The Appraisers' Registry

Mr. Ford, a registered appraiser of general household possessions of antique value, has been appraising furniture, silver, porcelain, paintings, metals, carpets, etc. for over 35 years. His client base is representative of many fine museums, corporations, universities, historical societies, trust departments, and major collections throughout the United States and Europe. He is a national lecturer on silver and porcelain.

Mr. Ford graduated from Tabor Academy; the University of Massachusetts and attended the graduate program of 18th Century Porcelain in London at the Victoria and Albert Museum School. He is a member of the Appraisers' Association of America. Additionally, he maintains a fine antiques shop in Marion, MA.

Mr. Landry has performed appraisal services for various attorneys, insurance firms, banks, collectors and museums for the past fourteen years. His company has been widely recognized also for its auction services over the past forty years.

Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Robert Landry received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Certificate of Humanities studies from the University of Vienna, Austria. He is a member of the Appraisers' Association of America.

His extensive travels and residence over the years in Europe have afforded him a wide background of knowledge in both the decorative and fine arts fields.

Mr. McMillan, a Certified appraiser of personal property, has been appraising a broad range of antique and decorative items including furniture, silver, pewter, porcelain, crystal, paintings, fine art, ephemera and general valuables for over 25 years.

He has performed appraisals for many attorneys, insurance firms, banks, collectors, charitable organizations, homeowners and the public at large. Mr. McMillan has taught continuing education classes on antiques and collectibles and has owned an antiques store in his hometown of Weston, Massachusetts. He also has extensive knowledge and experience in the field of antique restoration and conservation.

Mr. McMillan attended Massachusetts Bay Community College and the University of Utah. He is a member of the Certified AppraisersÕ Guild of America, and an Associate of the AppraisersÕ Association of America. He is a licensed Auctioneer in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and a licensed Realtor in Massachusetts. A veteran of the United States Navy, Mr. McMillan and his wife reside in Weston, Massachusetts.

John Rodgers has a life-long interest in antiques. For the past fifteen years Mr. Rodgers owned an antique shop in West Falmouth, Massachusetts where he specialized in unususak and fine clocks, watches and silver along with period furniture and art.

Mr. Rodgers graduated with a BA from Trinity College in Hartford,CT and later returned to complete a masters in history. During that time he worked for Lux, Bond, and Green in the jewelry sales and repair department. He pursued a career in independent school teaching and administration. Mr. Rodgers taught special courses in antiques to students and parents at Greenwich Country Day School and again at Fay School where he was assistant headmaster for many years.

Combining academics with antiques and appraising has been a very satisfying career. John Rodgers is the Vice President of the Falmouth Historical Society, Historian for the Marine Masonic Lodge and a member of the Appraisers Association of America. He is certified in USPAP.

Grace A. Yeomans is an independent decorative arts appraiser and consultant. Ms. Yeomans holds a B.A. in art history from Smith College, and has taken decorative arts courses and seminars at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the International Ceramics Fair and Seminar, London. She has completed the Attingham Summer School program of study of the country house in Britain, and is a member of the AppraisersÕ Registry of New England, the Furniture History Society, the French Porcelain Society, The American Ceramic Circle, and the China StudentsÕ Club of Boston, on whose board she serves. She has received certification by the Appraisers Association of America as having passed the required examination in Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

Ms. Yeomans also currently serves on the Board of Governors and the Acquisitions Committee of the Shirley-Eustis House Association in Roxbury, MA, the Collections Committee at Gore Place, Waltham, MA, and is a corporator of the Worcester Art Museum. She is on the board of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and has been Co-Chairman of their historic headquarters house museum at 55 Beacon Street in Boston, the William Hickling Prescott House.

Ms. Yeomans was formerly Director of Decorative Arts at Grogan & Company, Fine Art Auctioneers and Appraisers of Boston. Prior to joining Grogan & Company in 1988, she was employed by SothebyÕs, New York. She began her career there in 1979 in the Oriental Carpet Department where she remained until 1985 as an appraiser and cataloguer. From 1985 to 1988 she was Assistant to the Chairman.

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Mr. Van Blarcom has been active in the appraisal and antique business for over 15 years. Most recently he was in charge of the Boston office of Robert W. Skinner, Inc. and, before that, was employed in the antique department of Shreve, Crump & Low in Boston. He is also a talented and professional auctioneer holding auctions in a gallery setting and on-site.

A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, Mr. Van Blarcom has taken courses in American Studies at Boston University, and has served as a guest panelist and lecturer on art and the antique market there.

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Mr. Hurst is a specialist in ancient, oriental and tribal art. Mr. Hurst is a graduate of Harvard College, where he first pursued his studies of exotic art and peoples. For over a decade he has been appraiser and consultant to New England museums and private collections.

He owns and operates a gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to mounting special exhibitions, (Art of West Africa, Southeast Asian Tribal Art and Polynesian Art all during 1987), Hurst keeps abreast of relevant current and long-range market developments. He is familiar with most important public and private collections and attends the major auctions and sales in this country and abroad.

