For the month of September, seven jobs particularly stand out. Four jobs were consultations by zoom, two jobs charitable contribution appraisals, and one job that involves estate distribution.
The four zoom jobs were all accomplished virtually. Again, my wheelchair becomes irrelevant. The owner of the paintings, the subject of the discussion, had found them in a storage box in a closet from the previous homeowner. The artists names were important and known but were reproductions to be enjoyed on the wall and not handled with care. One woman had about two dozen blue and white porcelains, Chinese upon first look. After I examined one group of plates, they had Made in England on bottom, yet others were late 19th c. Chinese,. I thought about her goal of selling the group. I gave her several names and hope she was successful.
One man had grown up with a Chinese yellow 7” diameter glass bowl and wanted to know the value today. When he called, he immediately said, “I will pay your fee…”, an unusual first comment, and continued to explain he wanted to know the origin and value of his yellow Chinese glass bowl. I contacted three experts, all thought the bowl dated either from 1880 to possibly today. Client was surprised and said he remembered around 1940 the bowl being displayed. All I could say was that the one expert hit the nail on the head, and the bowl was not that old. Only because my network is golden, can I feel I did my due diligence. The client could look up the people I quoted on Google and see that the people were top experts.
The other job was a first experience in my 20 years of appraising. After talking with me and my assistant for one hour, the woman was disappointed, angry, and did not pay. She felt my assistant and I did not do our jobs of putting the right values on her 12 thankgas. She was quite appreciative of all the information given to her, had been in business for 30 years in Santa Cruz, but felt her property more valuable than the low hundreds we were assigning. I had never had someone question my professional ethics; feel they were being taken advantage of. I would never want an unhappy client to pay me.
The charitable contribution appraisals involved paintings by Jamini Roy, a prolific contemporary artist from India and nine 18th c stucco Tibetan tiles. Each report gave a new understanding of the work involved, and took hours of research and analysis, far more than the fee invoked. I’m very lucky to be able to work. The Covid pandemic made virtual meetings common place, and my business benefited. I enjoy discussing Asian art with others and how lucky people pay me for my knowledge. I can take my business anywhere nationally as well as internationally. Presently, I’m working with an English lady to understand the collection she has been asked to sell. Even this, can be done virtually.