Quilt Appraisals...25 of them!
 

A good friend of mine and my financial advisor (male) called asking me about quilts. He is the executor for a man who is a widower and downsizing his house. He has 25 five hand pieced, hand quilted quilts that have been in storage ..never used! He wants to know how to go about selling them. It will be too expensive to get each one appraised but my question is if anyone has had an AQS appraiser look at the group as a "lot" with a recommendation of how to proceed. Of course the appraiser would be compensated for their time, etc. I have asked my friend to send me a few photos just to get an idea of the workmanship on the quilts, esthetics, etc. Thank you for any input on this project.

sandy

where are the quilts located?

I would suggest you might contact your LQS or quilt guild. You need to tell him that quilts don't really bring in the value that they should. The ones I see being appraised on the PBS show Antique Roadshow are exceptionally detailed applique quilts.

St louis MO
Sandy

Until we see photos, we can't make a good evaluation. I did email an AQS appraiser to get her input on how to approach this. Obviously we need to see the quilts to determine value...if any. Not sure if they are Road Show worthy. Those quilts are the exception, of course. Guild members will want a low-ball price too if they are buying quilts.

If the quilts are more utilitarian vs "heirloom"... Perhaps the owner will want to donate them and take a write-off, if able. Stay tuned. Thanks for the input!

The quilts have been stored away for about 25 years, btw. I really look forward to seeing them!
sandy

I would think a specialized auction house would bring good results, if they are really good quilts. Or perhaps a textile curator at a museum could look at some and give him an idea as to their worth.

Sandy, have you seen the quilts yourself?

Not sure if they could or would do a lot appraisal. I do know when I had my Agave Garden appraised in April a lot of other factors came into play besides just the quilt. I was asked questions like have I ever sold a quilt or ribboned at a quilt show.

The appraisal of the quilt about knocked my socks off (over $4K!!) but it was for insurance purposes not resale value which would probably be half of what the insurance replacement value was. Additionally she did mention on the write up that the market for quilts was very depressed right now. Appraisal for resale value will most likely come in quite low for that reason and the possibility of getting the appraised value of the quilt in selling them, due to current market conditions was equally low.

I am waiting for photos. Might be a few days or in a couple of weeks.
sandy

Perhaps they could pay to have 2-3 quilts appraised and use those appraisals as a guide as to pricing the rest.