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Ms. McBrien has been involved in the antiques field for nearly 20 years. Currently serving as editor-in-chief of The Catalogue of Antiques & Fine Art, she was previously the editor at AntiquesAmerica.com, an on-line educational antiques resource. She has worked in museums (Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in Boston and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA), the marketplace (Wayne Pratt Inc., Woodbury, CT), auction houses (Christies, New York and Northeast Auctions, Hampton, NH) and appraising. While with Wayne Pratt, Ms. McBrien gained her 15 minutes of fame as an appraiser on The Antiques Road Show.

Ms. McBrien received her Master's Degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and has attended the Attingham School for the English Country House. She has published in the field and regularly lectures and teaches on American Furniture and Decorative Arts.

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Mr. LaCroix is a Massachusetts-licensed automobile appraiser who has been involved in the collector car hobby since 1962. After a 28-year executive career in manufacturing, he now operates, full-time, his collector car business in Southeastern Massachusetts, where in addition to doing appraisals, he buys and sells antique, classic, and collector cars. Personally, Mr. LaCroix has an extensive collection of automobilia and automobiles, including Packards, vintage racecars, muscle cars, and hot rods, and he was involved in the restoration of many of them. Combing both business and pleasure, he frequently attends major auctions and car shows in New England, Pennsylvania, and California.

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Matthew J. Needle has been a full-time antiquarian bookseller since 1969. He received a Bachelor=s degree from Suffolk University and a Master=s in history from University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Mr. Needle is a member of the Ephemera Society, Massachusetts-Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers association, the Ticknor Society, and the American Antiquarian Society. He has been an appraiser for the AAS for many years.

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John Rodgers has a life-long interest in antiques. For the past fifteen years Mr. Rodgers owned an antique shop in West Falmouth, Massachusetts where he specialized in unususak and fine clocks, watches and silver along with period furniture and art.

Mr. Rodgers graduated with a BA from Trinity College in Hartford,CT and later returned to complete a masters in history. During that time he worked for Lux, Bond, and Green in the jewelry sales and repair department. He pursued a career in independent school teaching and administration. Mr. Rodgers taught special courses in antiques to students and parents at Greenwich Country Day School and again at Fay School where he was assistant headmaster for many years.

Combining academics with antiques and appraising has been a very satisfying career. John Rodgers is the Vice President of the Falmouth Historical Society, Historian for the Marine Masonic Lodge and a member of the Appraisers Association of America. He is certified in USPAP.

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Mr. Martin Deeran has been actively involved in the fields of US world and ancient numismatics for thirty five years and holds membership in many national and international organizations. During this time he has rendered appraisals for banks, law firms, universities, and auction houses. Maintaining an office in Boston, he travels to attend major conventions and auctions in the USA and Europe.

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Mr. O'Brien brings an expert eye and special sensibility to his field, the growing niche-market for sporting art. Raised in a family of sportsmen, O’Brien was introduced to the world of water-fowling and fly-fishing at an early age. He developed a life-long passion for birds, dogs, fish, and the natural environment. Both his father and his uncle are avid collectors of duck and shorebird decoys, sporting paintings and folk art. O’Brien followed in their footsteps and went one step further, turning his passion into an occupation.

O’Brien has worked in the sporting art field for over twelve years. He began his career working for a New England auction house, where he handled thousands of decoys. He also worked for the Ward Museum in Salisbury, Maryland and was the East Coast Representative for Western Wildlife Gallery. O’Brien opened his own gallery in Boston in 1996. He specializes in antique decoys and paintings by America's top sporting artists including: Frank Benson, A. Lassell Ripley, and Ogden Pleissner.

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Ms. McBrien has been involved in the antiques field for nearly 20 years. Currently serving as editor-in-chief of The Catalogue of Antiques & Fine Art, she was previously the editor at AntiquesAmerica.com, an on-line educational antiques resource. She has worked in museums (Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in Boston and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA), the marketplace (Wayne Pratt Inc., Woodbury, CT), auction houses (Christies, New York and Northeast Auctions, Hampton, NH) and appraising. While with Wayne Pratt, Ms. McBrien gained her 15 minutes of fame as an appraiser on The Antiques Road Show.

Ms. McBrien received her Master's Degree from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture and has attended the Attingham School for the English Country House. She has published in the field and regularly lectures and teaches on American Furniture and Decorative Arts.

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Ms. Southwick is an appraiser of both modern and antique jewelry. She is the licensed owner of 'The Jewelry Judge', an international network of highly qualified jewelry appraisers. She also owns and operates Southwick Fine Jewelry Consignment, a brokerage firm assisting the public with buying and selling gems and fine jewelry.

Being involved in the jewelry industry for over 23 years and employed by firms such as Bailey, Banks, and Biddle, Shreve, Crump and Low, and private estate dealers, Ms. Southwick has had the opportunity to buy and sell multiple collections of designer fine jewelry, diamonds, colored stones, antique and estate jewelry and collectible wristwatches.

