Use case · Workflow
Checking a piece before you buy it
Before buying an antique, look past the style to the mark, the construction and the wear — that is where reproductions give themselves away. Photograph the mark and the underside, check the authenticity verdict and reasoning, and compare the asking price against both the auction and the retail range. If the evidence will not settle it, treat the piece as unproven.
The workflow, step by step
- Ask to handle it and turn it over. Style is the easiest thing to copy. The underside, the back and the inside are where construction and wear are visible, and where reproductions are usually given away.
- Photograph the mark and the construction. Fill the frame with the mark; then the foot rim, the joints, the screws or the seams. For an online listing, ask the seller for exactly these shots — a seller who will not provide them has answered a question.
- Read the authenticity verdict and its evidence. Trove returns authentic, uncertain or likely reproduction, with the evidence it used. Read the reasoning, not just the label, and look for wear in the wrong places, a base too clean, or a mark that is almost right.
- Compare the asking price with both ranges. A dealer’s price should sit near the retail range; an estate-sale or marketplace price is closer to the auction range. An asking price far below either, for a piece described as period, is a reason to look harder.
- Walk away from what cannot be settled. When the photographs do not support a conclusion, Trove says so. On early furniture, Chinese ceramics and bronzes — where being wrong is most expensive — an unproven piece should be bought only at an unproven price.
What a phone check can and cannot catch
It reliably catches the common tells: machine-cut joints on a supposedly hand-made piece, a transfer print where hand-painting should be, a mark with a detail wrong. It cannot weigh silver, see restoration that only shows under ultraviolet, or test metal. For a significant purchase, ask for a return period or have the piece examined before paying.
Trove identifies antiques from photographs and gives an estimated value range, with the reasoning behind it. Every figure is an AI estimate, not a professional appraisal.