ASIAN ART APPRAISING & CONSULTING
NOTE: NEW APPRAISAL CLIENTS — PLEASE REFER TO MY CONTACT PAGE BEFORE EMAILING ME.
The Appraisal Foundation has produced brochures for the public on what proper appraisals should include and how to find a competent appraiser. You can download them HERE
If you have ivory or other objects made of endangered species materials you want to sell, please take a look at my BLOG posts on the subject.
I have been active as an independent consultant and appraiser of Asian art since 1993, working throughout the USA and Canada for private collectors, attorneys, estate executors, corporate collections, foundations, insurance companies, auction houses, universities, and museums. In 2002, I joined the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) as an Accredited Member with specialization areas covering a wide variety of Asian arts including East Asian (China, Japan, and Korea), Southeast Asia, India, and Himalaya fine arts and crafts. Although I possess broad knowledge of diverse types of Asian arts and crafts, both pre-modern and of the modern and contemporary eras, I understand that sometimes highly specialized expertise is required for adequate assessment. So, as needed, I engage a small, select group of knowledgeable expert consultant appraisers, dealers, and scholars of Indian, Himalayan, South East Asian, Chinese, and Korean fine and decorative arts, in both the USA and Asia, to work with me on individual appraising and consulting assignments. Since 2009 I have been a CERTIFIED MEMBER of the Appraisers Association of America in the fields of Chinese, Japanese, and and Korean arts. From 2014-2022 I served on the Washington, DC-based Appraisal Foundation’s Personal Property Resource Panel, and was that’s group’s chair 2018-2020.
My approach to appraising and all my written reports meet the ethical mandates of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and conform in substance to guidelines established by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), established by the Appraisal Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of professional valuation, which has been authorized by The U.S. Congress as the source of appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications. I am USPAP compliant through January 2024.
For more information on the types of written reports I produce when completing formal appraisal assignments, please look at the “Written Appraisal Standards” post under the label “Appraisal Info” on my BLOG (click on the word “BLOG,” at the top right of the menu bar of this website). My BLOG has other postings relevant to the appraising profession as well.
SCOPE OF APPRAISAL SERVICES
I will only take on assignments in areas that I and my associates are experts. These areas encompass most types of arts and crafts, both old and new, created across Asia, including East Asian decorative arts (ie. lacquer, inro, netsuke, ivory and jade carvings, metalwork, ceramics, baskets, furniture, and textiles) and fine arts (ie. painted scrolls and screens, and wood, bronze, and lacquer religious sculpture). I have special expertise in Japanese art of all types, and especially paintings, prints, and ceramics, which feature prominently in numerous scholarly articles and three books I have authored. I personally have extensively studied and have completed many appraisals of Chinese arts (especially painting and calligraphy, Buddhist sculpture, bronzes, and ceramics) and have experience with appraising decorative arts of Southeast Asia and Buddhist art of all of Asia.
When appraising art of high value, especially for museum donations and estates that the IRS will review, I feel it is necessary to see the objects in person, but in some circumstances appraisals can be undertaken using high quality photographs. Please note that
- I do not offer any free assessments from photos
TYPES OF APPRAISAL/CONSULTING SERVICES OFFERED
- Initial assessment: always the first step in my appraisals. After inspecting your objects, I will determine if further research and a formal written appraisal are warranted.
- Formal, written appraisals: for various purposes including insurance, damage and loss claims, museum donation, estate planning, estate valuations for IRS reporting, liquidation, equitable distribution, and matrimonial settlements.
- Advice for clients desiring to sell their art: I introduce clients to the most appropriate auction or dealer markets for the type of art they possess and provide them with fair market valuations based on research findings so they understand the profits they might make on their sales.
- Expert Witness at Court or before IRS Review Boards: including testifying and preliminary research
- Advising Clients on Prices when Considering Purchase of Art Works: I am not a dealer, but am familiar with Asian art markets worldwide (both auction houses and private dealers) and thus am able to advise clients on prices in the worldwide art market.
- Research and Valuation for Commercial Galleries and Auction Houses: I identify, authenticate, and describe art, and estimate values, both retail and fair market. In addition, I can write auction catalogue descriptions.
- Second Opinion Statements: for clients who require second opinions on the validity and accuracy of existing appraisals. Note that this service does not usually entail site-visits.
- Catalogues and Inventories of Collections: for collectors needing to organize and itemize their art. This service includes digital photography.
- Authentication of Artworks: As a respected and well-published scholar of East Asian art I am qualified to authenticate a wide range of Asian artworks. When I feel it necessary, I will solicit opinions from others (professors, museum curators, independent scholars, dealers, and appraisers) so as to assure clients that my stated opinion is accurate.
- Offer Advice to Private Individuals Who Have Inherited Materials from Family Members Who Traveled to or Resided in Asia Decades Ago: I assist with determining if their possessions can be sold or if they are worthy of being donated to an institution. Objects not suitable for sale, but worthy of being donated include ordinary household items, letters, postcards, commendations, awards, etc. I use my connections with the scholarly community worldwide to connect individuals to suitable institutions.
MUSEUMS THAT HAVE RECEIVED CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ART I APPRAISED
Ackland Museum of Art, University of North Carolina
Art Institute of Chicago
Art Museum of West Virginia University
Brooklyn Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum
Clark Center for Japanese Art, Hanford, California
Crocker Museum
Denver Art Museum
Fairfield University Museum of Art
Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia
Glenbow Art Museum, Calgary, Canada
Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Harvard University Art Museums
Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Peabody-Essex Museum
Phoenix Art Museum
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Ringling Museum, Sarasota, FL
Saint Louis Art Museum
San Antonio Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Art
Smith College Museum of Art
Stanford University Art Museum
University of Alberta Museums of Art, Alberta, Canada
University of California, Berkeley, Art Museum
University of Indiana Museum of Art
University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Special Collections
Walska Lotusland, Santa Barbara
Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Whitney Museum of American Art
Yale University Art Gallery
COLLECTION ASSESSMENTS AND APPRAISALS OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College
Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
Crow Museum of Asian Art, Dallas
Detroit Institute of Arts
Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
Ohio Wesleyan University Library and Richard M. Ross Art Museum
Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR)
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
University of Nebraska, Lenz Collection of Asian Art