Jody Wilkie ’76
Company / School: JGW Advisory, LLC
Position / Degree: Owner
Overview
Owner, JGW Advisory, LLC
New York, NY
- BA, Art History, Vassar College
A native New Yorker, Jody Wilkie (she/her) followed her BA degree in art history at Vassar with a year in London, attending what was then “The Sotheby Works of Art” course. Returning to New York, Jody started at Christie’s in what became a career of more than 40 years in European decorative arts. After some 15 years in the Sculpture and Works of Art department covering European sculpture and works of art of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque and Rococo periods, as well as 19th and European and American sculpture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and in 1994, Jody shifted her attention to European ceramics and glass. In 2001, Jody took on the role of International Specialist Head of European Ceramics, working with her colleagues in London, Paris, and Amsterdam to make that department the market leader by a wide margin. In 2017, she became Chairman in New York for the Decorative Arts and International Co-Chairman for European Decorative Arts worldwide. After a lengthy career with Christie’s, Jody set up on her own in October 2021 as JGW Advisory, LLC. She is an active member of several prestigious ceramic collecting societies: the American Ceramic Circle (ACC) where she served on the Board for eight years, the English Ceramics Circle (ECC), the French Porcelain Society (FPS), and the Connecticut Ceramics Study Circle where she currently serves on the board as treasurer. Jody retains a strong link to Christie’s—her umbilical cord—as Senior International Consultant. Jody brings to JGW Advisory, LLC her full experience as an art appraiser specializing in the decorative arts of the 16th—early 20th centuries.
Advice to Students:
Nothing exists in a vacuum—be aware of the world in which your field of interest operates and learn about it as well. Society, politics, and economics inform everything and provide the context within which all businesses, both for-profit and non-profit, operate. Knowledge and understanding of the context relevent to your field will greatly enrich your understanding of and interest in it. Learn to eavesdrop—being aware of what is happening around you is a key to success.
