Lark Mason Associates

What Lark Mason Associates does

Lark Mason Associates is a privately held, founder-owned online auction house founded in 2003 by Lark E. Mason, a former Senior Vice President in Sotheby's Chinese Works of Art Department and Director of Online Auctions for Sothebys.com. The firm operates an internet-only auction model through the iGavelAuctions.com platform, conducting themed sales across Asian art, fine and decorative arts, jewelry and watches, and estate collections. Consignors submit items via a three-step process (photograph, submit images/description, receive evaluation), and the firm provides free expert appraisals as a lead-generation channel. The company maintains two offices: a New York location at 229 E 120th Street and a Texas headquarters and gallery in a restored 1850s German limestone farmstead in New Braunfels, the latter opened in 2018 and increasingly used as a venue for exhibitions and lifestyle events.

The business is small and specialized, with approximately ten named staff covering operations, marketing, consignor relations, buyer relations, graphic design, photography, and bookkeeping. Revenue is generated through auction commissions and buyer's premium on each sale, supplemented by consignment fees for cataloging, photography, and sale preparation. Per-auction gross sale totals reported across the available record range from approximately $158,000 to over $2.7 million, with notable categories including Asian Works of Art (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), European Works of Art, jewelry, and named estate collections such as that of Anthony Bourdain. The firm has handled consignments from institutional clients including the Dayton Art Institute and San Antonio Museum of Art, as well as private collectors and estates.

Lark Mason Associates' strategic positioning rests on three principal assets: the founder's personal brand and Asian art expertise (regular PBS Antiques Roadshow appraiser since 1996, former Chairman of Asia Week New York 2016-2017, former President of the Appraisers Association of America); recurring third-party recognition as a top-250 global auction house by Blouin Art Info since 2013; and a low-overhead, internet-only distribution model that allows the firm to handle collections at materially lower cost than traditional saleroom-based competitors. Recent extensions into gallery exhibitions and lifestyle events at the New Braunfels venue suggest modest expansion beyond pure auction commissions, though the firm has no disclosed outside funding, no platform technology reinvestment, and no apparent scaling infrastructure.

Name

Lark Mason Associates

Legal name

Lark Mason Associates

Website

https://larkmasonassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Lark Mason Associates is a privately held online auction house founded in 2003, specializing in Asian art, fine and decorative arts, jewelry, and estate sales via iGavelAuctions.com, serving private collectors, estates, museums, and art dealers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Art Auction Services

NAICS

Jewelry Retailers (45831)

SIC

Retail-Jewelry Stores (5944)

akta.pro primary industry

Auction Houses (Luxury Watches & Jewelry) (CRAKAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Estate Jewelry & Collection Liquidation Services (CRAKAKAJ)

Keywords

• Online art auctions
• Asian art auctions
• Antique appraisals
• Estate auctions
• Consignment services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Auction commissions and buyer's premium: The company earns revenue through commissions on auction sales including buyer's premium. Past sales show totals ranging from $158,466 to over $2.7 million per auction event.
2. Consignment fees: Fees from consignors for photographing, cataloguing, and selling their items through the auction platform.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lark Mason Associates is a privately held online auction house founded in 2003 that specializes in fine and decorative arts, with particular emphasis on Asian art, antiques, jewelry, and estate collections. The company conducts internet-only auctions through the iGavelAuctions.com platform, supported by free expert appraisals and a three-step consignment process for sellers. Auction categories include Asian Works of Art, Fine and Decorative Arts, Jewelry and Watches, and Estate Auctions, with offices in New York and New Braunfels, Texas.

Product overview

Lark Mason Associates operates as a full-service online auction house specializing in fine and decorative works of art with particular emphasis on Asian art. The company functions as one unified service combining an online auction platform (iGavelAuctions.com), free expert appraisals, and consignment services. The core offering centers on the iGavelAuctions.com platform which hosts multiple product categories including Asian Works of Art, Fine and Decorative Arts, Jewelry and Watches, and Estate Auctions. Sellers can consign items through a streamlined three-step process involving photography, submission, and evaluation, with items subsequently sold through the online platform. The company also offers free appraisals as a service to potential consignors. Founded in 2003, the company has achieved significant auction results including record-breaking sales for Korean art, Chinese furniture, and cloisonné pieces, with total sales often reaching into the millions per auction event.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Auction Platform (iGavelAuctions.com) Primary internet-only auction platform enabling global online bidding on antiques, fine art, jewelry, and collectibles across multiple specialized categories including Asian art, decorative arts, and estate sales.
• Consignment Services

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wright Auctioneers: US-based auction house focused on design, decorative arts, and select fine art with online bidding; comparable mid-market positioning and estate/deaccession sourcing approach.
• Skinner Auctioneers: US-based regional-to-mid-market auction house with strong Asian art and decorative arts departments alongside European furniture and fine art; similar scale, online bidding capability, and reliance on estate consignments.
• Brunk Auctions: US auction house operating in fine and decorative arts, Asian works, and estate offerings with online bidding; similar size profile and consignment-driven business model to Lark Mason Associates.
• Heritage Auctions: US-headquartered auction house spanning fine art, Asian art, jewelry, and decorative arts with a strong online bidding platform; most direct comparable to LMA in category breadth, online-first execution, and US-base with international reach.
• Kaminski Auctions: Regional US auction house covering Asian art, fine and decorative arts, and estate contents; similar size, online bidding infrastructure, and estate-consignment reliance.
• Doyle New York: Manhattan-based auction house covering Asian works of art, fine jewelry, and estate contents with online bidding; comparable in size, category mix, and New York consignor base, making it a direct competitor for the same estate and Asian art supply.
• Bonhams: Mid-sized global auction house with a comparable multi-category mix including Asian art, fine and decorative arts, jewelry, and estates; runs online bidding alongside live sales, directly competing with Lark Mason for similar consignor and bidder profiles.
• Cowan's Auctions: Mid-sized US auction house with categories including Asian art, fine and decorative arts, and estate contents; comparable in scale, online bidding model, and dependence on estate-driven supply.

Broad incumbents

• Sotheby's: Largest global auction house and Lark Mason's former employer (where the founder spent 24 years); operates across the same Asian art, jewelry, and decorative arts categories but at vastly greater scale, competing for top-tier consignments.
• Christie's: Global auction leader with deep coverage of Asian art, jewelry, decorative arts, and estate categories; competes with Lark Mason for premium consignments and serves overlapping collector and institutional clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/larkmasonassoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/larkmasonassociates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lark Mason Associates