Written Appraisal Standards

Many people think preparation of appraisal reports is a simple matter of the appraiser stating in writing what they think their properties are worth. But I do not do those sorts of overly simplistic appraisals. All my written appraisals conform with standards established by USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice), promulgated by The Appraisal Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of professional valuation, which has been authorized by The US Congress as the source of appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications. Although preparation of USPAP compliant appraisal reports are quite complex and time consuming to produce, this diligent preparation is necessary because the resulting reports serve as legal documents that protect both the client and appraiser, and as such need to carefully explain the reasoning behind the stated valuations and attest to the competence of the appraiser to undertake such assessments. These stringent standards and guidelines are described on the website of the Appraisers Association of America, which, with good reason, requires all their members to use them.

Although I also do other types of appraisals, I am most frequently asked to complete appraisal reports for insurance, charitable institution donations, and estate settlements. Each has different requirements for written reports, which I describe in general terms below.

INSURANCE APPRAISALS

*header/footer on every page with: client name, appraiser name & contact info, appraisal purpose, valuation system used, effective date, pagination (include # of photos)

*cover page

*table of contents

*valuation summary

*disclaimers, limiting conditions, assumptions (authenticity), hypothetical & extraordinary assumptions

*appraiser's certification (include compliance with USPAP, fee structure)

*appraiser's CV & qualifications for appraising the type of art in the report

*client name

*clearly defined scope of work -- includes the following:

-description of the appraisal assignment
-purpose of appraisal: insurance

-type of report (appraisal report or restricted appraisal report)

-intended users (client & insurance co)

-valuation type: Retail Replacement Value

-definition of value & source

-market approach: comparative (state why used)

-marketplace: retail

-market analysis

-date & place of inspection

-effective date (same)

-date of report

*inventory of objects noting locations (if appropriate)

*description of objects, noting when Fine Art Breakable, Sterling Silver, Fine Art, nationality, artist, type of art, date, size, relevant inscription & marks, boxes -for Asian objects & scrolls-, material, technique, condition, prior publications, artists' bio, relevant references

*provenance (optional but useful)

*discuss authenticity if relevant

*include comparables (optional): if under $100 each--group together, $5000 & above--comps preferred, groups over $10,000--comps preferred

*Firm Valuation for each object

*photographs

*SIGNATURE

IRS DONATION APPRAISALS
*Need appraisal for donations over $5000, over $50,000 IRS art committee reviews appraisal report, over $500—taxpayer must submit IRS form 8283 (no appraisal needed)
*note: client can deduct cost of appraisal fees from income

*header/footer with: client name, appraiser name & contact info, appraisal purpose, valuation system used, effective date, pagination (include # of photos)
*cover page
*table of contents
*valuation summary
*disclaimers, limiting conditions, assumptions (authenticity), hypothetical & extraordinary assumptions
*appraiser's certification (include compliance w/USPAP, fee structure, disinterest, acknowledgment that misrepresentation will incur penalties, & appraiser not disqualified by IRS)
*appraiser's CV & qualifications for appraising the type of art in the report
*client name

*clearly defined scope of work -- includes the following:

-description of the appraisal assignment

-purpose of appraisal: donation
-type of report: appraisal report (the most comprehensive type)
-intended users (generally client & accountant & donor organization)
-valuation type: Fair Market Value
-definition of value & source
-market approach: comparative market analysis (state why used)
-marketplace: auction and/or retail
-market analysis
-date & place of inspection
-effective date: date of donation
-donee organization and appropriateness of object to that organization
-date of report (cannot be more than 60 days prior to donation)
*object list
*inventory & description of objects (noting nationality, artist, type of art, date, size, relevant inscriptions & marks, boxes -for Asian objects & scrolls-, medium, format, technique, condition
*artist bio, references, other notes
*provenance & price paid
*discuss authenticity if relevant
*Firm Valuation for each object
*photographs
*ownership interest
*COMPARABLES REQUIRED with discussion for: single items & groups over $5000
*SIGNATURE & Tax ID#
*Completion of appraiser's section of IRS form 8283

