Southern Custom
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Looking through gunbroker reminded me of something I'd been meaning to ask about. Does anyone here know of anyone in the country that does appraisal of engraving. Not Firearms per se, as that can be found in a blue book, but appraisal of the engraving on it's own merit or as an added value to the gun.
I'm often amazed at the prices asked and occasionally realized on gunbroker for various grades of engraving good and bad. I've seen what I now know are poorly engraved guns sell for exorbitant prices while some very finely done work doesn't come close to reaching it's true value. It brings up the old question of what is truly good and who is the best person to judge that.
Sometimes I think that an engraver could probably make a pretty fair living cranking out very mediocre work. I know of one engraver who admittedly, and proudly, does just that. When you reach a certain level of artistry, your potential client base becomes limited. I'm sure this conversation has been run around by artisans for centuries but it's only when it started to affect me directly that I really thought about it in depth. What a can of worms.
This may also speak to what stage I'm at in my learning process. I'm sure many engravers here have already hashed this one out.
Layne
I'm often amazed at the prices asked and occasionally realized on gunbroker for various grades of engraving good and bad. I've seen what I now know are poorly engraved guns sell for exorbitant prices while some very finely done work doesn't come close to reaching it's true value. It brings up the old question of what is truly good and who is the best person to judge that.
Sometimes I think that an engraver could probably make a pretty fair living cranking out very mediocre work. I know of one engraver who admittedly, and proudly, does just that. When you reach a certain level of artistry, your potential client base becomes limited. I'm sure this conversation has been run around by artisans for centuries but it's only when it started to affect me directly that I really thought about it in depth. What a can of worms.
This may also speak to what stage I'm at in my learning process. I'm sure many engravers here have already hashed this one out.
Layne