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Before the Auction: Approaching Appraisals continued ...

Appraisers
Personal property appraisers are trained by a combination of hands-on experience, formal study, self-education, and learning from others. Some have honed their skills working in museums, auction houses, universities, or private galleries. Interestingly, there is no single regulatory agency that oversees training or licensing for the profession. Appraisers might fit into one of the categories that follow, or a combination of them.

Certified appraisers are licensed or approved by one of several professional organizations. Two of these are the American Society of Appraisers and International Society of Appraisers. Both of these self-regulating organizations has a different set of criteria for certification, including specific course work, a required number of hours logged in appraisal work, and written examinations. All three offer educational programs. Qualified appraiser is a term used by the IRS. It encompasses anyone who claims to be qualified in appraising a given type of property.

Both designations encompass a wide spectrum of appraisers. In fact, while certification can be a valuable element in assuring quality and ethics in an appraiser, some of the world's most highly skilled appraisers are not certified by any board. This includes some of those astute men and women we know from Antiques Roadshow.

A generalist appraiser can identify and evaluate a wide range of objects, from different eras, regions, materials, and levels of value. In examining the contents of an estate, a generalist is often enlisted to render a universal or collective estimate of value on furniture, china, silver, rugs, paintings, and books. The best generalists are those with the training and instincts to recognize value in objects outside the scope of their own knowledge. Whether they work independently or for a large auction house, a good generalist appraiser will know the right specialists to bring in, and when to call them.

A specialist appraiser is an appraiser whose expertise is focused on one category of property, such as American silver of the 18th and 19th centuries, or baseball memorabilia. In general, as the quality, rarity, and value level of objects rises, so does the need for a specialist's eye in appraising it accurately.

Since an appraiser learns from every piece he or she physically examines, auction house appraisers have a distinct advantage in sharpening their skills because of the sheer number and variety of objects that pass before them every day, along with the immediacy of the market data available to them. To see what price an artist's work will bring on the auction block, they can pop into the saleroom and see for themselves. The term independent appraiser usually denotes an individual or agency that is not directly affiliated with a selling venue, such as an auction house, gallery, or shop.

Formal Appraisal Criteria
The criteria for formal appraisals of personal property vary. Some basic points covered in all of them are description, stylistic movement, country or region of origin, manufacturer, condition, rarity, age, and market value. For formal appraisals, some personal property appraisers (and most of the appraisal organizations) adhere to the criteria established by the Appraisal Foundation: the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Standards. To paraphrase in brief, the criteria include:

Establishing the approach used to determine value; for art, antiques, and collectibles, the comparative market data approach is most relevant (other approaches are based on an object's potential for income generation through reproduction or leasing, and are not generally applicable to one-of-a-kind objects in the secondary market)

Understanding the methods and techniques involved in appraising the object in question

Including all relevant information and omitting nothing relevant

Being conscientious and thorough at each step in the appraisal so that even small errors don't compromise its overall accuracy

Identifying the property adequately

Defining the purpose (intended use) of the appraisal

Identifying the effective date of the appraisal (since value changes over time, appraisals have a designated "shelf life" )

Defining value to be considered (fair market? replacement?)

Showing data to back up the value (comparable prices realized)

Considering and documenting market variables (rarity, supply, demand)

Considering and documenting any prior sales of the object

Considering and documenting factors like condition, style, quality, manufacturer, origin, age, provenance, alteration, and restoration, all of which affect value

Demonstrating the appraiser's "disinterested" status (appraiser has no investment in the outcome of the appraisal)

Last Word
AW's latest service, Vendio Appraisals, is a great resource for professional informal appraisals, and a good starting point if you think you might need a formal appraisal. Here you'll be able to get an unbiased, online opinion of an item's value and history.

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