L. Emerson Tuttle, director of institutional relationships, Skinner Inc.
Tuttle
Marlborough auction house Skinner Inc. recently hired L. Emerson Tuttle as its director of institutional relationships. In this Q&A he talks about maintaining two historic houses, escaping Boston traffic and the fine line between being visible to clients and wearing out a welcome.
Vital Stats:
Age: 57
Residence: Ipswich
Family: Wife and seven dogs
Education: Bachelor's degree, Yale University; law degree, Suffolk University Law School
Previous job: Portfolio strategist
Start date at new job: June 14
Q. How are you settling in at your new office?
A. I think I'm settling in fairly well. My wife and I have been clients of Skinner for 20 years, both buying and consigning - I'm now working with people I've known and liked for a long time and they've gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.
Q. What challenges do you see in your new position?
A. Although Skinner's business is appraising and selling fine art, antiques, rare objects, fine jewelry, and collectibles at auction, it's really a service business, and one of my greatest challenges will be to strike the right balance with my target audience, which are estate and trust professionals and nonprofit institutions.
Another challenge is finding my way around Skinner's Marlborough facility, especially the places where things that have been consigned to us are stored and catalogued. The gallery and storage capacity is enormous. We have appraisal experts in about 20 different specialty categories gathering property for Skinner's many auctions, so it's easy to get lost amidst it all - it's a veritable museum. I know I'll get used to it eventually, but right now, if I were to go down there without a map, I might never find my way out!
Q. What's your favorite thing about Central Massachusetts?
A. As a 30-year veteran of the commute into Boston, I love the fact that, with the exception of Interstate 495 during rush hour, you can get from "Point A" to "Point B" around here in a reasonable amount of time, without too much traffic. And the scenery along the way isn't bad either.
Q. How close is this to what you imagined in high school you'd end up doing?
A. How close? Not even. I come from a family of schoolteachers, and in high school I think I just assumed that I'd be a teacher, too.
Q. How far is your commute to the office?
A. Fifty-eight miles, one way, although 38 of that is on 495, so I can generally do it in an hour and a quarter or so. One big advantage versus the Boston commute is that, when I get here, the parking is free.
Q. What's the best way to keep your energy and motivation up when you're having a long day?
A. So far, I'm learning so much - about all the behind-the-scenes work at one of the world's leading auction houses. There are so many unseen complexities about putting together an auction or conducting an appraisal - it's hard work and requires very specialized knowledge. I'm also learning Skinner's computer systems, about the current market conditions for all the different kinds of property we handle, and about the relationships Skinner has already established with bankers, lawyers, museum professionals, antique dealers, and collectors. The days just seem to fly by. Energy and motivation haven't been a problem.
Q. What's on your to-do list for the next couple of days?
A. A lot of different things. I'll be going on a call with one of Skinner's many generalist appraisers, to watch him do an estate tax appraisal; I have meetings scheduled with trust officers at a couple of different banks; and I'll be working with our marketing folks on developing our strategy for getting Skinner that "top of mind" position that will lead to more business from my target markets.
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