A Paradigm Shift
After years in the antique business, I have come to realize that an understanding about what antiques sell today — vs. what has had resale value historically — is a consistent source of confusion for those seeking to liquidate their estates or sell family treasures. It’s understandable. Traditional thinking about heirlooms is that many items of beauty and initially sold at a high price point would, over time, have value in the antique resale market. Additionally, traditional thinking has (correctly) been that, usually, as such an item gets older, its value increases. Conventional wisdom is that all of the above is particularly true if the item dates before the Twentieth Century.
However, the past few decades have seen a dramatic shift in thinking about what has significant resale value in the antique market. This shift is so significant that it represents an entirely new framework, or paradigm, for assessing which items have value and which do not. Explaining this paradigm shift, so that people can feel comfortable with their decisions about selling antiques, is, in fact, one of the main reasons I wrote this book.
The underlying reason for the paradigm shift is generational and, to some extent, lifestyle-driven. Unlike their parents, Generation X (who were born between 1965 and 1981) and those younger are highly mobile, less likely to work traditional 9-to-5 jobs, and more concerned with the value of experiences over material acquisition. In addition, their lives are complicated by the emergence of technologies like smartphones, Zoom, social media, and other items which ultimately eat their time and focus.
They, therefore, are less inclined to have the time or patience to take care of an item that might be beautiful, but takes up space, looks dated, or — especially — requires a lot of cleaning and care effort, except in very limited circumstances. Many collectibles (such as Hummels, Royal Daltouns, and most dish sets), from the perspective of these potential antique buyers, fit into this exact mold. Because of this, their resale value has significantly diminished.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do is to identify each of the items that you think have potential resale value. Focus on the following items, which are the most likely to sell for a significant price:
- Decorative art (unique ceramic pieces, sculptures, art glass, etc.)
- Fine art (paintings, photographs, sketches, etc. by listed artists, i.e., artists who have achieved status evidenced by being listed in standard art reference books and who have sold at auction before.)
- Asian antiques (collectibles from East Asia that date to the early 20th Century or before)
- Jewelry and metals (including gold, sterling silver flatware, costume and fine metal jewelry, and Judaica)
- Collectibles (antique sports cards, rare comics, and old coins, and other memorabilia)
- Mid-Century Modern Furniture (most other furniture does not have significant resale value in the current market)
Items You Can Research & Items You Cannot
Now that you have identified items that have potential resale value in the antique market, it is time to identify what items a layperson can even begin to research, as well as what items require such technical expertise that review by an expert is absolutely necessary in order to obtain anything close to an accurate valuation.
For the former group, we will discuss exactly how to conduct the research elsewhere. For the latter, more specialized group, I will explain why some are unsellable, why others might be sellable, and where to get an accurate opinion. This will help both save you time and provide comfort that the price assessment you end up with is reliable.
Of the item types listed above, the three that present the greatest risk for the amateur antique price sleuth are:
- Asian antiques
- Fine art produced by listed artists, particularly if there is a risk of copy, if it is a print, or if there has been a history of repair
- Pre-Columbian North and South American art (especially sculpture), as well as ancient Greco-Roman art and Egyptian antiquities
In the case of Asian antiques, multiple reasons exist for dangers associated with independent price research by a non-specialist. First, even for the main country that has produced sellable antiques for the United States market, China, the sheer breadth and historical depth that can impact the items’ value demands a high level of expertise, simply to sort through the relevant historical eras, regions, item types, and more.
Second, authenticity can be next to impossible to determine without an expert actually touching and holding the item. Chinese antiques were often copied, and copied well. Almost no photo or video can capture things like weight, feel, patina, or the tiny details of the piece that might identify it as real.
Third, value is closely related to the age of the piece. The actual age of the piece may not be immediately apparent by comparing it to an online piece that appears similar; again, the piece may be a well-crafted copy or it may have aged more or less poorly than the item shown online, for a whole host of reasons. Additionally, online photography may be easily altered, deceptively lit, or otherwise changed in ways that differentiate it from a “live” item to a specialist.
In some cases, I have had clients assume that the existence of a “reign mark” proves the authenticity of a Chinese antique. A “reign mark” identifies the dynasty and the emperor that were in power when the antique was made. Reign marks may help determine the value of a genuine antique. However, reign marks themselves can be faked. Absent assessment of its authenticity by a specialist, no stock whatsoever should be placed on the mere existence of a reign mark.
The opposite is true too. Sometimes, Asian antiques have no reign or equivalent marking that might indicate age or value, but are actually of immense worth. Sculptures from India, where marks were not commonly used, are examples of this. For instance, I once had a client in possession of a large, unmarked, seemingly worthless Southeast Asian metal sculpture of a Buddhist figure. An amateur researcher — or even a seasoned antique dealer without specific knowledge of this subject matter — may have found nothing on Google or other popular research platforms indicating it had any value at all. However, after taking the item to a specialist, we realized that it had a resale value of approximately $180,000.
Finally, for an Asian antique, a possibility always exists that it was imported illegally, or that its chain of ownership was otherwise questionable, and should thus be categorized as “unsellable,” along with the other items listed earlier in this chapter. For this reason, a careful analysis of import paperwork (including an assessment as to whether it is genuine) by a specialist is essential before making any attempt to sell Asian heirlooms. In the case of the Buddhist statue mentioned above, in order for it to be legally sellable, my client needed to have proof that the piece had been in the country for a certain number of years. Fortunately, she had proof that it had been in the United States for over 50 years, which allowed her to sell it.
Another time, I had a client with a collection of Southern Asian (India, Tibet, Nepal) art pieces. Several auction houses were initially interested in the collection. In fact, one of the major auction houses was willing to do a special auction just for this estate. The auction could have brought in over a million dollars. However, the client did not have appropriate proof indicating when and how the collection had come into the U.S. Without this proof, the auction house refused to move forward.
As for fine art by listed artists: provenance — an artwork’s sales history — will require double-checking before its value can even begin to be assessed. In the case of some listed artists, the work may have a provenance that casts its authenticity into question, or there may even be evidence that it was previously improperly or illegally sold. If so, the artwork may become unsellable.
In addition, there may be questions as to whether the artwork is unique or one of multiples and, if so, the number of surviving multiples may impact the pricing. Furthermore, general fluctuations in the art market (whose work is popular at any given time, for instance) may make a layperson’s research tools unreliable.
For all of these reasons, if your list of sellable heirlooms includes Asian antiques or pieces by listed artists, or the ancient art described above, conducting accurate research on your own is next to impossible and strongly discouraged. The recommended actions are one of the following:
- Contact a reputable antique dealer or art dealer with good reviews and either a direct specialty in your item, or a strong network of specialists that can accurately assess the sellability and resale value of the item.
- Go directly to an auction house that specializes in the type of antique you are seeking to sell.
- Hire a professional appraiser with experience and expertise in the specific type of antique you’re seeking to sell. However: this option may be extremely costly, with no guaranteed outcome.
To find out the price of your other valuables, what is the next step? It is not complicated, but does require some explanation. That explanation is the subject of the next chapter of this book.
