Our Experts
Administrators
Caroline Savory, Director
After graduating cum laude from Colby College, Caroline served as an executive recruiting associate in Portland, Maine and San Francisco, California. She also traveled extensively through South East Asia working in the non profit sector in Cambodia, absorbing the culture and experiencing the arts first-hand. She is pleased to succeed her mother as Director of The Appraisers' Registry of New England.
Wallace Savory, President
Wallace serves in an advisory role with The Appraisers' Registry of New England. He has had an extensive career developing and commercializing businesses in the Boston area. He continues to serve as board member for a number of businesses and charitable organizations while staying active with the operations at The Appraisers' Registry.
Michael Wynne-Wilson, Founder
Michael founded The Appraisers' Registry of New England in 1979 as testimony to his lifelong interest in fine arts. He was active in running operations until the fall of 1999, retiring at age 85. Prior to his tenure at The Appraisers' Registry, Michael came to the United States as an exchange student from England and went on to become a reporter and commentator for local, network and BBC radio and television. Later, he became the Public Relations Director of the New England Aquarium.
John Kreis, Photography Specialist
John, a graduate of both Northeastern University and New England School of Photography is a professional photographer based in Boston who along with collections documentation, specializes in architectural, interior and product photography. His expertise in lighting and composition assure care and precision in documenting and cataloguing works from the finest collections.
Appraisers
Martin Deeran, Specialist in Coins
Martin has been active in the field of numismatics for thirty-five years. He travels Europe and the United States attending major auctions and conventions and holds memberships in a number of related professional associations. As part of The Appraisers' Registry of New England team, he has completed appraisals for banks, law firms, universities, and auction houses.
Guy Dillaway, Specialist in Stamps
Guy's lifelong passion for rare stamps lead him to the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum where he now resides as president. As past vice-president of the American Philatelic Society, he boasts memberships to the American Stamp Dealers Association, the American Philatelic Society, and the Postal History Society. He is an accredited national-level philatelic judge. He is also President and part owner of Britannia Ltd., a company dealing in the world history of postal service and stamps of the British Commonwealth and is a leader of Triad Publications, specialists in philatelic literature.
Albert Ford, Generalist Appraiser
Albert offers fourty five years experience as a generalist appraiser. He is registered as an appraiser of antique household possessions to include furniture, silver, porcelain, paintings, metals and carpets and has attended the graduate program of 18th Century Porcelain in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum School. His client base includes museums, corporations, universities, historical societies, trust departments and major collectors throughout Europe and the United States. He is also a national lecturer on silver and porcelain and member of the Appraisers' Association of America.
Susan Forster, Specialist in Paintings and Sculpture
Susan has a masters degree in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, has completed all coursework towards her doctorate in modern art, and has held the position of Consulting Fine Arts Appraiser at Accredited Appraisal Associates in Raleigh, NC since 1992. While a graduate student she served as research assistant to Kirk Varnedoe of the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, NY. Susan has also studied abroad in Germany and France. She completed New York University's Appraisal Studies program in 1992. She has taught 18th, 19th and 20th century art at the university level.
Robert Harkey, Specialist in Wines
Robert has over twenty-five years of experience in wine evaluating. He is a graduate of the German Wine Academy in Kloster Eberbach, Germany and is widely respected within the European wine trade community. In addition, he was worked the cellars and tasting rooms of the United States, he hosted a call-in radio show on wines and foods, and, presently, he is featured on cable television with his show "Wining and Dining with Bob Harkey."
Norman Hurst, Specialist in African, Ancient, Oriental and Tribal Art
A graduate of Harvard College where he studied exotic art, Norman offers over ten years experience as an appraiser and consultant to New England museums and private collectors. He has curated exhibitions of art from West Africa, tribal art from Southeast Asia, and art from Polynesian islands. He attends major auctions in the United States and abroad and owns and operates his own gallery.
Dan LaCroix, Specialist in Antique Cars
Dan is a Massachusetts-licensed automobile appraiser who has been involved with car collection since 1962. He operates a car collector business in southeastern Massachusetts where he does appraisals, restores, buys and sells antique and classic cars. He frequents major auctions and car shows throughout New England, Pennsylvania and California.
Robert Landry, Generalist Appraiser, Specialist in Oriental Carpets
Robert has performed appraisal services for over fifteen years and runs a widely recognized auction house in business for forty years. His clients include attorneys, insurance companies, museums and individual collectors. His extensive travels in Europe and studies at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Vienna afford him an in-depth and wide swath of knowledge in decorative and fine arts.
Millicent Mali, Specialist in Quimper
Collector of French folk ware pottery known as Quimper for over forty-five years, Millicent is the author of two books, Quimper Faience published in 1979 and French Faience published in 1986. She produces Old Quimper Review which is televised twice each year. She travels to France on buying and study trips and lectures to collectors' groups.
