James Rylands joined Sotheby's in 1979 and as a director worked in both the London and Sussex salesrooms, where he set up their sales of garden statuary in 1986. His other interests include sculpture, works of art, and clocks. He now acts as a freelance consultant and has served on the vetting committees of numerous major European antiques fairs, as well as being the chairman of the sculpture committee for the Olympia Antique Fairs. In addition to regular appearances on television, he writes for antiques magazines and has co-written a book on garden ornaments.