Fine art appraisal research agent

The $350-an-hour research, done in two minutes.

Identify an antique map or print.

Free to start — 150 credits, no card. Your first report lands in about two minutes.

The agent researches the piece, the artist, the publication and the period — then hands back a full report with real comparables and every source linked.

The problem

Appraisal research costs about $350 an hour. Almost all of that hour is searching.

A real appraisal is not a guess at a number. It is hours of work — reverse-image searching the sheet, reading auction archives, chasing dealer listings, checking the plate against a catalogue raisonné or a museum copy, working out which edition and which state you are holding, then writing it all up with the evidence attached.

So collectors skip it, because the research costs more than the piece. And professionals do it anyway — on evenings and weekends, for sheets worth a few hundred dollars.

The agent runs that same trail. Three hours of research, back in about two minutes, with every source linked so you can check its work.

Doing it by hand

≈ 3 hrs

  • Reverse-image search the sheet across half a dozen engines20 min
  • Trawl auction archives for the same plate, edition and state45 min
  • Cross-check dealer listings for what it actually sells for30 min
  • Track the artist, the publisher and which printing this is25 min
  • Confirm against a museum record or catalogue raisonné20 min
  • Weigh condition, margins, colour and paper against the comps15 min
  • Write it all up with the evidence attached25 min

With the agent

≈ 2 min

One photo in. The same searches, archives, listings and records — run in parallel, read in full, and written up as a sourced report you can hand to a client.

What comes back

An extensive report, not a number in a box.

Identification

Maker, title, edition and date — with the reasoning that got there and the confidence it deserves.

Real comparables

Sold prices and live listings for the same plate, each with a working link to the record it came from.

Sources you can open

Museum records, catalogue entries and dealer descriptions — cited, never paraphrased into a black box.

The artist and the publication

Who made it, for which atlas, folio or flora, and which printing of it you are actually holding.

Historical context

Why the piece exists, what was happening when it was printed, and how that moves the market for it.

Stated confidence

What it is sure of, what it is not, and the single photo or fact that would tighten the range.

Frontier models

Choose how hard it digs.

Every run uses frontier reasoning models with live web search, reverse-image search and full page reading — the same tools a researcher would use, run in parallel. Pick a quick identification for a flea-market find, or exhaustive sourcing for a piece you are about to price for a client.

Quick

A fast read — identification and a first valuation.

about 30 credits

Standard

More searching, deeper comparables.

about 60 credits

Pro

Exhaustive sourcing and expert-level reasoning.

about 150 credits

Expert

Our most capable analysis, for rare or high-value pieces.

about 300 credits

For fine art professionals

Dealers, appraisers and auction staff use it as a research assistant that never gets bored of archive work. Run it before you catalogue a consignment, before you bid, or when a walk-in puts a portfolio on the counter. Every claim arrives with the record it came from, so the judgement stays yours.

For collectors

Find out what you actually own before you pay for an appraisal — whether the sheet is an original impression or a later reproduction, which edition it belongs to, and what comparable copies have really sold for. Enough to buy well, insure sensibly, or know when a piece deserves a certified appraisal.

Published reports

Read the work before you upload anything.

Every report published by its owner is open to read in full — the conversation, the sources, the comparables and the reasoning behind the range.

See all reports

Pricing

Pay only for what you appraise.

Each appraisal deducts exactly what it cost to run — so a simple print never subsidises a complicated one. One credit is a cent of compute, and you always see the estimate before you confirm.

Free

$0to start

See the sourced comps for yourself before you spend a dollar.

  • 150 credits on signup — about one Pro appraisal
  • Full reports, comparables and citations
  • No card required

Flat fee

$0.05per credit

No subscription, no commitment. Buy a pack once and use it whenever.

  • 150 credits$7.50
  • 500 credits$25
  • 1,500 credits$75
  • 3,000 credits$150

Subscription

Save 20%

$0.04per credit

A monthly credit allotment at the subscriber rate. Unused credits roll over one month; change or cancel anytime.

  • Starter · 750 cr$29.99/mo
  • Pro · 1,500 cr$59.99/mo
  • Business · 3,000 cr$119.99/mo
  • Studio · 5,000 cr$199.99/mo

150 free credits on signup — enough for one full appraisal, no card required. See the full pricing breakdown.

The agent can be wrong. That is exactly why it shows its sources.

AI research gets things wrong — a misread imprint, a comp that turns out to be a different state, a listing that never sold at its asking price. Treat the report as a very fast researcher's first pass, not a verdict.

So every non-obvious claim is linked to the record it came from, every comparable carries its source URL, and every section states how confident it is and what would raise it. Open the links. Check the prices. The judgement stays with you.

This is research, not a certified appraisal — for insurance, probate or sale documentation, take it to a qualified appraiser.

You have the photo already.

Three hours of appraisal research, back before your coffee is cold. Five credits free, no card.