The Importance of Local Books and Papers
This is something you that you as an appraiser just can't be with out. Often this category is overlooked. This is vitally important if you are the type of appraiser that works with regionally made decorative arts on a regular basis. These are the books that are written by local authors about local subjects. And yes your town will have some, I promise.
Lets use myself and my appraisal career for an example. I focus a lot of efforts on Kentucky and Southern decorative arts. Not just for appraisals but for the research papers that I manage to get out on occasion. I can't tell you how many times that I've investigated titles like "The Kentucky Encyclopedia" to find out more information on something that I'm working on. This investigative behavior will quickly separate the average appraiser from outstanding appraiser. It's amazing to discover for example that it would be very doubtful that a local cabinetmaker would have built, dated and signed a magnificent inlaid corner cupboard in July 1834. When you discover that 90% of his family had died in a cholera epidemic earlier in that year. It makes you think a little bit harder when you factor in what was happening at the time around your item/s.
Books that you should have on your shelves could be local and state history books, local and state genealogy books, books on historic houses in your area, early maps, catalogs from local museums, papers written by local historians about local craftsman and artists, newspapers collections of local stories, even postcards can be useful and if you use your imagination you can find numerous other inclusions to fit in here.
Now I know that we as appraisers are not authenticators but there are times that it is just necessary that you dig a bit deeper. Explore the area around you today.
Remember, Knowledge Is Power, So Arm Yourself
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