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Auction glossary

The terms that decide what you pay · Last updated: 24 September 2026

Auction catalogues are written in a compact, formal language in which small words carry large consequences: "attributed to" can mean a tenth of the price of "by", and "passed" is not the same as "unsold" on every platform. These are the terms AuctionLens uses in its research, defined the way a specialist would use them.

Prices and bidding

Hammer price

The final bid at which the auctioneer's hammer falls. It excludes buyer's premium and taxes, so it is always lower than what the buyer pays.

Buyer's premium

A percentage the auction house adds to the hammer price, typically 20–30% and often tiered by value. A £1,000 hammer with a 25% premium costs £1,250 before tax. When comparing results, check whether a quoted price is hammer or premium-inclusive; most published "prices realised" include the premium.

Realised price (price realised, sold price)

What a lot actually sold for. This is the only kind of price AuctionLens counts when building a bid range.

Estimate

The auction house's published expectation of the sale price, given as a range (for example £800–1,200). Estimates are set by the house and can be deliberately low to attract bidders or high to satisfy a consignor. They are not evidence of value, which is why AuctionLens shows them but never counts them.

Reserve

The confidential minimum price the consignor will accept, agreed with the house before the sale and usually at or below the low estimate. If bidding does not reach the reserve, the lot is passed.

Passed / bought-in / unsold

A lot that failed to sell because bidding did not reach the reserve. Some platforms still label such lots "Sold at Auction" in the page title; AuctionLens reads the lot's actual status and marks these "passed unsold".

Withdrawn

A lot removed from the sale before it was offered, often because of a title, attribution or condition question. A withdrawal is not a result.

Absentee (commission) bid

A maximum bid left with the house in advance, executed by the auctioneer on your behalf up to that limit.

Increment

The step between successive bids, set by the house and rising with the price level (for example £50 steps up to £1,000, then £100).

Opening bid / starting bid

The price at which bidding begins, usually well below the low estimate. Online platforms sometimes publish it as the lot's "price" in their page data; it says nothing about value and AuctionLens ignores it.

Guarantee

An arrangement in which the house or a third party guarantees the consignor a minimum price. Guaranteed lots are marked in the catalogue and their results can be less informative about open-market demand.

Attribution: the words that move the price

For works associated with a named artist or workshop, cataloguers use a fixed ladder of phrases. Each step down the ladder represents less certainty and, as a rule, a large drop in value.

By [artist] / a work by

In the house's opinion, a work by the named artist. The strongest form.

Attributed to

Probably by the named artist, but with less certainty than "by". Expect a substantial discount.

Studio of / workshop of

Made in the artist's studio, possibly under their supervision, but not necessarily by their hand.

Circle of

By an unidentified artist closely associated with the named one, working in their period and style.

Follower of / school of

In the artist's style, by a contemporary or near-contemporary, not necessarily a pupil.

Manner of

In the artist's style but of a later date.

After

A copy of a known work by the artist, of any date. Often the least valuable rung.

Signed / bears a signature

"Signed" means the house believes the signature is the artist's own; "bears a signature" means a signature is present but its authenticity is not asserted.

Objects, condition and history

Lot

A single item, or a group of items, offered for sale under one number.

Provenance

The documented history of ownership. Strong provenance (named collections, old sale records, exhibition history) supports authenticity and adds value; gaps, especially for antiquities, can be a legal as well as a commercial risk.

Condition report

The house's written description of an object's state: damage, restoration, wear. Available on request and worth reading before every bid; "as is" sales carry no warranty at all.

Catalogue raisonné

The scholarly, comprehensive listing of an artist's known works. Inclusion in (or exclusion from) the catalogue raisonné is one of the strongest attribution signals for a painting or print.

Period / of the period

Made at the time the style indicates, as opposed to a later revival or reproduction in that style.

Reproduction / after the antique

A later object made in imitation of an earlier one. Legitimate when described as such; the problem is when it is not.

Research terms used by AuctionLens

Comparable ("comp")

A genuinely similar object with a known result, used as evidence for what a lot may fetch. The word "genuinely" carries the weight: a different-culture ewer with the same shape is not a comparable.

Like-for-like

The test every sale must pass before it can count towards a range: the same kind of object, in the same material and tradition, at a comparable scale. Sales that fail are still shown, labelled "not counted", with the reason.

Verified sale

A realised price read from the comparable's own lot page rather than from a search snippet.

Specialist market vs general market

Results from major and trusted specialist houses versus regional houses and marketplaces. When the two diverge sharply for the same kind of object, AuctionLens shows two ranges rather than one average.

Coherence

Whether the sales found are alike enough to describe with a single range. When they are not, AuctionLens declines to state one and shows the individual sales instead. See how the bid range is calculated.

Aggregator

A platform such as Invaluable, LiveAuctioneers or the-saleroom that lists lots from many auction houses. The same lot can appear on several aggregators; AuctionLens counts it once.