White gloves fine art transport. Dedicated staff and a vehicle reserved for your artwork.
White gloves means the artwork passes through few hands, always the same ones, and every step has been decided beforehand. We arrange it from Brescia, with collection and delivery handled by dedicated staff.
Which document mistakes stop goods?
Incomplete documents, or documents that do not match
An invoice missing the required details, a packing list that does not match the packages, a consignee written in two different ways: these are the most common causes of a customs hold. That is why we ask for the documents before departure and compare them with each other, rather than discovering the mistake at the checkpoint.
A destination never verified
We sometimes receive delivery addresses that nobody has checked and that, on verification, turn out to be incomplete or non-existent. The goods then stop. Before shipping we verify that the consignee and address exist and are consistent with the documents.
Answers to the most common questions.
What does white gloves transport mean?
It means the work is collected, transported and delivered by staff assigned to that job, with more care in handling than an ordinary shipment receives. The name comes from the white gloves used to handle artworks. In practice it means fewer changes of hands and every stage agreed with you before collection.
What is the difference between white gloves and dedicated transport?
They are two different things that often go together. White gloves is about how the work is handled at collection and delivery, by dedicated staff. Dedicated transport is about the vehicle, which travels for your work alone with no other goods on board. You can ask for both or just one, depending on the piece and the route.
Is the white gloves service suitable for a single artwork?
Yes, in fact that is the most common case. A single painting or a valuable sculpture is exactly the situation where a tailored service makes most sense. We ask for measurements, weight, technique and a few photographs, plus the collection and delivery addresses, and we tell you whether white gloves is really necessary.
Is a crate still needed with white gloves?
It depends on the work and the journey. For a short trip on a reserved vehicle, well-made soft protection may be enough. For long journeys, fragile works and any leg by air or sea, a made-to-measure wooden crate remains the more prudent choice. We assess it together before collection, piece by piece.
Does the white gloves service include insurance?
Insurance is separate cover, and we recommend taking it out. We offer an All Risks policy on a nail-to-nail basis, calculated on the value you give us. Careful service lowers the likelihood of damage but does not bring it to zero, and the cover stands on firmer ground when the packing has been done professionally.
What changes with white gloves transport?
What the white gloves service is
The phrase comes from the white gloves worn to touch an artwork without leaving marks. In transport it describes a service where the care taken in handling matters as much as the journey. The work is not treated as one parcel among many: it is taken in charge by people who know how to lift it, set it down and secure it, and who are working on that job only. It is not a sales label. It is a way of working, made up of a few rules followed consistently from the first minute to the last.
When it is worth choosing
White gloves makes sense when one extra change of hands is a risk you would rather not take. That is the case with unglazed paintings, sculptures with slender parts, works on paper, antique frames, large-format or high-value pieces. It is also the case when the location is sensitive: a furnished flat, an exhibition room that is already finished, a vault. If the work is sturdy, well crated and has no particular deadline, a standard shipment may be enough, and when that is so we tell you.
Collection by dedicated staff
On collection day the people who arrive have been assigned to that work only. Before touching it they look at its condition together with you or whoever is handing it over, and point out any existing scratches, cracks or weak points straight away. Then they prepare it for the journey as agreed and carry it to the vehicle along a route that has been assessed in advance. Nobody is in a hurry to get to the next collection, because that day there is no next collection.
Dedicated transport: a vehicle for that work alone
With dedicated transport the vehicle is reserved for your shipment. There are no other goods on board, no stops planned to load or unload anything else, and the work is not moved from one vehicle to another on the way. It leaves the collection address and goes directly to the delivery address. This is the option that keeps handling to a minimum, and handling is when an artwork is most exposed. Dates and times are also set around your needs, not around a delivery round.
Delivery at destination
Delivery is the point where many transports lose focus. In a white gloves service it follows the same rules as collection: dedicated people, a time agreed with the person receiving the work, and the piece carried to the agreed spot. The recipient can check it calmly and sign only after seeing it. If the destination is a gallery, a fair or an event, we agree access and times with the organisers beforehand, so the work is not left waiting on a pavement or in a corridor.
White gloves and packing go together
Careful service is no substitute for good protection. Even on a reserved vehicle the work has to cope with braking, bends and uneven roads. That is why we always think about the packing: sometimes soft, well-made protection is enough for a short trip, at other times a made-to-measure wooden crate is needed. For journeys outside the European Union the crate is built with ISPM 15 compliant wood. The choice comes from the work and the route, and we explain it before going ahead.
When the journey continues by air or sea
White gloves does not stop where the road ends. If the work has to reach another continent, collection in Brescia and final delivery are still entrusted to dedicated staff, while the main leg travels by air, which we arrange as IATA cargo agents, or by sea. In between come the customs formalities, handled by our in-house customs team with Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status. For you the point of contact does not change: one person, from beginning to end.
Insurance and storage
Careful transport reduces risk, it does not remove it. That is why we offer All Risks cover on a nail-to-nail basis, which follows the work along the whole route and not only while it is on the vehicle. We ask you for the value to be insured and, where one exists, a valuation or an invoice to support it. If some time has to pass between collection and delivery, the work waits in dedicated, armoured storage and sets off again when the recipient is ready.
Common mistakes with valuable shipments
It happens that a service is carefully arranged and then held up by a detail. The recipient has not been told and nobody is there to open the door. The address is right but the vehicle entrance is in another street. The crate will not go through the door because nobody measured the stairwell. Or the work was hurriedly closed in cardboard and, if damage occurs, the insurer disputes exactly that packing. These are all checks we go through with you in the days before.
