Hi nozone,
Wow, what an interesting find you have there! I can understand your
trepidation over having your sketch books valuated. I’ve run into the
same dilemma with antique books that I’ve acquired. Is it really only
worth the $10 the dealer is offering me, or is it really worth $200
and he knows it? How to know?
What I would suggest is to have your sketchbooks appraised
professionally. A true appraisal is done, not with an eye on how much
the appraiser is willing to pay you for the art, but with a focus on
the art’s intrinsic value. Rather than being an “offer” to buy, a
professional appraiser give you a valuation based on prescribed
methods of evaluation, research, and report writing.
A certified appraisal can be used as a basis for a sale-price for a
piece of art or can be used to file an insurance claim. It is
considered a “true” measure of a piece’s worth. However, you should
understand that an item may have different appraised values depending
on how you plan to use the appraisal. For example, the value for
insurance may be very different than a value for estate tax, consumer
resale, or charitable contribution.
You should explain to your appraiser why you want the items evaluated
so that he/she can focus on the right type of valuation. I can’t give
you an estimate as to how much the appraisal will cost, as most
appraisers set and hourly rate and will give you an estimate based on
your piece.
What you don’t want to do is take the sketchbooks to any random art or
antique dealer with the intent to “get a price.” Like a car dealer, an
art dealer’s goal is to buy as low as possible and sell as high as
possible. You will always be offered the lowest possible price from a
dealer, especially if you don’t know the value of your piece.
There are several ways to have art appraised.
One is to pay an appraiser. The place to begin (assuming you are in
the US) is The American Society of Appraisers. This is a professional
organization that oversees appraisers of everything from jewellery to
businesses to art. From their website you can find a certified
appraiser in your area.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF APPRAISERS (ASA)
http://www.appraisers.org/
ASA - PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISERS – DESCRIPTION
http://www.appraisers.org/disciplines/personal.htm
ASA - FIND AN EXPERT
http://www.appraisers.org/findappraiser/
Find an Appraiser from the Hudson Valley, New York Chapter of ASA
http://www.appraisers.org/about/chapters/expert.cfm?ChapterID=074
Another certifying organization is The International Society of
Appraisers (ISA). Again they qualify appraisers of personal property,
including art.
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF APPRAISERS
http://www.isa-appraisers.org/index.html
ISA – SEARCH THE DATABASE
http://www.isa-appraisers.org/database/ISA_form.html
For both of the above websites, I would strongly suggest you read
their helpful pages on how to evaluate an appraiser, what to ask your
appraiser, and what an appraisal report should include. It will
certainly help you go into an appraisal armed with the information you
need to get the most accurate appraisal possible.
For example:
ISA – APPRAISAL REPORT
http://www.isa-appraisers.org/appraisal_report.html
For a less formal appraisal, you can contact your nearest art museum
and see if they hold an “appraisal day.” This has become more and
more popular, especially on the heels of such television programs as
PBS’s “Antique Road Show.”
These informal appraisals are done on the spot by museum curators and
are generally done verbally. That is, you will not get a certified
written appraisal. The upside of these informal appraisals is that
they are free (or low cost – sometimes a small per-item fee, $10-15 is
charged) and instant. The downside is that you would not be able to
use such an appraisal to insure your items. However, if you aren’t
intent on selling or insuring your art, you might be happy just
“knowing” what a curator thinks of your piece. It might be a good
place to start before paying an appraiser.
For example, this one sponsored by The Louisiana State Museum:
Saturday, January 25th, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Antiques and Collectibles Appraisal Day
Lakeside Mall, Veterans Highway at Causeway Boulevard in Metairie, La.
http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/site/calendar.htm#appraisal
Another group to contact might be The American Institute for
Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Although they do not do
appraisals, they will (for a fee) offer the services of a conservator
to examine your sketchbooks to authenticate the items and recommend
treatment and care options (ie pest control and storage). Their
website offers a search function to locate and select conservation
professionals in your area.
AIC
http://aic.stanford.edu/
AIC – SEARCH FOR A PROFESSIONAL
http://aic.stanford.edu/faic/refer.html
=============================
FURTHER INFORMATION
=============================
What Is An Appraisal?
By Victor Wiener, Executive Director
Appraisers Association of America
http://www.tfaoi.com/articles/apprais3.htm
How To Find An Appraiser
By Victor Wiener, Executive Director
Appraisers Association of America
http://www.tfaoi.com/articles/apprais2.htm
There are also many online art appraisal services. Frankly, however,
most of them make me a bit nervous. There’s not way to tell who is
“real” and who is not. If you are interested in going the online way,
I would recommend cross-checking the appraiser’s credentials against
the membership lists of any certifying organization he/she purports to
belong to.
A Google search for --- art “online appraisal” --- yields the
following:
://www.google.com/search?q=art+%22online+appraisal%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1
The information I’ve provided should give you a good start in
valuating your sketch books and protecting yourself from being taken
by a buyer. If anything I’ve said isn’t clear, please feel free to ask
for clarification.
Thanks so much for your question and good luck with your art pieces.
--K~
search terms:
art appraisal
art “online appraisal” |
