Dallas/Fort Worth’s WFAA TV Channel 8 aired a report last night about Heritage Auction Galleries and L.A. Prop and Wardrobe, based in part on Rick Spector’s research and investigation early last year (see OPB article, “Heritage Auction Galleries & L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Company“), and Rick Spector is interviewed and featured in the news investigation.
I was also contacted last week by WFAA reporter David Schechter, and supplied him with e-mails from my correspondence with Heritage Auction Galleries as part of their investigation, and as evidence that myself and other collectors questioned the provenance of certain offerings and the consignor, L.A. Prop & Wardrobe.
A link to a video of the report can be found at the WFAA.com website:
As presented in my article last April, these are copies of my e-mail correspondence leading up to the auction event held April 14-15, 2007:
04/09/07
Hello,
I have some interest in some of your original movie prop and wardrobe pieces, but note that many are consigned from/have COAs issued by LA Prop Company. I have little information to go by as to who this organization is, though I have read some negatives about them on the Internet, which of course makes me hesitant to participate in your auctions.
Could you give me some information about LA Prop Company and why you have confidence in the provenance of their pieces? As far as I can recall, I don’t remember any of the other auction houses consigning any pieces from them.
I am particularly interested in the background on the Superman costume.
[edit – query pertaining to another consignor]
Thanks,
Jason De Bord
04/11/07
You can contact Billie Null at LA Prop and Wardrobe and he will be able to tell you how they obtain their props. His number is 601-[full number edited].
[edit – response pertaining to another consignor]
Thank you for your interest in Heritage Auction Galleries.
04/11/07
Hi Kristen,
Thank you for the phone number. As the auction house consigning the pieces, can you provide any material information in regards to who or what L.A. Prop and Wardrobe is, since the sole provenance you are providing on many of these pieces is a COA from this company? Obtaining information from the issuer of the COA and perspective from the auction house that has vetted them as an entity with authority to provide blanket authenticity on these pieces is two different propositions.
Thanks again,
Jason De Bord
I received no response to my follow-up questions.
There is an additional narrative (non-video) article on the WFAA website:
Dallas auction house sold questionable Hollywood items
Here is a link to an official response from Steve Ivy, CEO & Co-Chairman, Heritage Auction Galleries
Click for Higher Resolution: Statement from Heritage
Text:
Based on evidence recently presented, mostly in the past week, it has been increasingly apparent that Heritage Auctions placed too much trust in one of its consignors. Heritage’s policy is to stand behind the authenticity of each and every lot we sell. Accordingly, we are notifying the buyers of the Ann Southern lots consigned by L.A. Prop & Wardrobe Co., to offer them their money back, plus interest. Additionally, we will carefully review all other questionable items consigned by that firm.
This is the first time in our history that we have suffered what we believe to be a systematic misrepresentation of provenance by a consignor. We have now instituted additional safeguards against similar incidents. As the world’s third largest auction house, and by far the most transparent, we welcome scrutiny of all our auctions. In fact, we suspect that at least some of these discrepancies were detected by vigilant collectors and experts, who routinely use the free, permanent auction archive posted publicly at our website.
While we regret our mistake, we believe it should be measured against the 317,000 auction lots and thousands of private treaty items, valued in excess of $600 million that Heritage Auctions sold last year on behalf of over 10,000 consignors. By contrast, the so-called “Ann Southern Collection” items came from a single consignor and realized less than $30,000.
Maintaining the trust of our clients and the integrity of our auctions are of paramount concern to all of us at Heritage Auctions.
Sincerely,
Steve Ivy
CEO & Co-Chairman
David Schechter is a Senior Reporter with the WFAA Television. Mr. Schechter has won two of journalisms top honors: the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and the National Headliner Grand Award. He has also been awarded with 13 regional Emmy awards including “Best Reporter” 4 of-the-last 5 years while working at WCCO Television in Minneapolis.
I will post further thoughts on these developments in a follow-up article.
Jason De Bord