IVOIRE Troyes (Boisseau-Pomez)

Boisseau-Pomez is the auction house in Troyes and part of Ivoire, the first grouping of French auction houses — a network that gives a regional saleroom national reach. The department list is unusually wide for a provincial house, running from fifteenth-century objets d'art through to a section the house cheerfully labels "Culture Geek".

What you can buy

• Classical art — old master paintings and drawings, prints, nineteenth-century pictures.
• Objets d'art and furniture from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, plus rugs and tapestry.
• Sculpture and ceramics.
• Modern art, twentieth-century objects and design furniture.
• Asian and tribal art, archaeology and antiquities.
• Books, philately, musical instruments, antique toys and militaria.
• Jewellery and goldsmiths' work, plus luxury goods.

How the bidding works

Sales run from the Troyes salerooms with catalogues published in advance and online bidding through the Ivoire network's platforms. The house notes its transition to the new French profession of commissaire de justice, which merged the old huissier and judicial auctioneer roles — relevant because it means both voluntary and court-ordered sales come through the same office under different rules.

What to check before you bid

With this many specialisms, the expert attached to a given sale matters more than the house's general reputation — the catalogue names them. For archaeology and tribal art, provenance documentation is not optional in the current market and its absence should affect what you pay. Ask which channel a sale sits in, voluntary or judicial, because buyer's costs differ. The site is in French.