What You Need to Know When Getting Your Personal Property Appraised

This short article has some good advice for people looking for a personal property appraiser for the first time and want to know more about how to locate a qualified professional.
Advice from the president of the Appraisal Foundation

New Article Published on Langdon Warner and the Nelson-Atkins Museum's Japanese Collection

My new article is: "Langdon Warner's Vision for the Japanese Collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1930-1935," published in The Journal of the History of Collection, Oxford University (forthcoming in print later in 2015, in an issue dedicated to "Ideas of Asia in the Museum"). Available online from July 6, 2015
I have been working on this article for years, perhaps decades. Finally it is published, a prelude to my next book about Langdon Warner and Japan.

RECORD-BREAKING ASIA WEEK IN NY MARCH 2015

ArtNews reports that Asia Week sales in NYC shattered records. For example, the Ellsworth sales at Christie's did so much better than expected. Everyone recognized sale of his collection marked the end of an era.
 

How to Find a Qualified Appraiser

For the past year I have been involved with the Washington DC-based Appraisal Foundation that oversees the appraising profession (business, real property, gems, and personal property). I am on a resource panel for personal property appraisers charged with helping the Appraisal Foundation enhance public trust in personal property appraisers. We are examining ways appraisers get accredited and  are attempting to determine if a universal accreditation/certification system is feasible, considering the creation of a "national registry" for valuation specialists/appraisers in various disciplines, seeing if developing discipline-specific standards is possible, and considering methods of oversight of the profession. 

At present, there is no universal set standard to which appraisers must adhere. It is also a self-regulated profession, with appraisers of the various organizations setting admissions policies for their own members. Moreover, only a small number of appraisers belong to the big three appraiser organizations (AAA, ISA, ASA) at all--most are independent, with many being dealers or auction house staff members. Still, while many members of these organizations are very good, membership in these national appraiser organizations does not guarantee that appraisers are really qualified in the areas they appraise.

I would strongly recommend that when searching for a qualified appraiser make sure to hire only appraisers who truly have specialization in the fields for which they need appraising services. Also, remember that if your collection is large and diverse you might have to hire several appraisers or an appraiser who works with colleagues in several specialties (as I do). Perhaps the hardest thing for an appraiser is to know when to call in a consultant. Many generalists don't know the best dealers or auction houses to recommend to clients who want to sell their collections. Often for large and diverse collections I recommend selling at several  venues, that I select depending on where the client lives and the quality of the objects. Also, and this is most important, when choosing an appraiser always ask when they last took a USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) class. USPAP (initially a 15 hour 2-day class with exam and 7-hour update classes every 2 years thereafter--to coincide with regular updates to USPAP) is required of appraisers who do appraisals reviewed by the IRS. Many appraisers do not even know what USPAP is and do not comply with its standards.

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2015 LECTURES

I'm going to be very busy in January and February, giving a variety of lectures. Here's my lecture schedule:

3 PM January 11, 2015, at the Lawrence, KS, Public Library. 
MIDCENTURY MODERN & JAPANESE DESIGN
A lecture based on research for my new book, Japanese Design: Art, Aesthetics, & Culture; sponsored by the Lawrence Modern group, in conjunction with the Lawrence Public Library and the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas, with a book signing arranged by the Raven Bookstore.


 7:30 PM January 20, 2015, The Huntington Library, Pasadena, CA
SEARCHING FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE SAGES:  THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY FOR SENCHA
A lecture derived from my earlier book, Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha and subsequent research. The lecture is part of an ongoing series in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Huntington's Japanese garden and its new teahouse.

January 23, 2015, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (time & place not yet announced)
LANGDON WARNER'S VISION FOR THE JAPANESE COLLECTION AT THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, 1930-1935
My presentation is part of a two-day conference on "Ideas of Asia in the Museum," January 23-24 (the talks on the 24th will take place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art).

January 26  (evening), Scripps College, Claremont, CA
 January 29, 1 PM, at the San Diego Museum of Art
February 18, Phoenix Art Museum
JAPANESE DESIGN: AESTHETIC COMPONENTS, CULTURAL SOURCES, WORLDWIDE PROMOTERS

A public presentation based on my new book. The talk in San Diego is sponsored by the museum's Asian Arts Council. The talk will explore the varied formal characteristics of Japanese design, the religious and cultural factors that contributed to its creation, and the writers, both foreign and Japanese, some famous and others nearly forgotten, responsible for creating worldwide awareness of and sustaining interest in Japanese design from the 19^th century to the present.

UPDATED INFORMATION ON TRADE IN OBJECTS CONTAINING ENDANGERED SPECIES

The law firm Pearlstein & McCullough has posted a useful FAQ about the new regulations restricting trade in endangered species artifacts (focusing on ivory, mammoth ivory, & rhinoceros horn), especially as they pertain to New York State. It requires people who wish to continue such trade for articles made of these materials that qualify for exemptions to the rule. The law firm's FAQ includes a very useful guide in table form for consumers, "What can I do with my ivory articles or rhinoceros horn?"

WHERE TO BUY FAKE CHINESE ANTIQUITIES

The World of Chinese online magazine has a very interesting article by Ginger Huang, posted August 3, 2014, "The Antique Hustle," that describes how prevalent the forging of Chinese art is in China. She says that the place to buy these in Beijing is Shilihe Antique Plaza, just south of Panjiayuan, China's "CBD of antiques" (just south of Guomao). She also describes how so-called scholarly experts, who work in museums and research institutes are too far removed from the world of the antiques trade to be able to spot fakes and so having authentication from these people is no guarantee of authenticity. The article describes how before 1949 experts were university trained, but because of the Cultural Revolution, that lasted through the opening up of China to the West in 1978, people were forbidden to study historical relics and the younger generation of scholars lacks the continuity of learning from their elders. Furthermore, since the late 1980s, counterfeiting has gotten very sophisticated and harder to detect. A recent scandal that came to light, recounted in the article, made the headlines with the title"Forbidden Palace Experts No Rivals for Henan Peasants." Forgers, often peasants, specialize in different types of fakes. Some, for example, grind up ancient Han dynasty bricks to produce fake pieces that fool the scientific tests. The bottom line: BUYER BEWARE AND CONSIDER PROVENANCE* BEFORE PURCHASING CHINESE ART.

*Take heed that although papers might indicate a piece to have been owned by someone's relative or friend for many decades, before the prevalence of production of these recent fakes, these documents too are often forged. That is why pieces coming out of older foreign collections with undisputed chain of ownership records command the highest prices these days.