Connoisseurship Studies
in Fine and Decorative Arts 

All candidates to and designated members in the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) personal property discipline are required to successfully complete the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) course on a regular basis (within one year of candidacy, then once every five years) demonstrating tested knowledge of this document promulgated by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation. Previously, all USPAP courses focused on real property for state certification, with personal property appraisers receiving minimal information. This USPAP course, designed specifically for personal property appraisers explores the unique relationship of personal property to USPAP. The entire USPAP document is covered with an emphasis on the general rules and standards rules, delineating standards which identify public trust, ethics, competency, jurisdictional exceptions and supplemental standards required for written appraisal documents.

Whether a personal property appraiser, a silver collector, an antique collector, or an aficionado of antique sales, auctions, estate or garage sales, gain a basic ability to recognize sterling silver, silver plate, European silver, coin silver, Vermeil and Paktong. You'll discover how to identify silver marks and spot high-value collectible silver objects. This experiential course will include the chance to handle sterling silver, silver plate, pure silver, nickel silver and more. You'll explore methods of silver manufacture and drawing upon your sense of touch and smell identify various types and pieces. Discover techniques to quickly identify an English, Continental or an American piece of silver. Discern how the hallmark systems tells you when, where, by whom and what kind of metals makes up a silver piece. Identify the history, period, theme, styles and price of silver and how this relates to silver's role in the economy and social environment.

California has a dynamic and independent history in the visual arts and design, and an educated and growing collector base for personal property that is specifically Californian. This course will survey the art and design of the Golden State. Topics will include the arts of indigenous Californians, the Spanish Colonial period, Mission Revival, Arts and Crafts, and Mid-Century Modern design styles, 19th and 20th century painting and photography, and current trends. This course will be rich in resource material, giving students current information on galleries, auctions houses and bibliographic and Internet sources helpful in the identification, research and valuation of California art and design.

Though we do not know when the first rugs and carpets were made, without a doubt they existed before the pyramids of Egypt or the palaces of Babylon had risen from the plains. Among the rock-cut tombs of Beni-Hassan in Egypt that date from 2500 B.C., are pictures of men with spindles, of looms and weavers. On carved walls of the palaces of Nineveh, where the rulers of Assyria lived over three thousand years ago, are elaborate drawings indicating that carpets of remarkable workmanship were in use. In the Old Testament are frequent references to woven fabrics. In this introductory course you will examine the chronological historical development of carpets and rugs, and gain basic identification skills of handmade Oriental/Persian carpets along social and ethnic lines. Appropriate for the beginning or intermediate appraiser or connoisseur who seek basic skills in identifying condition, materials, construction, attributions and provenance of antique and modern carpets.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has changed the rules governing charitable giving and estate tax. As a result of the Pension Protection Act passed in 2006 by Congress, all appraisers must be in compliance and knowledgeable in following new and existing laws covering the donation and estate tax of art, antiques, fine and decorative arts. Are you a "Qualified Appraiser" and do your appraisal reports meet the Qualified Appraisal Requirements as outlined by the IRS? Identify the professional qualifications and IRS definitions necessary for "Statement of Proof," "Fair Market Value," "Usable Condition," and others so you can stay ahead of your competition. Existing IRS and new rules will be examined and discussed.

All dressed up with someplace to go? Women and men throughout the ages have added that last flair - the jewelry that established at a glance the individual's position in society and expression of self. Jewelry styles have changed over the years, and recognizable periods have emerged. To fully assess jewelry, it must be examined in the context of the historical, social and cultural fashions of the day. In this overview introductory course, you'll identify jewelry of the Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Arts & Craft, Edwardian, Art Deco, Retro and Post-World War periods within the historical and social context of the fashions of the day. You'll interpret the figural themes closely identified with these major jewelry periods and discuss the concept of jewelry as both individual and societal self-expression. From the belle in hoop skirts and plunging neckline to the ephemeral sylph in filmy gauze to the irrepressible flapper, you will discover answers to the age-old question, "What in the world am I going to wear?"