Use case · Workflow
Sorting an inherited collection or a house clearance
Work through an inherited collection in two passes. First, photograph and triage every piece to separate the handful that might matter from the many that do not. Second, take only that handful to a qualified appraiser. Do not clean anything, do not discard boxes or paperwork, and do not divide the estate on informal figures.
The workflow, step by step
- Stop before cleaning or throwing anything away. Leave surfaces as they are and keep every box, receipt, letter and catalogue. Cleaning removes patina that cannot be put back, and paperwork is provenance — the one value factor that lives outside the object.
- Photograph each piece properly. For each object: the whole piece against a plain background, the mark filling the frame, the construction where parts join, and every fault. Indirect daylight, flash off.
- Run each piece through Trove. Trove returns an identification, a period, a condition assessment, an authenticity verdict and an auction and a retail range, with the reasoning shown. Where the photographs do not support a conclusion it says so and names the shot that would settle it.
- Sort into three piles. Pieces with a low range and a confident identification; pieces where Trove asked for more evidence; and pieces with a meaningful range or an uncertain authenticity verdict. Re-photograph the second pile and sort it again.
- Take the short list to a qualified appraiser. Probate, estate division, tax and insurance all need a valuation from someone who has handled the object and will sign it. The triage is what decides which few pieces are worth that fee.
Why triage comes before the appraiser
Appraisers charge by the hour or by the item, and most inherited boxes contain nothing that warrants one. The expensive mistake is not paying for an appraisal; it is paying for forty when three were needed — or skipping it on the one piece that mattered because it did not look like much.
Where this workflow stops
An estimate from photographs is not a probate valuation and must not be used to divide an estate. Executors have a duty to value accurately and beneficiaries have a right to challenge, so anything a family will rely on needs a formal appraisal. Trove’s part ends at the short list.
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.