What Is a Probate Art Valuation?
Art encompasses an extraordinarily broad range of objects — from oil paintings and watercolours to limited edition prints, sculptures, photography, and mixed media installations. Probate valuations for art require a fundamentally different skill set from valuing most other personal possessions. The value of any artwork depends on factors that are often invisible to the untrained eye: provenance, attribution, condition beneath the surface, medium, period, and the current appetite of the market for a particular artist or movement.
A work attributed to a known artist is worth many times more than a similar-looking piece by an unknown hand, but even within a single artist's oeuvre, values can vary enormously depending on the period, subject matter, and quality of the specific piece. Whether you are valuing paintings for probate, assessing a collection of prints, or establishing the Open Market Value of a single sculpture, the valuation must reflect the price the work would achieve if offered for sale at auction on the date of death. A watercolour by a popular Victorian artist may be worth less today than it was twenty years ago, while a print by a recently rediscovered mid-century designer may have appreciated substantially.
Our specialist art valuers hold qualifications from recognised bodies including RICS (Fine Art), the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers (SOFAA), and relevant specialist associations. They have direct experience of the UK auction market across all periods, media, and collecting categories — from Old Masters through to contemporary conceptual work.