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DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 361 — How to Appraise & Authenticate Antique Religious Icons
Antique religious icons—from Russian Orthodox and Greek Byzantine to Armenian, Ethiopian, Balkan, and Coptic—represent one of the most symbolically rich and historically complex categories in fine-art appraisal. Genuine icons were sacred devotional objects produced in monastic workshops and specialist studios under strict artistic traditions. The market today, however, contains museum-quality originals alongside countless modern reproductions, printed tourist icons, artificially aged fakes, and workshop copies.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 361 — How to Appraise & Authenticate Antique Religious Icons provides the complete forensic system used by appraisers, conservators, and religious-art experts to distinguish authentic historic icons from reproductions and to determine accurate market value.
Inside, you’ll learn how experts:
Identify hand-painted icons vs. printed or mass-produced copies
Evaluate wood panels, dovetail joints, crossbars (shponki), and period-correct construction
Analyze gesso layers, ground preparation, and bole beneath gilding
Authenticate gold-leaf techniques, halo construction, and burnishing traits
Evaluate pigments, egg-tempera layering, mineral colors, and stylistic lineage
Identify iconographic accuracy, inscriptions, and era-appropriate script
Assess craquelure patterns, oxidation, varnish behavior, and natural aging
Distinguish authentic patina from artificial distressing or chemical aging
Authenticate riza/oklad metalwork, silver hallmarks, embossing, and panel fit
Detect tourist icons, modern workshop reproductions, and “antiqued” fakes
Evaluate restoration quality, overpainting, and conservation impact on value
Assess provenance, monastery records, church use, archival documentation, and export permits
Determine cultural origin, regional schools, and workshop attribution
Assign fair market value, insurance value, auction estimates, and museum value
This volume provides the full professional framework for assessing authenticity, originality, cultural origin, age, and value—essential knowledge for appraisers, collectors, historians, estate professionals, and institutions handling religious art.
Digital Download — PDF • 9 Pages • Instant Access
Antique religious icons—from Russian Orthodox and Greek Byzantine to Armenian, Ethiopian, Balkan, and Coptic—represent one of the most symbolically rich and historically complex categories in fine-art appraisal. Genuine icons were sacred devotional objects produced in monastic workshops and specialist studios under strict artistic traditions. The market today, however, contains museum-quality originals alongside countless modern reproductions, printed tourist icons, artificially aged fakes, and workshop copies.
DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 361 — How to Appraise & Authenticate Antique Religious Icons provides the complete forensic system used by appraisers, conservators, and religious-art experts to distinguish authentic historic icons from reproductions and to determine accurate market value.
Inside, you’ll learn how experts:
Identify hand-painted icons vs. printed or mass-produced copies
Evaluate wood panels, dovetail joints, crossbars (shponki), and period-correct construction
Analyze gesso layers, ground preparation, and bole beneath gilding
Authenticate gold-leaf techniques, halo construction, and burnishing traits
Evaluate pigments, egg-tempera layering, mineral colors, and stylistic lineage
Identify iconographic accuracy, inscriptions, and era-appropriate script
Assess craquelure patterns, oxidation, varnish behavior, and natural aging
Distinguish authentic patina from artificial distressing or chemical aging
Authenticate riza/oklad metalwork, silver hallmarks, embossing, and panel fit
Detect tourist icons, modern workshop reproductions, and “antiqued” fakes
Evaluate restoration quality, overpainting, and conservation impact on value
Assess provenance, monastery records, church use, archival documentation, and export permits
Determine cultural origin, regional schools, and workshop attribution
Assign fair market value, insurance value, auction estimates, and museum value
This volume provides the full professional framework for assessing authenticity, originality, cultural origin, age, and value—essential knowledge for appraisers, collectors, historians, estate professionals, and institutions handling religious art.
Digital Download — PDF • 9 Pages • Instant Access