IRS ESTATE APPRAISALS
*single items over $3000 appraisal required; group of like items over $10,000 appraisal required, over $20,000 IRS art committee reviews appraisal report
*note: client can deduct cost of appraisal fees from income

*header/footer on every page with: client name, appraiser's name & contact info, appraisal purpose, valuation system used, effective date, pagination (include # of photos)
*Cover page
*table of contents
*valuation summary
*limiting conditions, disclaimers, assumptions (authenticity), hypothetical & extraordinary assumptions
*appraiser's certification (include compliance with USPAP, fee structure, disinterest, acknowledgment that misrepresentation will result in penalties, & appraiser not disqualified by IRS)
*Appraiser's CV & qualifications for appraising the type of art in the report
*client name

*clearly defined scope of work -- includes the following:

-description of the appraisal assignment

-purpose of appraisal: estate valuation
-type of report: appraisal report (the most comprehensive type)
-intended users (generally client, accountant, estate executor)
-valuation type: Fair Market Value (if using auction results, include buyer's premium)
-definition of value & source
-market approach: comparative market analysis (state why used)
-marketplace: auction or retail
-effective date: date of death or 6 months later
-date & place of inspection
-report date
-market analysis
*Inventory & description of objects (noting nationality, artist, object type, medium, format, technique, date, size, relevant inscriptions & marks, boxes-for Asian paintings and object-, ownership interest
*references, artist bio, other notes
*provenance & price paid
*discuss authenticity if relevant
*COMPARABLES REQUIRED with discussion for: single items over $3000, groups of like items over $10,000
*photographs (mandatory for over $20,000)
*Firm Valuation for each object *SIGNATURE &Tax ID#
*Completion of appraiser's section of IRS form 8283

Connoisseurship of Chinese & Japanese Art--Selected References

Copies and forgeries abound in Chinese and Japanese arts and indeed, they have been made since premodern times. The problem has gotten worse in recent years as forgers have begun to make use of sophisticated technical production means. Collectors would be wise to familiarize themselves with some of the thorny issues about forgeries, and at the same time learn that in the context of Chinese and Japanese art, not all copies have been created as fakes.

Recommended Bookseller for titles listed below:
Paragon  Book Gallery, Chicago

ASIAN ART GENERAL
Linda, Mary F. ed. The Real, the Fake, and the Masterpiece. New York: Asia Society, 1988. Catalogue of an exhibition, with thematic essays.

CHINESE ART
Allen, Anthony J., a Chinese art dealer in Auckland, New Zealand, has self-published the following:
Allen’s Authentication of Ancient Chinese Ceramics, 2006.
Allen’s Authentication of Ancient Chinese Bronzes, 2001.
Allen’s Authentication of Later Chinese Porcelain 1796AD – 1999AD, 2000.
Allen’s Introduction to Later Chinese Porcelain, 1996.

Chang, Arnold. "'The Small Manifested in the Large: The Large Manifested in the Small: the Connoisseurship of Chinese Painting." Kaikodo Journal 12 (Autumn 1999): 43-54.

Chang, Qing. "Genuine or Forged: Methods of Identifying Forgeries of Chinese Buddhist Sculptures," Ars Orientalis 36 (2009): pp. 79-109.

Clunas, Craig. "Connoisseurs and aficionados: the real and the fake in Ming China (1368-1644)," in Why Fakes Matter: Essays on Problems of Authenticity, edited by Mark Jones. London: British Museum Press, 1992, pp. 151-156.

Fu, Marilyn and Shen Fu. Studies in Connoisseurship: Chinese Paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler Collection in New York and Princeton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.

van Gulik, Robert Hans. Chinese Pictorial Art as Viewed by the Connoisseur. Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1958 (rare but authoritative)

Kerr, Rose and Jon Ayers. Blanc de Chine: Porcelain from Dehua. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002.

Page, Amy. "Spotting Fake Chinese Bronzes." Art & Antiques 2/2 (Feb. 18, 2002).

Stuart, Jan. Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits. Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001.

Stuart, Jan and Chang Qing. "Chinese Buddhist Sculpture in a New Light at the Freer Gallery of Art," Orientations April 2002: pp. 29-37.

