About Sara Stessel meet sara stessel-fine art appraiser
Sara Stessel is an experienced and well respected art executive. Sara has 29 years of experience in the art world with the last 16 specializing in appraisals. She has successfully completed numerous industry standard courses in Fine Arts and Personal Property Appraising through the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) and the International Society of Appraisers (ISA). She continues to enroll in numerous specialty courses, webinars, and symposiums to keep up with the changing market trends in her industry.
She was trained, tested and received her USPAP certification (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice), the recognized set of appraisal standards approved by The Appraisal Foundation. Most recently, she completed the 2021-2022 USPAP update requirements.
Sara graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Economics and attended graduate school in Art History. She started her career in 1989 at Butterfield & Butterfield, the West Coast auction house, where she worked in various positions gaining a wealth of knowledge and experience in antiques, fine art, objets d’art and valuations. Sara relocated to New York representing Bonham’s & Butterfields on the East Coast, serving private clients and art dealers in Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New York City.
From 2002-2012, Sara worked extensively doing research for insurance and estate appraisals in Nashville, Tennessee. Her territory included Davidson, Williamson, and the surrounding Middle Tennessee counties. Recently she has performed art appraisals for clients in Seattle, Los Angeles, Florida and New York.
The global network of art and antique contacts that Sara has developed during her years in the auction world, combined with her in-depth knowledge of the art and antique market (locally, nationally and internationally), has given her a rare knowledge and understanding of the marketplace for fine objects and painting, jewelry and silver.
*Photo by Rachel Waller
