VALUATIONS TRAINEE

Valuers

In September 2022 we welcomed Archie Swann as the first participant of our trainee valuer scheme. Archie spent four months with the Silver department, before moving on to join the Furniture team. In January his place in Silver was taken by Hannah Farthing, who has joined as our second trainee. Hannah was previously working with the Paintings department. Both will spend 18 months working alongside our specialist departments before spending time with head of Valuations, Jeremy Lamond. We caught up with them to see what brought them to the programme.

Archie

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE PROGRAMME?

I came into the auction world by chance really, from accepting a part-time porter role at a local auction house, after finishing my undergraduate degree in furniture design. I worked over the next two years in the general saleroom helping with the cataloguing and management of the saleroom. The beauty of general auctions is you get to deal with a huge variety of items, anything from antique gramophones to G-Plan 60s furniture, although with the quick deadlines and the randomness of what came in, there was never enough time to study or get to know anything about any of the items we were handling. So, when Woolley and Wallis offered this opportunity to spend time in each of their departments and have enough time to learn and study about the items, I jumped at the opportunity.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST?

I love the process of bringing an item into auction, from receiving the piece all the way to the actual auction. Being able to do the item justice with the correct amount of research and essentially making it look its best to achieve the best auction price for the client.

Hannah

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE PROGRAMME?

I joined Woolley and Wallis two years ago as assistant to the Paintings department - pictures were my first love, and I was set on working in the auction world after graduation. I really enjoyed my time in this role, but with all the other departments around me, I realised how much I missed the variety of my Sotheby’s Institute MA in Fine and Decorative Arts and Design, and its strong emphasis on connoisseurship. So, when I was offered the position of Trainee Valuer at Woolley and Wallis, it just ticked all the boxes and seemed like the perfect next step.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST?

Getting to handle so many incredible pieces is definitely one of the best parts for me. Woolley’s is so good for this, as it takes in such a variety of great items. Just in my first few weeks in the Silver department, I’ve encountered everything from a Henry VII apostle spoon to an electrotype of the Milton shield.

Right:

A