Pawn Your Fine Art & Paintings

Pawning your fine art with New Bond Street Pawnbrokers in Mayfair offers a flexible alternative to selling your asset. When you pawn fine art, you retain ownership and can reclaim your piece after repaying the loan. This option is ideal if you need short-term financing while keeping your treasured artwork.

We lend against fine art with an established resale market. This can include original paintings, drawings, sculptures, signed limited-edition prints, and photographs.

We regularly consider works from:

– Modern British art, including David Hockney, L.S. Lowry, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson.

– Modern and post-war art, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg.

– Contemporary art, including Banksy, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Sean Scully, Tom Wesselmann and other artists with a well-documented auction market.

– Old Masters and 19th-century paintings, where attribution, condition and provenance can be properly established i.e. Rembrandt, Caravaggio, or Vermeer.

– Fine Prints & Photographs including limited edition prints and rare photographs, sculptures, particularly where the edition, signature, condition and publisher are verifiable.

We begin with an initial review of the artist, title, medium, dimensions, photographs, ownership history and any available documents. A final loan offer can only be made after the work has been physically examined.

Our valuation process considers:

– Artist attribution and whether the work is signed, dated, numbered or otherwise documented.
Provenance, including invoices, gallery labels, certificates, catalogues, estate documentation and previous auction records.

– Medium, scale, subject matter, date and rarity within the artist’s wider body of work.

– Condition, including restoration, tears, paint loss, fading, foxing, staining, cracking, relining or frame-related damage.

– Comparable auction results, current dealer availability and wider demand for the artist, period and type of work.

– For prints and photographs, the edition size, edition number, paper, printer or publisher, margins and condition.

We use auction results as evidence, but differences in signature, edition, condition, provenance, timing and buyer demand can materially affect the result. For a recent example, two different 2004 Banksy Girl with Balloon pieces achieved £125,250 at Bonhams and £239,400 at Christie’s in the same year, which highlights how these details matter.

The amount available depends on the appraisal value of the specific work. From there, based on various inputs, we offer a loan-to-value ratio of between 50% and 70% of the work’s potential resale value.

As a practical guide, a highly liquid work by a recognised artist, with strong provenance, excellent condition and several recent comparable sales, may support a higher loan-to-value outcome than a work with limited auction evidence or condition questions.

For example:

– A documented Banksy print with a clear edition history and strong condition could have a readily identifiable market, supported by comparable auction sales.

– A contemporary painting by a recognised but less frequently traded artist may still be acceptable security, but fewer comparable results can lead to a more cautious advance.

– A sculpture or Old Master work may have a substantial value, yet require deeper assessment of attribution, restoration, handling requirements and specialist buyer demand.

Our art specialists provide a loan offer after reviewing the work in person. The loan is secured against the artwork, not your income or credit profile. From there, the final amount reflects what we can responsibly lend against the asset at that time.

We don’t charge penalties for early repayment. You’re welcome to redeem your loan at any time during the agreed term.

Typically, you can pawn your painting or fine art for up to seven months. However, we offer flexibility and can discuss longer terms if needed.

If you’re unable to repay the loan, we may need to sell the artwork to recover the loan amount. However, we first aim to work with our clients to find mutually acceptable alternative solutions.

To pawn your fine artwork, you’ll need to provide proof of ownership and identification. Any available provenance documentation, such as certificates of authenticity or purchase receipts, can be helpful.

Yes, you can renew your loan agreement against the same piece of art or painting, subject to a revaluation and agreement on new terms.

Once we have physically appraised the artwork, agreed the loan amount, and completed the documentation, we normally transfer funds the same day, with funds often arriving within two to four hours. Timing can depend on the artwork’s complexity, the availability of provenance material, whether specialist authentication is required and any transport arrangements.

No credit check is required for a loan secured against fine art. The loan is secured against the painting, sculpture, print or collection itself rather than your credit score, income or borrowing history. This means the application does not affect your credit rating.

To help us provide an initial indication quickly, include as much information as possible when you contact us, such as:

– Artist, title, medium, dimensions and date, if known.

– Clear front, back, signature and label photographs.

– Provenance, invoices, certificates, gallery documentation and auction history.

– Details of condition, restoration, framing and storage.

– For prints, the edition number, total edition size, signature and publisher or printer details.

Rest assured, your artwork will be stored in our secure, climate-controlled facility in Mayfair. We take great care in maintaining the condition of all pawned items.

Yes. Provenance, condition and exhibition history can significantly impact valuation and therefore, the final loan amount.

Some things that give buyers and lenders confidence include:

– A clear chain of ownership
– Original purchase invoice
– Gallery label
– Certificate of authenticity
– Inclusion in a catalogue raisonné
– Documented auction history.

Conversely, some things that can give our experts pause are:

– Gaps in provenance
– Uncertain attribution
– Unresolved title issues
– Missing edition documentation.

Condition also matters greatly. A signed print with bright colours, full margins and no restoration is normally more desirable than the same edition with fading, creases, or repairs.

Loan-to-value, or LTV, is the proportion of an artwork’s assessed resale value that can be borrowed. A higher LTV is generally possible where the work is easy to authenticate, has strong current demand and can be sold through an established market without undue delay.

As a broad guide:

– Up to around 70% may be realistic for highly liquid, well-documented works by artists with frequent auction sales, especially where the condition is excellent, and the work has a clear resale audience.

– Around 50%–60% may be more appropriate where demand is less consistent, the work is more specialist, the market has softened, provenance requires further review, or comparable sales are limited.

– A lower offer, or no offer, may apply where attribution, title, condition, authenticity or marketability cannot be established with sufficient confidence.

Yes. We can consider a loan against one artwork or a collection of paintings, prints, sculptures or photographs. A collection can be particularly useful where individual works have modest values, but the group has a meaningful combined value and a coherent resale market.

For a single work, we focus closely on its individual attribution, condition, provenance, medium and comparable sales. For a collection, we also consider:

– Whether it is a coherent group by artist, movement, medium or collector

– The value and liquidity of each individual work

– Whether works are framed, stored and documented appropriately

– The practicalities of transport, handling, cataloguing and secure storage

– Whether selling the group together or separately would be more realistic in the market.

Fine-art loans are available over terms of two to seven months, with a fixed monthly interest rate of 5%. Your agreement confirms the amount borrowed, monthly interest, redemption date and the total amount payable before you proceed.

For example, a £25,000 fine-art loan at 5% per month would mean:

– Two months, with monthly interest of £1,250 and total interest of £2,500.

– Four months, with monthly interest of £1,250 and total interest of £5,000.

– Seven months, with monthly interest of £1,250 and total interest of £8,500.

You may redeem your artwork during the agreed term. Before arranging collection, contact the team for a current settlement figure. There is no separate early-redemption penalty, although interest due under the agreement remains payable.