Most collectors faced this dilemma- where to get the antiques to be appraised by reliable authenticator.As far as major auctions houses are concerned,they are not interested in the low quality items that most collectors collects. They are more interested in the high quality antiques. ,it is not easy to get them to authenticate.So where should a collector get their items authenticated?
In most countries it is very hard to get a good antique authenticator,there for the only alternative is to participate in online discussion forum. Online discussion forum consisted of various types of collectors,dealers,novices and all sorts of character. must be aware of the various types of collectors that provide the opinion.
Collectors who has been collecting for many years,maybe more than ten years. These types of collectors thinks that they know everything from Neolithic China to Republic China antiques. They think that they have seen all types of antiques and an authority in authenticating antiques. Some of them have stopped learning but they do not realize this and still think they know everything.
Collectors who has been collecting for a few years and has been reading lots of books on antiques. They think that by reading books,they know a lot and they possessed deep knowledge on antiques. They do collects antiques but mostly those that can be regarded as “one glance genuine” that any novice or new collector can immediately identify. Handling of antiques are very important to any collectors and one must be able to handle lots of these antiques in order to get a feel.
Collectors/dealers who pretend that they know everything even though some are not able to differentiate what is Cizhou fom jizhou,Yaozhou from Yue glaze. These types of collectors are to be avoided and their opinion treated as wind passing by. They tend to show that they know a lot but from their arguments on antiques,one can know that they are just full of holes.
Collectors who only purchased the low end or “one glance genuine” antiques. These types of collectors are not qualify to comment on high quality items as to them,they are mostly fakes. Yes,they have lots of antiques in their collection which consisted of low quality items.
Collectors who has very good knowledge but due to the exposure to the fakes,regards everything as fakes except what is in their collection. They tend not to buy anything that is not one glance genuine and will regards the others as high quality fakes. They are so afraid of fakes that this limits their ability to assess an item objectively.
Most collectors belong to the above and so the question is who shall one trust? In a discussion forum, normally there is a flock mentality where a participant who is regarded as knowledgeable will be followed. The opinion will be immediately swayed once this person started to discuss,whether it is correct or wrong is another matter.
In any discussion forum, it is the best venue to discuss “one glance genuine” or “one glance fake” antiques as this is where everyone can participate. However once a high quality items is posted, the first reaction from these members are it must be a fake without looking at it objectively. Their opinion is clouded by their experience, their arrogance or something that prevent them from being objectively. This is a very sad case but is to be expected.
There for as a collector, one must not only have assess to this type of discussion, one must also have assess to the other collectors around him who are able to handle the item personally, museum personnel, trusted dealers, auction houses for a second,third or even fourth opinion.
As antiques appraisal is not totally black or white, as a last resort,one needs to send the items for TL testing to ascertain the authenticity. Before sending for TL testing the most important aspect is that the collector must have a good knowledge on what he is collecting and must not be swayed by the opinion of others. This is very important as knowledge is what separate a collector from the Collector.
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