The undersigned
herewith instructs
Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH
Theresienstrasse 60, 80333 München
Amtsgericht München HRB 172005
to auction the objects listed in the attached “list of consignments” (which forms part of this contract) in accordance with the following provisions and having regard to the auction terms and conditions also appended to this contract as commission agent in its own name on the account of the seller, and, where objects are not sold at the auction, to sell them privately within a period of 4 weeks from the date of the auction; in terms of the rights and obligations of the parties concerned, the right to sell off unsold lots is directly subject to or is along the lines of the provisions of these auction instructions and of the auction terms and conditions. Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH is authorized to publish items on websites of our business associates that market our sales on the internet.
1. The seller warrants that he is the owner of / a fully authorized agent for the consigned objects. He is liable for all defects of title along the lines of § 435 BGB (German Civil Code) and also to ensure that the objects are unencumbered by third party rights such as right of lien or copyright. The seller agrees that he has supplied the auctioneer with full and relevant details of authorship, material, signature and provenance of the consigned objects; the details given by him, which are (partially) included in the “list of consignments”, form the basis for the auction catalogue. The seller is aware that the characteristics “authorship”, “technique” and “signature”’ specified in the catalogue and agreed by the auctioneer and the seller are of a contractual nature, and to the extent that these catalogue details are untrue, the seller is liable in accordance with § 437 of the German Civil Code. The seller releases the auctioneer unconditionally from these claims with the proviso that, within 2 weeks after receipt of a written request for payment, he must refund the sale proceeds / or pay any other amounts owed by the auctioneer to the buyer, in respect of any material defect existing in the aforementioned sense. After this period, he gets into arrears. All claims of the auctioneer against the seller existing in obvious connection with defects of title and / or material defects are barred two years from the date of the auction.
2. The seller shall transfer ownership of the objects specified in the list of consignments to the auctioneer as soon as possible; if desired by the seller, the auctioneer can arrange transport to his premises at the expense of the seller, whereby the auctioneer determines a suitable means of transportation or shipment. From the day of their arrival at the auction salerooms until the items are sold respectively until 5 weeks after the auction was being held, the objects are insured against fire, burglary, theft, breakage and tap water up to their limit price, minus the commission, based on the rates listed under point 3 – or, where a limit has not been agreed, to the estimated value up to the point of time of the transfer of risk to the buyer or to the end of the retention period of an unsold lot (sub-item 5.2 / sub-item 13) with the provisions given there for costs. In case of loss, damage or destruction of the consigned objects, the obligation of the auctioneer is restricted to the insurer’s cover; for the part of the damage not covered by insurance, he is only liable in cases of intent or gross negligence. This applies similarly to liability for frames, passepartouts and picture glass forming part of the lots.
3. The seller shall pay the auction house a commission based on the hammer price, to the value of:
a) 25% for an object with a hammer price of up to €2000,–
b) 20% for an object with a hammer price of € 2001 up to €5000,–
c) 15% for an object with a hammer price of from € 5001,– and above.
Objects put forward for auction either by the seller himself or through third parties, are deemed sold to third parties. Furthermore, the seller shall make a payment to the auctioneer of 0.95% of the hammer price (plus VAT) as compensation for the fee payable by the auctioneer to the VG Bild-Kunst (German association for reproduction rights in the visual arts), in respect of all original works of fine art which are created by artists whose droit de suite is collected by the VG Bild-Kunst, the sum payable being 1.5 % of the hammer price.
4. The seller shall refund any expenses advanced by the auctioneer for transport and photographs as well as any repairs and expert evaluations undertaken by special agreement. The seller authorizes Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH to take photographs and plates of the consigned objects in his name, according to choice.
5.1. The administration costs (photo, cataloguing, storage, marketing in social media) of an object (or group e.g.: dinner service or set of glasses) are charged at €50 (plus VAT). The costs are also charged in the event of sale by private contract. The size of the illustration in the catalogue or online is determined by the auctioneer.
5.2. Insurance (valid until 5 weeks after the auction was being held) of an object (or group e.g.: dinner service or set of glasses) adds up to 1,5 % of the reserve (plus VAT).
6. Packaging material from the seller’s consignments is not kept.
7. The seller waives the right to estimates or evaluations by other publicly appointed and sworn experts or by appraisers named by the Chamber of Trade and Commerce, even if gold or silver objects are involved.
8. Insofar as the seller has not set a minimum price (limit), the auctioneer awards the item according to his best judgement. If a minimum price has been agreed, the auctioneer must not undercut this.
9. The knockdown follows in accordance with the terms and conditions of the auction and the post auction sale, which form part of this contract.
10. Gold and silver items shall not be knocked down at prices below their metal value.
11. In the case of a conditional auction award, the bidder is bound to his bid for the duration of 4 weeks. The seller must inform the auctioneer of his decision in writing in sufficient time that the bidder can be informed within the period stipulated in the normal course of business.
12. The seller is bound to his selling instructions for a month after the auction has closed.
13. The seller must, without instruction from the auctioneer, collect his unsold lots within 1 week after the 4 weeks post-auction sale. If he does not carry out this obligation, the auctioneer is authorized to hand over the objects at the expense and risk of the seller to a freight forwarder to store or return, or, at the seller’s expense and risk to store them on the auctioneer’s premises or to offer them at further auctions. For objects stored in the auction house, the auctioneer will charge a fee of 10 euros per week per object after the specified period. If the consigned or unsold items have not been collected 12 months after the end of the post-auction sale and the consignor cannot be contacted, the auctioneer is no longer bound by any limits that may have been set. Instead, taking into account the fact that the items could not be sold at the set limit either at the auction or in the four-week post-auction sale, he shall offer the items at his discretion in a new auction or in an open sale at a price that corresponds to his dutiful discretion and may also be considerably below the limit.
14. The auctioneer settles his account with the seller after 4 weeks after the auction (= report of execution) and pays out the sale proceeds minus his commission and expenses advanced after 6 weeks, insofar as he has received the sale proceeds. If the auctioneer does not receive the auction proceeds, the invoice will be corrected.
15. Any queries regarding billing must be raised in writing within a week after the invoice date.
16. The auctioneer is not liable for the collectibility of the hammer price.
17. Beyond this contract, there are no further agreements between the seller and Quittenbaum Kunstauktionen GmbH. Any oral supplementary agreements are excluded. Changes to this contract must be made in writing to become effective. Information provided through the medium of telephone does not have a binding effect.
18. If one or more provisions of these auction instructions are or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions will not be affected. Apart from this, the provisions of § 306 section 3 BGB apply.
19. The place of performance and jurisdiction shall be Munich, as far as this can be agreed.
20. Legal relations existing in connection with this contract shall be governed by German substantive law, to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG, BGBI II 89, p. 588). [This translation is intended solely for informational purposes; the original German text shall be legally binding.]
