Antique appraisals will require that the appraiser authenticates an antique item and at the same time puts a value on it.
If you own an antique item and wish to know more about it, you can request a knowledgeable collector for an opinion on its authenticity, but this may not necessarily clarify its value.
If you need to know the value for insurance purposes or similar, or if you want to sell it, you can ask an appraiser for an antique appraisal, the appraiser will have to clarify authenticity first before putting a value on it.
Even if you have sufficient specialist knowledge to authenticate the antique yourself, it may still be a good idea to ask for more than one antique appraisals if a costly antique is involved. Why that? Authentication of items are not the same as antique valuations. Estimating the price may need much experience in view to the market, and a good database of past sales.
So what is the difference? The value of antiques depend on the market demand for the specific item, which in turn depends on the supply and demand situation for these. The condition is another factor. Professional antique appraisers are more likely to be up-to-date with such information and able to provide a more reliable appraisal and for you as they have access to databases of past sales, auctions, etc.
How to get an appraisal
Appraisals of Chinese porcelain annot be handled by any antique appraiser. Only an appraiser specialized on Asian ceramics or Chinese ceramics will do!
To find an appropriate appraiser in your field you can check with groups like the professional appraisers association or society of appraisers in your area.
You could try to get an informal verbal appraisal from an antique dealer at an antiques roadshow or antiques fair. (See also free antique appraisals)
However, a more viable alternative could be an online appraisal. The drawback is that the appraiser cannot do a hands-on inspection of the real item, he/she has to rely on pictures (see comments below). But, if the pictures are good, there is a good chance that you have an idea what you got in hand afterwards.
An online appraisal costs much less and may be the way to go before requesting a costly and time-consuming professional. After all, who wants to spend a lot on an appraisal of an item that has little value.
Do's and dont's when requesting an appraisal
Be careful of unscrupolous appraisers.
Ask for a quotation or price for the appraisal beforehand, just to make sure it doesn't add up too much.
Don't tell the appraiser you know nothing about the item.
If the appraiser offers to buy your item, the estimate given to you might well be lower than its actual worth.
Don't forget that an appraisal is never something absolute or final, it is the perception of one individual. Antique prices are determined by the market demand for similar items and the amount a buyer is willing to spend. It is always better to depend on more than one independent valuation to make sure that the estimate is reasonable, especially if your item could be very valuable.
A professional authentication and valuation by an antique appraiser is also recommendable before you purchase or bid on any antique of considerable value.
Be careful, when it comes to antique Chinese porcelain. An appraiser specialized in Chinese porcelain is needed, not just any porcelain appraiser will do. Just because someone is expert in view to European or other porcelain does not mean they also can authenticate Chinese pottery and porcelain. Dealers and collectors involved with Chinese antiques in general (other than porcelain) aren't suitable either. They often know next to nothing about Chinese ceramics.
Antique appraisal online or conventional appraisal?
You can consider an online antique appraisal if you have access to detailed images of the object. This should be easy if you have access to an electronic auction catalog or photographs or, of course, if it is your own item.
One of the few advantages of online antique shops or online auctions is the easy access to images of the item in question. These can be used for an online antique appraisal or appraiser opinion which in turn can help you make a quick decision whether to go for it or not.
Online antique appraisals have ther advantages and disadvantages, but so does a conventional (offline) appraisal. It all depends on the situation... and your budget.
With Chinese porcelain it can be advisable to get a second opinion before spending a lot of money on expensive antiques, only to detect later that they were fakes.
Every collector, even experts and professionals, who may deny this, have been fooled by high-level fakes at one time or another. That is normal, such experiences contribute to the overall growth of the specialist knowledge they have.
