You have just reserved a sculpture, or you are still hesitating: how does a work of art travel to your home? At ARTDELION, delivery is thought through with the same care as the sale. Here, step by step, is what happens between the studio and your living room.
Packing made to measure
A sculpture in metal, wood and stone is not packed like a book. Each piece is protected according to its fragility: foam and custom bracing for small formats, a wooden crate built to the dimensions of the work for important or monumental pieces. The crate protects against knocks, and also against changes in humidity during transport.
Transport specialists in art
Works are entrusted to carriers who specialise in transporting art and are used to handling unique, irreplaceable pieces. Shipping costs are calculated according to destination and format, and communicated before your order is finally confirmed: no surprise on arrival.
Insurance at the value of the work
Every shipment is covered by ad valorem insurance: the work is insured at its real value, from collection until it is handed to you. In the event of damage in transit, you are fully protected.
Taking delivery: a simple moment, a few good habits
On delivery, take the time to check the condition of the packing and of the work. If in doubt, write precise reservations on the delivery note and let us know with photographs: these habits make any compensation claim easier. Keep the packing for the fourteen day withdrawal period, it would be needed for a return.
Where the artist issues a certificate of authenticity, you receive it with the work: the document travels with the sculpture, never separately. Where the artist issues none, the detailed invoice and the documented work record accompany the piece instead. Either way, the work page says beforehand what comes with it.
How long a delivery takes
The question always comes, and the honest answer is that it depends on three things: building the crate where one is needed, the specialist carrier’s route, and how accessible the delivery address is. For a common format within mainland France, allow one to three weeks between agreement on the quotation and handover. For a monumental piece or a destination outside France, the lead time is established case by case and appears on the quotation before you confirm.
That lead time is not a commercial one, it is physical. A crate built to the dimensions of a work is not made in a day, and an art carrier does not drive empty for a single piece.
After delivery, insurance
Transport insurance ends at handover. From then on the work is in your home, and it is your household policy that covers it, or does not.
Most household policies cap valuables at a fairly low overall figure, often a few thousand euros across all categories, jewellery included. Above that a specific declaration is needed, and the insurer will ask for proof of value.
That is exactly what the detailed invoice, and the certificate of authenticity where there is one, are for. Photograph both, keep them somewhere other than the room where the work stands, and send a copy to your insurer when you make the declaration. It takes twenty minutes and changes everything in the event of a claim.
Installing a heavy piece at home
Three situations come up, and they do not have the same answer.
The piece stands. The simplest case. Check that the surface is level and, on an old wooden floor, how the load spreads. A hundred kilo piece on four bearing points exerts very concentrated pressure.
The piece hangs. A thirty kilo wall work will not hold on a plasterboard partition without reinforcement. You need either to reach a stud in the frame or to fit a plate that spreads the load. If in doubt, a tradesman settles it in an hour.
The piece needs a plinth. The plinth is not only aesthetic, it stabilises. Do not replace it with an improvised piece of furniture without talking to us first.
And for a monumental work?
Large scale sculptures, such as Blast Furnace, are the subject of a named transport quotation and, if needed, of an accompanied installation. A dedicated contact coordinates everything with you, from making the appointment to putting the work in place in your space.
A question before acquiring? See the marketplace, our Terms and Conditions of Sale, or contact the agency: we answer you personally.