Photo
illustration for appraisal story in Kansas City, Missouri. Unlike the
show-up-with-your-old-stuff and hope-for-the-best "Antiques Roadshow,"
getting appraisals for items in your home is real detective work: white-gloved
research that involves hiring an appraiser (there's a code of ethics they
follow), looking through old books
Although they’re not mind readers, personal property appraisers know when
they pick up the phone, the caller is eventually going to ask the same question:
“What’s it worth?”
And in this shaky economy, the phones ring often.
“There’s an urgency to sell things because a lot of people are nervous
about losing a job,” says Sharon Ring Rollins of Sugar Land, Texas, vice
chairwoman of the American Society of Appraisers, one of the three main
organizations that accredits appraisers.
The biggest misperception the public has about personal property appraisers
is that they can immediately tell clients the values of pieces, similar to what
happens on “Antiques Roadshow,” the public television program.
“We’re definitely not wizards with crystal balls who can just spit out
the answer with a few computer keystrokes,” Rollins says. “It takes a lot of
inspection and background work.”
And gritty work at that. The actual task resembles more the forensics on
popular criminal-investigation shows than the quick televised “Roadshow”
conclusions. Armed with a flashlight, appraiser Soodie Beasley fights spider
webs and dust as she peers into the dark recesses of furniture to gauge wood
oxidation, an indicator of age and consistency of parts. Her sleuthing includes
pulling out drawers to inspect the carcass for dovetails. She also searches for
labels to discover a piece’s maker.
Using a black-light wand, Beasley can tell whether a piece was ever painted.
Black light also detects restorations; newly added paint fluoresces differently.
It’s also a useful tool for gauging the authenticity of decorative arts
such as glass. American Brilliant Glass, made around 1880 to before World War
II, will shine a greeny-yellow. Reproductions are usually white or soft purple
under the glowing light.
“An appraiser must rely on a trained eye,” says Beasley, who specializes
in furniture and decorative art appraisals. “Signs of wear must be in a
logical pattern and not forced as if someone literally took sandpaper to it. In
the old days, pieces were cut by stone, which gives a softer polished edge
compared to diamond-bladed tools.”
Beasley’s professional-looking attire, typically a business suit, is
usually covered in grime by the time she is finished with an inspection. Her
hands get dirty, too, so she keeps a package of wipes in her tool kit, which
also includes measuring tape and a magnifying glass.
Then Beasley has to write the appraisal, which includes a market analysis and
other research. This often leads Beasley to computer databases or the library at
the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Appraisals are important documents that are used for insurance-replacement
purposes or for taxes if items are charitable donations or part of an estate.
Appraisers aren’t licensed through the government. But they pass the Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice exam to become a member of an
appraisal organization.
Many collectors and academics become appraisers since they’re already
experts in their fields of interests. Patricia Graham of Lawrence, an appraiser
who specializes in Asian art, has a doctorate in Asian and Japanese art and
speaks Japanese. Rachael Blackburn Cozad, director of the Kemper Museum of
Contemporary Art, is a fine arts appraiser. Beasley, who also works as an ass
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