Welcome to Cynthia Shaver Asian Art Appraiser Newsletter November 2023
A wish for peace on this beautiful planet Earth. Thank you for your time.
I attended, virtually, a presentation given by a tribal art dealer to a group of American Society of Appraisers last month. His power point text photos were aimed at the appraisal profession. His first photo defined what is and what is not ‘tribal art’. That is often the first point in discussion for appraisal, any definitions that apply to the property being valued. One slide discussed Primary Market Interests – Age and Provenance, and mentioned how Provenance is primary value characteristic, along with age, size and quality. When I did a large charitable contribution of Japanese propaganda textiles, I found the primary value characteristic was how much information regarding the specific pattern on the fabric was available.. Determining the value characteristics is an important first step in appraisal practice.
October brought the annual Fall Antiques Show to San Francisco. It was an opportunity to see where the market is. Most booths displayed tapestries, European, Asian, American along side furniture from Germany or early Americana. There was a sampling of Chinese export ware with designs favored by the French, or English, even with the monogram of a wealthy family from Massachusetts.
It appears the fashion and art world today are a sampling of tastes and technical skills that were being world traded in the 1600’s. I see this change in private dealer offerings, a wider selection of origin than before.
The 300-year-old Japanese method of upcycling – BBC Culture
For fun. https://www.google.com/search?q=SNL+%2B+I%27m+just+pete&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
https://www.japaneseartsoc.org/2023/09/lecture-montgomery-collection
https://fashiontextilemuseum.org/exhibitions/the-fabric-of-democracy
https://www.societyforasianart.org/programs/study-groups/how-many-hindu-gods-are-there