Samuel Merrin and the Gallery

To formally introduce, Samuel Merrin is the president and owner of The Merrin Gallery, Inc. Established in 1987, and while incorporated that year, it is a second-generation ancient art business founded by Sam's father, Edward Merrin in the mid-1960s. This came at a time when Ed started acquiring and selling pre-Columbian art—becoming an expert in the field.

Samuel formally took over the gallery in 1999 and has been involved with ancient art his entire life. As a child, Sam frequently visited his father’s gallery, and worked there over many summer vacations. He was fascinated by the beauty and telling history of the objects that he would handle. Inspired, Samuel received a BA from Tufts University, worked at The Cloisters museum and interned at 'the Met' in NYC.

Today, Sam Merrin is asked to give appraisals for identifying major pre-Columbian art and other ancient works—in terms of authenticity and value—for museum exhibitions, auction houses, dealers and other institutions. Sam has coordinated several major exhibitions, and published accompanying catalogues of objects for sale. He has been featured in several newspapers, art magazines, and TV programs for his antiquity know-how.

Samuel's expertise has been sought after for many major collections in America and Europe, where clients of the Merrin Gallery include leading museums such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London and the Middle East, as well as many others.

This blog aims to illuminate some of this work surrounding ancient art, as well as giving casual information for collectors and enthusiasts. We hope you will find it helpful and informative, and if you have any questions, then please leave a comment below, or the Merrin Gallery's Facebook page.