Critical Thinking in Appraisals

It is common for an appraiser to find themselves serving a client that has very strong ideas about the identity or historical provenance or characteristics of their item or collection. Sometimes these ideas or beliefs are founded in family lore or some other long-accepted tradition or reason. However, it is the appraiser’s job to apply critical thinking to whittle things down to ‘just the facts.’

It’s probably not hard to imagine how uncomfortable that position can be, especially when faced with a client for whom their story means the world. They’ll wonder why you’re so concerned or skeptical over seemingly mundane background facts. After all, great grandma said George Washington once tripped over this!

One of my professional advantages is that I bring university training in historiography to my appraisal practice. The times when this training helps me shed new light on an item by identifying some hitherto unknown or underappreciated characteristic are truly momentous and among the most rewarding for me personally. Of course, clients are happy as clams if the detail adds value, but more often than not, they’re just as thrilled with the intellectual value I’ve identified. After all, there’s a lot of satisfaction in adding a footnote to history.

Now, this is not possible without me applying critical thinking, defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment, to my historiographical formulae.

This means that I must view items dispassionately when I am valuing them for monetary worth. Instead of focusing on the good, brightest and most immediately attractive aspects, I must give equal attention to the flaws, the cracks, the chips, the repairs, the patina, the wear, the missing parts, the broken parts, the incompleteness, the anachronisms, etc.

The more significant a piece purports to be – historically or monetarily, the more sternly I must focus on the detractive or negative aspects. A thorough and honest valuation is the goal, so an item must stand up to the most rigorous and skeptical standards. This is the hard part because, like everyone else, I’d rather be celebrating greatness!

That’s not to say there isn’t nuance in this job. Often enough, an examination points toward the inconclusive on one or more points. All is not necessarily lost, but additional work must be done. For very significant items, the appraisal itself could be scuttled at this moment. At this point, I begin to search for why something may be the way it is. Has it been tampered with over the intervening years? Can we tell if the tampering innocently or maliciously executed? Was the tampering done to obscure another fact? Was the tampering done to enhance the item?

And, of course, the most important question I must answer in terms of the appraisal for monetary value is: does this impact value one way or another?

The answer may not always be to the owner’s liking, but the goal remains to get us closer to the honest truth.

An Auction Result is Not an Appraisal!

Auction results are a large part of the data an appraiser interprets to for their value conclusion – but they are far from the only thing!

In any first consultation with me, a client identifies the intended use of the appraisal, and together we determine the objective. These two things help me determine the most appropriate market or markets to search for sales and pricing data, whether for comparable sales, or prices of like items or reproductions.

The most appropriate market is where the items are most commonly bought and sold by buyers and sellers in full possession of all relevant facts about the items and under no compulsion to either buy or sell.

On top of all this is an item’s physical characteristics, and often enough in my corner of the appraisal world, a provenance that establishes additional historical significance. Both can have an effect on value.

So you see appraisals are a multi-faceted process with many moving parts! It takes a mind adept at compilation, interpretation, and interpolation of data to reach a justifiable value conclusion – far more than a simple search of realized prices!

About Your Stuff: Fact or Belief

Sometimes a client believes they know all about their item before they reach out to me for an appraisal. 

Sometimes this information is the product of a generation or more of family members repeating - and sometimes adding to - the romantic lore around an item. Many times, though, they only have part of the story.

One of the hardest tasks I face as an appraiser and historian is telling someone their beloved story is only partially true or that the current market doesn’t support their assumption of value. The worst is when I have to contradict some deeply held or sentimental belief.

While there are many wonderful things about being an appraiser, one of the best moments for me is when I suspect that reality is even more interesting and windswept than family lore. Admittedly, such moments are rare. However, it’s always wonderful when I am able to tell them straight away and illustrate the point with physical evidence provided by the item itself.

Yet no matter what the news, there’s an art to informing a client gracefully.

Long before I deliver a report, though, comes the research phase. It is in this magical period, my favorite in fact, that I may discover a previously obscure historical aspect or component of the item about which my client had no clue. 

It is in this ability to sniff out historical detail that I take especial pride.

It might be as simple as translating an obscure phrase, deciphering an unknown symbol or logo, tracing a signature or maker’s mark. Yet because such historiographical detail may add significant support or additional value to their item, it is vital to a complete and accurate appraisal.

As I always say, be certain of identity and value – call your appraiser!