Article about Sadigh Gallery as featured in Coin World magazine.

1. Antiquities dealer is
30-year veteran
Originally printed in COIN WORLD by David L. Vagi
A large crate newly arrived from Syria
sits in the center of a room, an anxious
young man pries the lid open, his father
watching with anticipation.
“You never know what’s going to be in
one of these shipments”, said Mehrdad Being a wholesaler requires dealing
Another of Sadigh’s strengths is that
Sadigh, a New York-based antiquities with people all over the nation and the
he’ll buy almost anything, from 6,000-
dealer. “It’s like opening up a tomb”. world—and a lot of telephone calls.
year-old jewelry to Islamic flatware
The contents will range from ancient “I do about 80 percent of my business
only a few hundred years old. This
Luristan bronze knives to pottery, jew- over the phone, so I have to have a
keeps him in favor with suppliers who
elry, mosaic, marble figurines and the 1-800 (free telephone call area code ex-
don’t worry about having items returned
occasional Egyptian mummy—a repre- change) number to keep things moving”,
which are lower quality or not in great
sentative sample of the arts and crafts he says. “The customers appreciate it
demand.
of ancient civilizations, and all part of a and it keeps expenses down”.
“People dig up all sorts of things in
typical day for an antiquities wholesaler. Sadigh’s newest creation is a publication
places where ancient peoples once lived
An 11-year veteran of the trade, Sa- called Ancient Worlds—A Journal. With
and they send them to me,” says the 26-
digh represents the bread and butter of the premier issue just released, Sadigh
year-old Middle Eastern emigrant. “I’m
ancient coin and antiquities business. and the journal’s editor, Mort Malkin,
usually the third middleman in busi-
As a wholesaler and networker, Sadigh are excited about its prospects.
ness—there’s the person who digs up the
is responsible for many of the bulk and “It’s a good journal for a person who is
antiquities, a regional exporter and then
high quality items made available to the interested in ancient civilizations and
me.”
public through galleries and dealerships their arts but is not a professional art his-
Being the third middleman, Sadigh says,
in the United States. torian”, Malkin says, adding the journal
gives him a distinct price advantage over
Coins are a large part of Sadigh’s busi- will be published two to four times a
retailers in galleries and mail-order busi-
ness. “I deal a lot in hoards of ancient year.
nesses, who are usually the fifth middle
coins as well as individual pieces. Usu- Unlike uptown galleries with ster-
man.
ally about 100,000 coins pass through ile, “price-on-request” environments,
“I saw one piece that a New York mu-
my hands in a year”, he says. Sadigh’s business is more like a mid-
seum bought from a gallery for $27,000,
Eastern bazaar—the only one its kind in
Worldwide contracts an item which I had sold to the gallery
the country, he claims.
“I have contracts in every part of the owner for $5,000”, he said. “Now I am
“Everything is always changing around
world of antiquities; Syria, Lebanon, doing more business with museums and
here, we like to deal with people and
Egypt, England, Italy—all over Europe individual collectors as they find out
we’re friendly. Doing business is only
and the Middle East,” Sadigh says. about wholesale antiquities.”
part of it, you have to enjoy what you’re
“This is the only way to get enough mer- Dealing in Quantity
doing or it’s just a job.”
chandise, to deal with as many people as But the expensive items are not the
At the end of a typical 10-hour day, Sa-
you can from all over the world.” standard fare in the antiquities business. digh sweeps the dust of the ages off the
Sadigh’s stock turns over frequently, Sadigh, like most wholesalers, deals in office floor, wondering what tomorrow
sometimes in less than two weeks. quantity. Since rare and expensive items will bring.
“That’s how you have to work it as a do not exist in quantity, most of the “Perhaps we’ll get another mummy”,
wholesaler—keep merchandise moving antiquities which Sadigh buys are priced
he says jokingly, “as our sun sets, a new
by offering low prices”, he says. at less than $100. day is beginning for the people in the
“I have 2,500-year old bronze ar- ancient lands.”
rowheads for $10-15 as well as many
inexpensive jewelry and terracotta items
for under $75. These are all things from
famous civilizations—dynastic Egypt, Sadigh Gallery Ancient Art, Inc
ancient Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Greece, 303 Fifth Avenue Suite 1603 New York, NY 10016
the Roman Empire, and others,” he says. Tel (212)725-7537 Toll Free (800)426-2007