Sotheby's:  A Breach of Duty of Care, or Not?

In January 2024, Sotheby's auctioned a pre-revolutionary Boston 1760 coin silver teapot. The teapot was broadly acclaimed by Sotheby's expert as 'being the missing link between English and American Silver,' having extensive engraving by a famous silversmith and featuring the profile of British revolutionary John Wilkes.  However, not only did the teapot not reach the $30-50,000 estimate, but at the last minute the seller was convinced to lower the reserve from $30,000 to $20,000.  After about 30 seconds, the auctioneer brought down the gavel and this historic piece of silver sold for $20,000. 

When the buyer for an explanation as to why the piece faired so badly, Sotheby's blamed market conditions for the poor sale price.  

One question has to be following extensive research that resulted in a 'scholarly article, being included on the online auction page, why did the images, incorrectly show that the engraving was so badly worn?

A further question is why did Sotheby's send such poor images to their top 100 potential targeted bidders that included museums, collectors and institutions?  

Another question is why as the seller wishes to take up the issue with  has owner received no reply when they have twice requested of Sotheby's insurers?  

It is also interesting that the owner spoke to a well known colonial silver/collector/expert collector who physically saw the piece and did not think that they could afford it as it was going to be very expensive.

Sotheby's John Ward  (Head of Department of Silver and Vertu, New York ) stated that serious collectors want to see an old surface and that the piece had been represented in such a way to sell it as opposed to represent it as it was.