Welcome to Cynthia Shaver Asian Art Appraiser Newsletter January 2022,
A prayer for peace and health around the world.
This last month I started with an office appointment with a gentleman that had a few more than a dozen properties left him by his grandmother and great aunt. We sat around the table comfortably for a couple of hours, comparing quality elements and discussing the value ones. It is always enjoyable for me to help someone understand their property, what in particular is special.
The following day was a in person visual feast, and it lasted four hours. Then repeated four hours a week later. I was hired by a known fiber artist to help triage Japanese contemporary ceramics and folk textiles into meaningful new homes. This was a curated collection, put together over decades, with values that were quite respectable. This project is still an obsession, as my job is not over. What value is a garment, made thirty or more years ago, of wasps nest?
I had a three hour zoom talk with a daughter whose father was an antique merchant in Stockholm in 1950-60’s. She had 82 small beautiful items. The world was smaller, shipping was expensive, and everyone seemed to have a desire for a Chinese tea cup. Arthur and I made an onsite visit a hour away, stayed for five. There was an extensive group of Japanese 18th c colored imari, drawings & material from Occupied Japan 1946-1949, old Kutani ware and more. I could take time and first discuss the quality elements I would be talking about and then what value characteristics their property had that was special. Arthur always added an interesting side to any discussion, pointing out historical events that affected export and supply and demand.
Christmas Eve morning was another few hour zoom talk to end the year on a very happy note. I’m doing a lot of research on YouTube now, amazing how much information one can find. Please Keep the referrals, I appreciate very much.
Happy New Year,
Cynthia