Office manager of a team of valuers, photographers and porters at Killens Mendip Auction Rooms offering regular live and online auctions of Interiors and Collectables, Fine Art and Antiques and Modern Design, as well as specialist auctions. Responsible for all financial and customer administration and customer liaison as well as providing valuations and object research specialising in Asian art, cataloguing, and responsible for proof reading of all catalogues. Working together with the Saleroom Manager in planning the auctions and expert days, analysing performance, management and training of staff.

German to English translations

Expert in the Asian Art Department of Germany's leading auction house: evaluating works of art, their research and description in German and English for the catalogues, translation into English for all departments and management, the display for preview, all aspects of the auction and after sale care.Specialised in Chinese decorative art and Chinese stone carvings and lacquerware. For the June 10th 2008 auction I co-wrote the full special jade catalogue Chinese Jades of a Private Collection, directing all elements involved in its production.The whole auction house process is inspiring and exciting: organising expert days and representing Lempertz, advising clients on the current and past market value for their objects, their marketability and sale possibilities. Top administration skills and attention to the smallest detail are essential in organising the department and the hundreds of objects which enter and leave the house at a rapid rate, as well as general book-keeping and invoicing skills. Team communication wihin the department and the auction house as a whole is vital, and customer relations and communication skills are of primary importance; seeking new clients or the care of current customers, whether buyers or consignors, or the managment of the numerous general valuation enquiries received daily.Numerous elements need to be completed simultaneously in the run up to the auction, to name a few: the photography of lots and the design and lay-out of the catalogue, condition report requests, process of VISA invitations, auction protocol, organisation of temporary staff for previews, administration of bids, telephone bids during the auction. This continues after the sale with the completion and 'cleaning-up' of the auction, post auction displays and the assessment of the auction within the team, followed by customer liaising and invoicing.

The managment of the photograpic archive in the Department of Western Art. This involved the organisation of the photography of works of art for numerous in-house publications, for example: K. Eustace, Twentieth Century Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum, 2001, as well as external publication requests and their associated customer care, contracts and invoicing. Old glass plate negatives and colour folio negatives were used for publications, whilst simultaneously assisting with the renewal of the archive to establish a new digital database of the collection.Skills necessary included good organisation of the numerous internal and external requests, team work and time management in arranging the in-house photography, sensitive and professional handling of the objects and display skills in the removal and retrun of items from display and archive.