The appraisal is a precise and detailed analysis with which a correlated report with photographic reproductions is prepared. The purpose of the appraisal it to provide al the elements necessary to guarantee origins, era, authenticity, and the value of a work.
The appraisal with the estimate of an object is called an estimate, which the appraisal formulated to authenticate a work of art is traditionally referred to as expertise.
An appraisal my be requested during a lawsuit or to clarify a dispute that has not yet led to legal action being taken; other times it is useful from a technical point of view to identify the current status of the object with precision.
An appraisal can be requested also in fulfilment of CITES regulations and for those that regulate the circulation and exportation of Cultural Assets.
Mostly the appraisal is used to know the real value of an object: this is obtained by comparing exchanges without however forgetting the unique character that inevitably characterises each antique.
In conducting an appraisal, artistic, historic and technical analyses are carried out and if necessary also a scientific and documentary study of the work. It will describe the object in detail so as to settle the question (like the estimate of an object’s value or eventual damage) and will determine the originality, the authenticity, and the consequential value of the work itself.
The report is organised as follows:
- Identification of the object and its characteristics;
- Creation of photographic documentation;
- Study of the object and gathering of support documentation;
- Drafting of the report;
- Identification of evaluation criteria:
- Evaluation;
- Conclusions;
We provide simple, certificatory, or sworn appraisals, the evaluation of which can be used for insurance purposes or repurchasing, estimates, or sales purposes.
- In the sworn appraisal there is the certainty of the contents “under one’s personal responsibility”, attesting to its truthfulness with a further specific declaration in the appraisal itself, and thereby responding according to the criminal code for potential fraudulent and material misrepresentation contained therein.
- Instead, a sworn appraisal (or certificatory and sworn) is when the same, in addition to the declaration that certifies the truthfulness of the content, contains at the bottom the declaration of swearing di ti have “fully and faithfully carried out the task entrusted to him for the sole purpose of knowing the truth”, made by the appraiser before the clerk of the court of any judiciary office, including that of the justice of the peace, pursuant to Art. 5 of the royal decree 9 October 1922, n. 1366, or before a notary, pursuant to Art. 1, n. 4, of the royal decree 14 July 1937, n. 1666.
- The simple appraisal is neither certified nor sworn.