Wilson, Ming. Chinese Jades. London: Victoria and Albert Museum Publications, 2004.

JAPANESE ART
"Chinese Forgers Take Aim at Japanese Market." Taipei Times, April 4, 2009. Regarding Chinese copies of Japanese netsuke. Available online at: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2009/04/04/2003440165

Clark, Timothy. Ukiyo-e Paintings in the British Museum. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1992. See especially section on forgeries in the chapter: "The Study, Collecting, and Forging of Ukiyo-e Paintings," pp. 36-46 and the appendix on fakes, pp. 233-240 (with illustrations).

Cox, Rupert, ed. The Culture of Copying in Japan: Critical and Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 2008.

Graham, Patricia J. Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007. Chap. 8 discusses forgeries of Buddhist painting and sculpture.

Graham, Patricia J. Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998. Discusses Japanese copies of Chinese ceramic wares, basketry, and metalwork.

Nisemono, honmono, kobijutsu kantei (Forgeries or originals, judgment on antiques). Taiyō (The Sun, monthly magazine), special issue #190 (February 1979). In Japanese only.

Uhlenbeck, Chris. "Collecting Ukiyo-e Prints: Issues of Quality, Condition, Rarity," in The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints, edited by Amy Reigle Newland. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, pp. 366-376.

Wilson, Richard L. The Potter's Brush: The Kenzan Style in Japanese Ceramics. Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2001.
Extensively illustrates and discusses issues of authenticity of ceramics by Kenzan.

USEFUL WEBSITES
Schneider Japanese Cloisonne, the personal website of Fredric Schneider, a passionate collector of cloisonne and author of an authoritive volume on the subject.

James Cahill.info. The website of James Cahill, the renowned emeritus professor of Chinese painting at the University of California, Berkeley. His posts include an article and musings about the nefarious forger Chang Dai-chien.

Gotheborg.com. An excellent database of Chinese and Japanese ceramics, with marks.

Viewing Japanese Prints. On issues of authenticity in Japanese prints (editions, Meiji recuts, deceptive copies, imitations), see specific sections of the FAQ and TOPICS page of the web site

Watanabe Publisher Seals. For examples of seals for modern Japanese prints published by Watanabe Shōzaburō

Explanation of tests & equipment for dating of artifacts:
Smithsonian Institution
Getty Conservation Institute

NY Appraisers Association of America lecture on Copies and Forgeries in Chinese and Japanese Art

New York, NY, October 6, 2008, 6PM
Chinese and Japanese Arts: Antique or Not, Authentic or Fake?
Lecture sponsored by the Appraisers Association of America at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York City (20th Street between Irving Place and Park Avenue South). Lecture from 6:00p.m. to 7:00p.m. Receptions follow lectures from 7:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. Jacket and tie required. For reservations call 212.889.5404 ext. 11. AAA/ISA/ASA Members free; General Admission $15

Lecture description: The production of copies is part of the tradition of East Asian visual culture. Not all copies are fakes and many have monetary value, sometimes more than the original. Understanding the different contexts in which copies were produced helps understand how to evaluate them. This presentation introduces the wide variety of Chinese and Japanese arts that are commonly copied, showing how some are copied for legitimate reasons, and others for deception. I draw on my experience as both a scholar and appraiser of Asian art, using examples of objects I have seen and studied over the years. Discussion will focus on some of the most popular types of Chinese and Japanese arts collected in the USA since the late 19th century, including secular paintings, Buddhist painting and sculpture, Japanese prints, ceramics, cloisonné, Peking glass, jade, and netsuke, and show comparisons of real and fake examples. Currently, the issue of forgeries is particularly pertinent and vexing because these have increased substantially and become more difficult to discern in recent years, due to technological advances.

Public Presentation--Global Partners for Local Organic Foods: A US-Japan Exchange Project in Kansas & Saitama

Tuesday, March 24, 4 PM, Pine Room, Kansas Union, University of Kansas:
Presentation in the Tea & Talk Series sponsored by the University of Kansas Center for East Asian Studies. Local members of the Global Partners for Local Organic Foods project, including Pat, will discuss the genesis of the partnership and projected outcomes.