Public sales

The page gives the auction house and its approval number, the date and time, the venue, the format — room, online or mixed —, the categories of objects and the preview dates. A link leads to the house's catalogue.

If the sale has been postponed or cancelled, a banner says so. Results are not published in the calendar, but major sales are included in the market report.

An approved auction house declares its sale at least thirty days in advance, from its Desk account. The form asks for the date, venue, format, categories, number of lots and, where there is no catalogue, a description of the sale.

Sales declared too late are published but carry the note "late declaration", which may be taken into account during the house's annual review.

When the declaration is received and when the catalogue is published, the lots are cross-checked against the BIOP registry. A match with an object reported stolen leads to the lot's suspension and contact with the auction house.

Buyers can carry out the same check free of charge by entering a lot's OIMAP number or submitting a photograph.

Online sales call for precautions: use only the house's official website, check its approval in the directory, be wary of requests for payment through unusual channels and keep the confirmations.

If in doubt, the Events Directorate can confirm that a sale exists and direct you to the competent services.

You can subscribe to a segment — for example "tribal art, Europe" — to receive a weekly email with new sales. Subscription is free and can be cancelled in one click.

An iCal feed lets you add the sales you follow to a personal calendar automatically.