striking of his hammer marks the acceptance of the highest bid and conclusion of a contract for sale between the seller and buyer.


11. All lots in the catalogue are offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum hammer price at which a lot will be sold. If any lots in the catalogue are offered without a reserve, such lots will be designated in the description of that particular lot. Reserves are agreed upon with consignors or, the absence thereof, in the absolute discretion of SA. We may implement reserves by opening the bidding on behalf of the consignor and may bid up to the amount of the reserve, by placing successive or consecutive bids for a lot, or bids in response to other bidders. In instances where we have an interest in the lot other than our commission, such lot will be designated with a "F" symbol before the artist's heading in the printed version of the catalogue, and we may bid up to the reserve to protect such interest. In certain instances, the consignor may pay us less than the standard commission rate where a lot is "bought-in" to protect its reserve. If the auctioneer decides that any opening bid is below the reserve of the article offered, he may reject the same and withdraw the article.


12. Subject to fulfillment of all of the conditions set forth herein, on the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer, and such bidder thereupon (a) assumes full risk and responsibility therefore (including, without limitation, liability for or damage to frames or glass covering prints, paintings, and other works) and (b) will immediately pay the full purchase price or such part as we may require. In addition to other remedies available to us by law, we reserve the right to impose from the date of sale a late charge of the annual percentage rate of 12%, of the total purchase if payment is not made within seven days of the sale. All property must be removed from our premises by the purchaser at his expense not later than 10 business days following its sale and, if it is not so removed (i) a handling charge of 1% of the total purchase price per month from the tenth day after the sale until its removal will be payable to us by the purchaser, with a minimum of 5% of the total purchase price for any property not so removed within 60 days after the sale, and (ii) we may send the purchased property to a public warehouse for the account, at the risk and expense of the purchaser. If any applicable conditions herein are not complied with by the purchaser, the purchaser will be in default and in addition to any and all other remedies available to us and the Consignor by law, including, without limitation, the right to hold the purchaser liable for the total purchase price, including all fees, charges and expenses more fully set forth herein, we, at our option, may (x) cancel the sale of that, or any other lot or lots sold to the defaulting purchaser at the same or any other auction, retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the purchaser, or (y) resell the purchased property, whether at public auction or by private sale, or (z) effect any combination thereof. In any case, the purchaser will be liable for any deficiency, any and all handling charges, late charges, expenses of both sales, our commissions on both sales at our regular rates, legal fees and expenses, collection fees and incidental damages. We may, in our sole discretion, apply any proceeds of sale then due or thereafter becoming due to the purchaser from us, or any payment made by the purchaser to us, whether or not intended to reduce the purchaser's obligations with respect to the unpaid lot or lots, to the deficiency and any other amounts due to us. In addition, a defaulting purchaser will be deemed to have granted and assigned to us a continuing security interest of first priority in any property or money of or owing to such purchaser in our possession, and we may retain and apply such property or money as collateral security for the obligations due to us. We shall have all of the rights accorded a secured party under the New York Uniform Commercial Code. Payment will not be deemed to have been made in full until we have collected good funds, and we shall be entitled to retain items sold until all amounts due to us have been received in full in good cleared funds or until the buyer has satisfied such other terms as we, in our sole discretion, shall require. In the event the purchaser fails to pay any or all of the total purchase price for any lot and SA nonetheless elects to pay the Consignor any portion of the sale proceeds, the purchaser acknowledges that SA shall have all of the rights of the Consignor to pursue the purchaser for any amounts paid to the Consignor, whether at law, in equity, or under these Conditions of Sale.


13. SA is under no obligation, but may agree, to package and ship an item at the request of the purchaser. The purchaser agrees that packaging, shipping and handling is at the absolute risk of the purchaser. The purchaser will pay all costs including, but not limited to, the handling and insurance associated with shipping. SA will be held harmless from any claim and any rights of subrogation from an insurance carrier are waived against SA. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third parties whom we might retain for the purposes of handling, packing and shipping. Similarly, where we may suggest handlers, packers or carriers, we do not accept responsibility for their acts or omissions.


14. We are under no obligation to assist in applying for an export license, but if the buyer requests us to apply for an export license on his or her behalf, we shall be entitled to make a charge for this service. We shall not be obliged to rescind a sale nor to refund any interest or other expenses incurred by the buyer where payment is made by the buyer in circumstances where an export license is required.


15. We will use reasonable efforts to carry out written bids delivered to us prior to the sale for the convenience of clients who are not present at the auction in person, by an agent or by telephone. If we receive written bids on a particular lot for identical amounts, and at the auction these are the highest bids on the lot, it will be sold to the person whose written bid was received and accepted first. Execution of written bids is a free service undertaken subject to other commitments at the time of the sale and we do not accept liability for failing to execute a written bid or for errors and omissions in connection with it. With regards to telephone bids, if a prospective buyer makes arrangements with us prior to the sale we will use reasonable efforts to contact them to enable them to participate in the bidding by telephone but we do not accept liability for failure to do so or for errors and omissions in connection with telephone bidding. We are also not liable for any failure or execution to take bids submitted to us via third party internet sites, nor are we liable for any technical difficulties involved in receiving those bids.


16. In no event will our liability to a purchaser exceed the purchase price actually paid.


17. We reserve the right to retain, publicize, and publish any photographs and descriptions of property we offer both prior to the auction and afterwards. We reserve the right to publicize and provide the results of any sale, including images, on our own website as well as to any third party we choose, including online auction-result databases. All images, text, photographic reproductions, and design in this catalogue are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without our explicit written permission. We and the consignor make no representations and warranties, express or implied, as to whether the purchaser acquires any copyrights, including but not limited to, any reproduction rights in any property.


18. Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. Please note also that certain property sold at auction, for example, items made of or incorporating plant or animal materials such as coral, crocodile, ivory, whalebone, tortoiseshell, etc., irrespective of age or value, may require a license or certificate prior to exportation, and additional licenses or certificates upon importation to another country. SA suggests that buyers check on their government wildlife import requirements prior to placing a bid. Pleaes note that the ability to obtain an export license or certificate does not ensure the ability to obtain an import license or certificate in another country, and vice versa. It is the purchaser's responsibility to obtain any export or import licenses and/or required documentation. In the case of denial of any export or import license or of delay in the obtaining of such licenses, the purchaser is still responsible for making on-time payment of the total purchase price of the lot.


19. If any part of these terms and conditions of sale is found by any court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part shall be discounted and the rest of the conditions shall continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law. These conditions of sale, as well as the purchaser's and our respective rights and obligations hereunder, shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York. By bidding at an auction, whether present in person or by agent, order bid, telephone or other means, the purchaser shall be deemed to have consented to the jurisdiction of the state courts of, and the federal courts sitting in, the State of New York.


20. SA reserves the right to waive or modify the conditions and terms of sale by written agreement.
Bidding on any item indicates your acceptance of these terms and conditions, as outlined above.