When a customer seeks the help of an expert, the relationship is one of trust. In addition to drawing up inventories or certificates, the expert can also work as a consultant, both with respect to the vendor and the potential buyer, and must therefore work completely independently.
Competence and integrity An expert is bound, of course, by the strictest rules of confidentiality. His legal liability extends over a long period (by law: 10 years for public sales and 30 years for off-market transactions). In the event of a legal dispute, his obligatory professional insurance policy would cover him for any damages claim.
The expert's certificate An expert can of course provide oral recommendations to a customer, but his main role is to produce a written certificate by means of which he commits his own liability. This certificate is unique and is subject to strict rules. It describes, as accurately as possible, the characteristics of the object (period, author, use and condition, etc.).
The certificate constitutes in essence the object's identity card and must accompany it in all circumstances. This certificate will be indispensable in the event of succession operations, sales, insured losses, theft or disputes of any nature.
Albarello pharmacy jar decorated with an allegorical princess* sitting on a throne wearing a duchess's crown and a sceptre with a fleur de lys. At the foot of the throne, an unfurled a banner with the words "S.D. DAUCO"
Urbino. Orazio Fontana Workshop
Restoration; slight crack and smooth patch on the neck, a little enamel missing on the upper bulge.
*The princess represented on the vase is in all likelihood the Duchess of Urbino, Lucrezia d'Este, the wife of Fransesco Maria II della Rovere, whose family had received special dispensation from the French monarchy to bear a fleur de lys. This albarello is believed to have been part of a collection commissioned by Guidobaldo II from Orazio Fontana for the duke's pharmacy at the Urbino Palace, and given by his successor Fransesco Maria II to the "Santa casa de Loreto".
(Cf Hannover, Pottery and porcelain, P.154, Londres 1925).
Albarello pharmacy jar decorated with an allegorical princess* sitting on a throne wearing a duchess's crown and a sceptre with a fleur de lys. At the foot of the throne, an unfurled a banner with the words "S.D. DAUCO"