Johanna McBrien, Specialist in American Furniture, Dolls and Toys
Johanna brings over twenty years experience in antiques to the appraisal field. Currently, she serves as editor-in-chief of The Catalogue of Antiques and Fine Art. Previously she was editor of AntiquesAmerica.com, worked in museums such as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in Boston, MA and the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, MA, auction houses to include Christies and Northeast Auctions and fifteen minutes as an appraiser on The Antiques Road Show. Johanna earned her masters degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and has attended the Attingham School for the English Country House. She publishes in the field and lectures on American furniture and decorative arts.
Robert McMillan, Generalist Appraiser
Robert has been appraising a braod range of fine antique and decorative objects including furniture, silver, pewter, porcelain, crystal, paintings, fine art and ephemera for over twenty-five years. He has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of antique restoration and conservation. He teaches classes on antiques and collectibles, is a licensed auctioneer, is a member of the Certified Appraisers' Guild of America, and an associate of the Appraisers' Association of America.
Matthew Needle, Specialist in Books
Matthew received his masters degree in history from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA and has been a full-time antiquarian bookseller for over thirty-five years. He is a member of the Ephemera Society, Massachusetts-Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers Association, the Ticknor Society, and the American Antiquarian Society where he has been an appraiser for many years.
Stephen O'Brien, Specialist in Decoys and American Sporting Arts
Beginning his career in hunting decoys for a New England auction house and the Ward Museum in Salisbury, Maryland and then as east coast representative for the Western Wildlife Gallery, Stephen went on to open his own gallery in Boston. He now brings over twelve years experience to the sporting art field with emphasis in antique decoys and paintings by America's top sporting artists.
Martha Richardson, Specialist in Painting
Before opening her gallery Martha Richardson Fine Art in Boston, Martha completed her masters in Italian Renaissance Art History, served as cataloguer and expert, and then Vice President, in American Painting at Sotheby's, New York and was the director of the fine arts department at Grogan and Company, an auction house in Boston. She also taught in the American Arts Program at Sotheby's Institute of Art while pursuing her doctorate. In 1993, Martha published a book on the artist Francisco Goya. She serves on the Board of the Brookline Library Foundation and is a member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
John Rodgers, Generalist Appraiser, Specialist in Clocks and Watches
As owner of a specialty antiques shop on Cape Cod and his work in jewelry sales and repair at Lux Bond while completing his masters degree in History at Trinity college, John brings over fifteen years of experience with fine clocks and watches to the appraisal field. He also serves as vice president of the Falmouth Historical Society, historian for the Marine Masonic Lodge, and member to the Appraisers Association of America. He is certified in USPAP and teaches courses in antiques.
Paul Russ, Generalist Appraiser
Paul is the newest member to join the Appraisers' Registry of New England team. He comes from a family of auctioneers and antique dealers dating back to 1900. He is an accredited generalist appraiser offering extensive knowledge, research skills and networking abilities in the fine and decorative arts. He has provided property valuations to private, corporate and institutional clients. He has been a member of the Appraisers Association of America for ten years.
Randi Southwick, Specialist in Jewelry and Gemstones
Combining her experience with firms to include Bailey, Banks and Biddle, Shreve, Crump and Lowe Randi brings over twenty five years of expertise to the Jewelry and Gemstones appraisals. She owns and operates Southwick Fine Jewelry Consignment, a brokerage firm assisting the public with buying and selling gems and fine jewelry. Randi received her Graduate Gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America and is a member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers.
Kenneth Van Blarcom, Specialist in Advertising Memorabilia
Kenneth has been an active member of the appraisal and antique business for over fifteen years. His experience includes running the Boston office of Robert W. Skinner and employment with Shreve, Crump and Low in their antiques department. He is also a professional auctioneer on site and in gallery settings. Kenneth is vice president of his local historic society and serves on panels and lectures on the art and antiques market.
Grace Yeomans, Specialist in Decorative Arts
Currently an independent decorative arts appraiser and consultant, Grace was formerly director of decorative arts at Boston's fine arts appraiser and auctioneer Grogan and Company and assistant to the chairman at Sotheby's oriental carpet department. After completing her degree in art history from Smith College, Grace has taken courses and attended seminars at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, International Ceramics Fair and Seminar in London, and Attingham Summer School programs on the country house of Britain. She is a member of the Furniture History Society, the American Ceramic Circle, and the French Porcelain Society. Currently she serves on the board of governors and acquisitions committee of the Shirley-Eustis House Association in Roxbury, on the collections committee at Gore Place in Waltham, as corporator of the Worcester Art Museum, and on the board of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Commonwealth of Massachusetts as ch-chairman of their historic headquarters, the William Hickling Prescott House on Beacon Hill. Grace is certified by the Appraisers Association of America in Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.