Asking Prices and Sale Results Are Different Evidence

A gallery listing can establish a public offer at a stated date. It cannot, by itself, show that the work sold or at what negotiated price. A range printed in an auction catalogue is different again: the estimate is an expectation before bidding, not a completed transaction. If a lot later sells, the auction house may report a hammer price or a price including the buyer's premium. Those are not interchangeable figures.

Christie's auction glossary defines hammer price without the buyer's premium and price realised as hammer plus premium; taxes may be due in addition. Its fee guide also notes possible duties and shipping. A collector comparing numbers should check the reporting convention before treating the largest displayed figure as the artist's market level or as the full acquisition cost.

Even correctly labeled numbers may concern different things. Medium, scale, date, edition size, condition, provenance and the particular venue all affect how useful another work is as a comparison. A small editioned print offered by one seller does not become a direct counterpart to a unique sculpture because both carry the same artist's name.

The CollectRight sample report shows the distinction in practice. Its Public Asking Price Landscape discusses displayed prices for other Helen Pashgian works and explicitly says those prices are not amounts buyers paid. It keeps a separate Sotheby's estimate outside that asking-price range. That is a narrower, more honest account than presenting every public number in one sale chart.