Talks & Road Shows
If you are responsible for finding speakers, or would like to arrange an event for a group, please call me on: 01926 641548 or 07778 595952. I should be delighted to see how we can make your event – be it daytime or evening – memorable for everyone attending.
I have given talks to groups and societies throughout the UK for more than 40 years. One of my talks is also an ideal opportunity to explain why it’s so important to use a professional Auctioneer and Valuer who will ensure that the process from initial instruction to sale and payment of the proceeds is dealt with sensitively, correctly and professionally – regardless of whether we handle the sale of an entire Estate or a single item.
Members of the audience are invited to bring an item or two to be valued. From these, I select the most interesting to discuss at the end of my talk.
A humorous – if sometimes dark – hour’s talk about the business with an informative presentation about my experiences of dealing with deceased estates and clearances from initial instruction to final sale.
I have given talks to groups and societies throughout the UK for more than 40 years. One of my talks is also an ideal opportunity to explain why it’s so important to use a professional Auctioneer and Valuer who will ensure that the process from initial instruction to sale and payment of the proceeds is dealt with sensitively, correctly and professionally – regardless of whether we handle the sale of an entire Estate or a single item.
Every week across The Midlands – and often further afield – I give a talk to between 15 and 200 people at a WI, U3A or other type of group or society. Throughout 2020 and early 2021, of course, these talks are delivered via Zoom or similar meeting platform. However, as we return to a new 'normal', my diary is filling up with talks in front of a 'live' audience instead of virtually.
Buying & Selling at Auction - with Stories from the Auction Room
This is an entertaining hour’s talk about the business with many humorous tales and anecdotes about the characters involved, whom to trust and why – and who and what to avoid. I examine the costs of buying and selling at auction, how to choose the best auction house - and how to get the best bargains at auction. I also relate some of the humorous experiences I’ve had during my 50 years as an auctioneer and valuer working across the UK.
I illustrate this talk with items that I have sold or am going to sell and provide an insight to what is selling currently – e.g. silver, coins, pictures etc.
Behind the Screens
During an entertaining hour’s talk, I explain the reality behind the many TV programmes that feature buying and selling antiques and collectables. This is a humorous talk which imparts detailed information about some of the television programmes that feature antiques and valuations. I talk about my experience of the business and relate anecdotes about some of the characters who appear in the programmes. I bring a selection of items that I am selling or have sold recently.
Click on a link for more information about:
About Steven B Bruce ...
Having worked as an Auctioneer & Valuer for several well-known auction houses throughout the UK, notably as founder and Managing Director of a well-known Midlands Fine Art Auctioneer, I went on to run my own busy Saleroom in Warwickshire. For 14 years I held monthly Fine Art, Antiques and Collective Sales of between 800 – 1,500 lots in addition to undertaking a full schedule of professional work selling approx. 18,000 lots per year. In 2008, I took a year off to become an antiques dealer. Consequently, my talks and road shows include many amusing anecdotes from my time as an Auctioneer and Valuer and in The Trade. I now act as a Fine Art Agent & Consultant while also undertaking valuations for Probate and Insurance.
The Hoarder Next Door
This is a humorous – if sometimes dark – hour’s talk about the business with an informative presentation about my experiences of dealing with deceased estates and clearances from initial instruction to final sale. I bring some of the fascinating items I’ve come across during 50 years in the business. I explain why it’s so important to use a professional Auctioneer and Valuer who will ensure that the process from initial instruction to sale and payment of the proceeds, is dealt with sensitively, correctly and professionally – regardless of whether we handle the sale of an entire Estate or a single item.
For example, we recently cleared out a large Victorian mansion near Henley in Arden. After having spent some considerable time at the property – mostly alone in the Attic examining items, thick with dust, that had lain undisturbed for more than 50 years, I found a small Italian gilt metal black slate pietra dura agate inset table casket which the owner consigned to auction and which realised £9,500. It was only then that I learned that a month or so before my visit, the family had been forced to call in an expert to exorcise a very disruptive poltergeist !
To discuss or book your talk, please call me on:
01926 641548 or 07778 595952 or email me at sbbrucesales@aol.com.
Other Topics
Other topics include:
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Browsing Antiques Shops
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Collecting as an Investment
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Coin Collecting
Note: My talks often conclude with the popular Road Show concept when I select and discuss some of the items that members of the audience have been invited to bring along with them to be valued.