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Auction House Sleepers Definition:
Auction House sleepers are characterized by having a mistaken date, misidentified subject, rarity, style, identifiable artist, belonging to a known set, and most importantly if the bid estimate is particularly low. The designated specialists in auction houses try to identify all of these points in order to achieve the highest value for the consignor of the object and for the profitability of the auction house. With highly specialized fields it is not always possible to put the time and effort into researching fully each object which can give the interested bidder an advantage in acquiring an artwork that may go unnoticed.

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Jeff Watt, 9-2025