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- Description
- Table of Contents
- About the author
- Reviews
This book addresses the issue of valuing objects in cultural collections, ranging from high-value to low or no-value and featuring a range of collections including fine art, archives, science and photography. Practical advice is given on how to assign values and best practice examples are drawn from museums, libraries and archives.
The subject of valuation has always been challenging for museums and public collections and is becoming more urgent as monetary values of many items continue to break records. There is an increase in lending, with more loans requiring a value for insurance. Cultural collections and exhibitions are expanding to all corners of the world, while, at the same time, lenders are becoming more risk-averse. Valuing Your Collection will address the issues and offer some solutions. Content covered includes
- questions of valuing public and private cultural collections;
- assigning values to individual objects or an entire collection;
- legal and ethical considerations;
- discussion of authentication and attribution;
- the insurance business and valuation;
- guides to valuing different types of collections;
- a range of case studies showing valuation across multiple sectors; and
- sample templates with criteria for valuing different objects.
This book will be useful for curators of cultural collections, professionals in museums, libraries and archives, cultural heritage students, private collectors, those involved with art insurance, art business and anyone requiring practical guidance on valuation.
List of figures and tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
- Background
- Introduction
- The cultural economy
- Public and private collections
- Valuing cultural collections
- Summary
2. The difficulty of valuation
- Introduction
- Private sector and public sector
- The market
- Significance versus price
- ‘Difficult’ objects
- Adding and removing value
- Summary
3. Law and ethics
- Introduction
- Laws that may affect transacting in cultural goods
- The public and non-profit sector
- The private sector
- Auctions
- Authentication and attribution
- Claims
- Contracts
- Loans
- Sales
- Valuation
- Ethics
- Summary
4. Insurance
- Introduction
- The insurance business
- Valuation
- Risk
- Variables
- Getting a quote
- Exclusions
- Premiums
- Indemnity
- Summary
5. Alternatives to insurance
- Introduction
- Government Indemnity
- Non-insurance agreements
- Shared liability
- Loans between national institutions
- Combined indemnity and commercial insurance
- Alternatives to full insurance
- Summary
6. Valuing your collection
- Introduction
- Valuation policy
- The case for valuation
- When and why valuations are made
- Sales and purchases
- Acquisitions
- Disposals
- Loans
- Storage and deposit
- Summary
7. Valuing an entire collection
- Introduction
- Considerations
- When you might have to value an entire collection
- Approaches to valuing an entire collection
- Methodology
- Valuation plan
- Communication
- Summary
8. Assigning a value
- Introduction
- Background
- The valuer
- Factors affecting value
- Assigning a value
- Methodology
- Resources
- Summary
Case studies: valuing different types of objects
- Anthropology and ethnography
- Archaeology
- Archives
- Armour
- Fashion and textiles
- Film and television
- Fine art
- Firearms
- Natural history collections
- Photographs
- Prints
- Rare books
- Science and technology
Templates
- General questions for valuation
- Anthropology and ethnography
- Archaeology
- Archives
- Armour
- Contemporary art
- Decorative art
- Fashion and textiles
- Film and television
- Fine art
- Firearms
- Library special collections
- Natural history collections
- Photographs
- Prints
- Rare books
- Science and technology
- Social history
Appendix 1: UK Government valuation of cultural items
Appendix 2: European Report, Valuation of Works of Art for Lending and Borrowing Purposes
Appendix 3: Glossary
Index
”The reader is encouraged to take a pragmatic view of valuation and is presented with many fascinating examples of practice and case studies of object valuation in a variety of cultural institutions ... It is an extremely readable book and highly recommended for all professionals working in museums, libraries and archives as well as collectors and anyone involved in art business."
— Information Professional