Mark YuanRichards
We peek into the busy working life of the Head of Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks at Woolley & Wallis
My interest in the arts ignited when I went Interrailing around Europe as a student, visiting Rome, Berlin, Athens, Prague and Budapest. After taking a degree in History of Art and Italian, I returned home to St Ives and did some work experience at David Lay Auctions in Cornwall, where I got bitten by the auction bug. I sent off letters to regional auction houses, and Woolley & Wallis offered me a job as a porter in 2000. I didn’t know George III from William IV but began learning by studying catalogues and talking to my colleagues. Clients respect you when you start at the bottom.
After a year or so, I took on running the regular general sale. It was all hands on deck – one minute I’d be on the rostrum, the next I’d be helping someone into the car with their purchase! I joined the furniture department in 2002 and now head up a department of five. I like the architectural elements of furniture and its practicality
– you can sit in a lovely Howard armchair, for example, or put an antique marquetry chest in the bedroom. I like to think how many other families these pieces have been with.
Day to day, I deal with clients via email or face to face for valuations. I’m out on the road a lot, too, visiting houses big and small. One of my highlights was the Ashley Manor House sale in 2004, held in a marquee in the garden on a beautiful day. The top lots included a bronze sculpture of a dog by Elisabeth Frink that took £26,000, and a 17th- century chessboard with a low estimate of £800 that made around £22,000! Since then, I’ve conducted over 100 auctions such as last autumn’s sale of the Collection of Micheal and Elizabeth Feller at Upper Slaughter Manor. The Fellers had one of the best collections of antique samplers in private hands, while for lovers of Delft pottery and oak and walnut country furniture it was a real treat. 01722 424500; woolleyandwallis.co.uk