The Expert Appraisal Company provides USPAP-compliant personal property appraisal services to clients throughout California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, and surrounding areas. Whether you need an appraisal for estate settlement, insurance coverage, charitable donation, or any other function, we provide accurate, defensible valuations prepared by an ISA Certified Appraiser of Personal Property.
Many appraisals can be completed remotely using photographs and documentation provided by the client, with no in-person visit required. For complex or large-scale assignments, on-site inspections are available throughout California and nationwide.
Our appraisals cover a wide range of personal property, including fine art (paintings, prints, sculpture, and works on paper), antiques and decorative arts, estate jewelry and watches, furniture and furnishings, silver and ceramics, rugs and textiles, books and manuscripts, collectibles, and furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E).
To discuss an appraisal engagement in California, contact us using the form or reach out directly. We are happy to answer questions, provide a fee estimate, and outline the process for your specific situation.
Exploring California's Collector Scene
California is one of the most significant art markets in the world, with major auction activity, institutional collections, and a deep private collector base concentrated in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Bay Area. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Getty Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) represent the breadth of the state’s collecting ambitions, while the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and the de Young Museum anchor the Bay Area’s cultural landscape.
Estate collections in California are extraordinarily varied, spanning California Impressionism (the Plein Air tradition of the early 20th century), mid-century modernism, postwar and contemporary art, Hollywood memorabilia, and significant Asian art holdings reflecting the state’s Pacific Rim cultural connections. Artists such as Granville Redmond, William Wendt, Richard Diebenkorn, and Ed Ruscha appear in California estate inventories. Beyond fine art, California estates frequently include objects from the Arts and Crafts movement, significant jewelry, watches, and designer goods, vintage wines, entertainment memorabilia, mid-century modern furniture and Asian decorative arts, accumulated through the state’s longstanding Pacific trade connections. The state’s major auction houses, including Bonhams and Heritage’s West Coast operations, connect California collections with global buyers. For such assets, USPAP-compliant appraisals are essential for estate tax, charitable donation, equitable distribution, and insurance purposes.
