Anthropology and ethnography

In a museum context, financial assessment of objects is only undertaken to establish the object's insurance value when it goes on loan. When assessing the value of ethnographic items, a wide array of questions and aspects should be considered. History, provenance, and marketability all have to be taken into account when trying to establish value and, according to individual cases, other aspects may be involved. When assessing insurance value, questions around the history of the object, its ‘pedigree’, and provenance are important; how well documented it is; how long it has been in the collection and whether it has been published. The use of the object may also affect value, for example, is the item considered to have been functional or decorative, art, craft or design? Other criteria would be the rarity of the item, if anything similar exists in another museum, whether there are any precious stones or materials and, most importantly, if there is a market for this type of item at the time of assessment.

There are ethical considerations, such as illegally sourced or exported items or anything that infringes CITES or UNESCO guidelines. If items do not fall within the law, they may have no market and consequently no financial value. For acquisitions, museums have to be sensitive to ethical issues and consider how the item is going to be cared for, used and displayed and therefore what potential it has for use.

Physical condition can be a factor in value, but not always. Many items are made from organic materials and are therefore intrinsically fragile. Ethnographic collec - tions tend to include nearly every imaginable material that exists in the world. Many are complex, composite and made up of tiny components such as beads, seeds, or shells.

Some types of objects never appear on the market and so in the absence of current prices the value assigned is calculated on the cost of replacement. Some might think items can generally be replaced as long as they are still being produced but most objects are irreplaceable, as their pedigree is unique. When objects travel, however, insurance value must be established: monetary compensation would be sought if an item was lost or damaged so that it could be restored, or an alternative found to complete the collections if possible.