Appraisal and Repair Policy

Appraisal Policy

The staff of the Sandwich Glass Museum does not appraise glass. The American Association of Museums prohibits museum staff from making appraisals or giving any estimates of value for historic and artistic objects.

We do occasionally host informal historic glass evaluation events. You can check our calendar of events to see when the next "What's Your Glass?" event is coming up. However these events do not result in any formal appraisal of monetary value.

The following are several means by which one can find appraisers. Be prepared to send the appraiser good, clear photographs of the item and any documentation or information that could affect the value. In addition, the appraiser will probably want to inspect the object, so you may have to bring the object to the appraiser, or arrange for the appraiser to visit your home. Finally, appraisers will charge a fee for their services.

Professional Appraisal

There are several national professional associations of appraisers. These groups can give you the name of a qualified appraiser in your geographic area:

Auction Houses

Both Eldred’s Auction House and Jeffery S. Evan’s’ Auction House are very reputable and deal a lot in Sandwich Glass.

The major auction houses such as Sotheby’s will do appraisals of all types of objects. As with independent appraisers, there is a fee for appraisals. However, if you are interested in selling your object through an auction house, they will give you an estimated sales price at no charge.

To find an auction house or auctioneer in your local area, simply search google maps for “auction house near me”.

Your local public library can provide you with published price guides to antiques and collectibles. There also may be reference books on antiques and collectibles, if you need help identifying your object.

Another option is to search for your item on Etsy or eBay to see what others are selling it for.

www.whatsitworthtoyou.com will do informal appraisals of an object for $9.95 fee. Their experts will try to give as much history, research and information as possible about the object, which they base on your digital photos and description.

Repairs

The glass artists of the Sandwich Glass Museum do not repair glass.

However if you have a scuffed antique you wish re-polished or re-cut, you can contact Jim Poore on Facebook.

Also one of our suppliers may be able to repair your item if it was made using the flame-working, also known as lamp-working, technique. Some examples of flame work are shown below.

If you think your damaged object may be reparable, please use the contact form below to send a photo to our friendly supplier for evaluation.