Frequently collectors themselves, they are much more inclined than more established dealers to do exhibitions of their wares.

Talk to established dealers with their large, sleek galleries and big overheads and you see an art scene that may have expanded beyond the needs of its environment.

Every so often, at one licensed dealer, a box was passed round the established dealers, and a collection was made of unwanted leads.

The experts are all established dealers.

"I recall seeing established dealers in New York selling works in their windows that were completely fake," he said.

To avoid illegal ivory, collectors and artists check provenance and deal only with other established and reputable dealers.

The three are among the 69 established dealers in New York this week for the Winter Antiques Show, now in its 47th year and flourishing.

With the permission of the Outsider Gallery, he shopped his pictures to more established dealers around town.

It poses the following questions: Are you buying from an established dealer?

Some established dealers turn their spaces over not to independent curators but to other dealers.