Early in my time at Kamelot, I received a wonderful referral from a realtor who later became a good friend and client. I often receive referrals from realtors helping their clients sell their home. However, in this case the referral was for a friend she had known for many years.
This soon-to-be memorable client was moving to a spacious high-end apartment. She was downsizing her living space, had great taste, and had acquired many special items which were filling her home.
When entering her home, we noticed quickly a lovely collection of art decorating her walls. Her art collection included original 1800’s American art by William Thompson Russell Smith, Charles Louis Fussel, Newbold Hough Trotter, Herman Gustav Simon and John Pope. She also had beautiful landscape pieces from 1900’s American artists throughout her home.
Some other notable items were a pair of Japanese Tokyo Bronze Figures, a Carved & Gilt French Barometer, a pair of 19th Century gilt wood carved mirrors with elaborate foliate and scroll carved frames, and an antique carved alabaster bust in the Renaissance style. There was much more including a couple impressive chandeliers.
There were a few experiences that made this client especially memorable for me. Firstly, She called me during our Kamelot Auction offering her items, saying how much she appreciated being able to watch the bidding on her items on her computer, something that no client had ever brought up before. She said, “when it became emotional I could just turn off the computer and go out to lunch with a friend.” I was in the first few years of working at Kamelot Auctions, and this impressed upon me how emotional the auction process could be for my clients selling their treasures – something that I took to heart for the rest of my career.
Secondly, she called me several months after she moved into her smaller space and said “Tim, I need your help again as I brought too many things for my apartment.” We helped her again with a smaller number of items. She had decorated her apartment beautifully and told me she was not about to “overdecorate” her new home.
A final way this client was memorable was when I heard the voice of my realtor friend saying, “thank you so much Tim, for helping my friend. I knew you would do a great job helping her.”