After receiving her Bachelors Degree from Curry College in Milton, MA. , Ms. Southwick began her studies with the Gemological Institute of America. In 1996 she earned her Graduate Gemologist degree. With this new accreditation combined with her diverse market experience, she began her appraisal practice. The jewelry industry is ever changing and growing. Ms. Southwick keeps current with appraisal manuals, auction results, current price guides, trade periodicals, GIA reference books and attends jewelry trade shows regularly.

Over the years, she has developed a large number of loyal clients who continue to rely on her for professional advice and personal service. It is her goal as an independent jewelry appraiser to deliver and maintain exceptional service and quality in a timely and professional manner. Ms. Southwick is a member of The National Association of Jewelry Appraisers supporting and abiding by the organizationÕs Code of Professional Ethics.

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Robert Landry has performed appraisal services for various attorneys, insurance firms, banks, collectors and museums for the past fourteen years. His company has been widely recognized also for its auction services over the past forty years.

Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Robert Landry received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Certificate of Humanities studies from the University of Vienna, Austria. He is a member of the Appraisers' Association of America.

His extensive travels and residence over the years in Europe have afforded him a wide background of knowledge in both the decorative and fine arts fields.

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Ms. Forster has been active in the arts for over fifteen years. A graduate of Wellesley College she has an M.A. in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she completed all coursework and examinations towards a Ph.D. in modern art. As a graduate student, she worked as a research assistant to Kirk Varnedoe in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1992, she completed New York University's Appraisal Studies Program. Ms. Forster has studied art in the United States and abroad, at the University of Munich, at the Chateau of Fontainebleau, and in Bordeaux. She has taught 18th, 19th, and 20th century art at Wake Forest University, Durham Technical Community College, and at the School for Continuing Education at Duke University.

She has held the position of Consulting Fine Arts Appraiser at Accredited Appraisal Associates in Raleigh, North Carolina since 1992.

Martha Richardson opened Martha Richardson Fine Art in 2006, a gallery specializing in American and European paintings and drawings. Prior to opening the gallery, she was a partner and co-owner of the Richardson-Clarke Gallery, founded in 1994.

Ms. Richardson has a Master of Arts degree in Italian Renaissance Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University and she has completed her Ph.D. coursework and examinations at the same University. From 1988-1994, Ms. Richardson was the Director of the Fine Arts Department at Grogan & Company, an auction house located in Boston. There, she was responsible for evaluating and cataloguing the paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints that were consigned for sale, and for appraising fine art for insurance, donation and fair market purposes.

Before moving to Boston in 1988, Ms. Richardson was employed by Sotheby's, New York. Until 1985, she worked as a cataloguer and expert in the American Painting Department. She was an Assistant Vice President when she left the company to pursue her doctoral studies. While a doctoral student, she continued with the Sotheby's Appraisal Company as a consultant appraiser of American and European Fine Art. During this period, Ms. Richardson taught in the American Arts Program at the Sotheby's Institute of Art. In 1993, she published a book on the artist Francisco Goya.

Ms. Richardson is a member of the Appraiser's Registry of New England. She also serves on the Board of the Brookline Library Foundation, and is a member of both the Brookline Public Library's Annual Gala Committee and the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

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Mrs. Mali has been a collector of Quimper pottery for over 45 years. This charming French folk ware is named Quimper (pronounced "cam-pair") after the town in Brittany where it orignated over 300 years ago. Predominately blue, yellow, green and rusty red, the decoration features peasant figures, colorful geometric designs, flowers and birds. Though the traditional profile figure is the best known, Quimper pottery includes an enormous variety of shape, design and color. Mrs. Mali, author of a small booklet "Quimper Faience", published in 1979, and a larger work, "French Faience", published in 1986 also produces the "Old Quimper Review" which appears twice a year. She travels to France several times a year on buying and study trips. She sells Quimper ware through regional antique shows and lectures to antique and collectors groups.

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Dr. Dillaway's life-long association with rare stamps has brought him to the Presidency of the Cardinal Spellman Philatelic Museum. A past Vice-President of the American Philatelic Society, he is also a member of the American Stamp Dealers Association, the American Philatelic Society and the Postal History Society. He is an accredited Philatelic Judge (National Level) and is President and part owner of Britannia Ltd., a company dealing in world-wide postal history and stamps of the British Commonwealth, particularly. He also maintains the same positions for Triad Publications, specialists in the publication of philatelic literature.

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Mr. Harkey has over twenty-five years of experience in wine evaluating. A graduate of the German Wine Academy in Kloster Eberbach, Germany, he has also tasted wines throughout Europe and is widely respected within the European wine trade community. In addition, he was worked the cellars and tasting rooms of the United States. Previously, he hosted a call-in radio show on wines and foods, while presently, he is featured in a cable television show "Wining and Dining with Bob Harkey."

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$300 per hour, one hour minimum*
$75.00 per 1/4 hour segment
$100.00 per hour travel time, if applicable

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The Appraisers' Registry can be reached via our contact form, or called at (781) 467-0010.