How this family-run auction house is preserving the art of antiquing

When Beau Kavanagh tells me to pick my chair, I freeze.

We’re sitting in the front of Kavanagh Auctions’ NDG warehouse, surrounded by objects tagged for an upcoming sale. There’s a bronze Roman statue on a marble base looming somewhere above my head. A chair I’m eyeing looks comfortable enough, sculptural even. But Beau gives me a look, the kind that says you’re about to make a mistake you’ll regret forever.

I switch chairs.

It’s immediately more comfortable. I feel both relieved and slightly exposed. This, I realize, is what bidding at an auction feels like too.

Kava the main — Beau Kavanagh and his sister Fiona grew up surrounded by antiques—their father was a dealer, and coming home to find an amusement ride in the basement.

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