Time really flies! In a blink of an eye, it has already been a year since I received my certification as a Chinese Fine Art Appraiser through the Appraisers Association of America (AAA)! The experience has been quite rewarding so far and my membership through AAA has given me more opportunities for appraisal and valuation work in the USA and Canada.
More importantly, I was able to meet many other members of AAA. Since there are only a handful of certified Chinese Fine Art appraisers (at last count about ten) in North America, many of the specialist in other categories will periodically request my help in dealing with objects that they are not familiar with.
This network will definitely benefit my clients and I since I now have colleagues to approach when dealing with items outside of my speciality - from fine art, jewelry, carpets and watches, to even things such as automobiles, baseball cards and furniture.
Over the past 12 months, my involvements with AAA included taking a few of online seminars, discussing possible future Chinese/Asian Art programming, and attending the annual National Conference in NYC mid-November. I'm really looking forward to see where this will lead me!
Exactly one year ago, I wrote a blog behind the reasoning and requirements to become a certified appraiser with AAA. It is one thing to be a respected Chinese Art specialist in North America, but to have an important group like AAA to support my credentials is quite significant. I still think it was one of the best moves that I did, and I can confidently explain to potential clients the benefits for working with a reputable appraiser.
The only drawback is I still get the odd nightmare of writing the crazy certification test. This involved sitting in a classroom (all by myself with a computer, dictionary and coffee) for 6 hours and basically typing everything I know about the Chinese art market over the past 5 years. I also had to answer questions about Chinese art terminology, locations, people, history, and complete a very quick art object identification test. It's definitely something that can't be study for... you either know it or you don't.
Fortunately I passed the test, AND I won't have to experience this long exam again unless I want to specialize in other Asian Art categories like Japanese and Himalayan art.
Anyways, that's it for now. This is very different from my regular blogs about my visits to museums and auction previews, but still necessary - especially since I am preparing more appraisal and valuation reports these days. I will continue to work with the utmost ethics, objectivity and integrity when working on these projects, and if you require any help with your Chinese art and antiques, please feel free to send me an email.
At the moment I am mostly specializing and advising on Chinese porcelain, jades carvings, furniture and paintings, but I am also particularly interested in Buddhist sculptures and Japanese artworks as well.
I'm going to be in Toronto for the rest of the summer (I think), but I will resume my travel schedule to New York, Vancouver, Montreal/Ottawa, London and Hong Kong once the Fall season starts.
Attached below is the 'scholarly owl' logo for the Appraisers Association of America (AAA).
Here's a photo of the two-day AAA National Conference in November 2017. It was held at the storied New York Athletic Club just south of Central Park and over 300 appraisers from North America attended.
